California... the Golden State.
In 1849, a year before joining the Union, countless people invaded California... and not from the south. Gold had been discovered, and fortune seekers arrived in droves to stake their claim.
Los Angeles and San Francisco grew exponentially, mining towns sprung up like mushrooms, most of them lawless and crime infested... California was a dangerous place to live. Today, 173 years later, there's still plenty of gold to be mined, but people are leaving in droves. California is still a lawless place... it's more dangerous than 1849.
The reason for the exodus is simple: Until recently, law enforcement authorities, supported by politicians, fought crime... criminals were captured; tried and convicted, they were sent to prison to serve meaningful sentences. Now, law enforcement authorities, defunded by politicians, are instructed to ignore many crimes. Those apprehended are immediately released; prosecutors either reduce charges or recommend lenient sentences for those convicted. They're soon right back on the street to offend anew.
Crime is rampant in California. Both Los Angeles and San Francisco are run by far-left democrat politicians, both cities have radical restorative justice-minded district attorneys whose stated mission is to empty California's prisons. The state is governed by an equally liberal democrat who recently apologized for using the word "gang" to describe 1849-style train robberies... apparently, the term gang is racist in the Wide a-Woke dictionary.
Under the "leadership" of the aforementioned politicians, crimes are going uninvestigated, criminals aren't being arrested, and prisons are being emptied of the most violent criminals imaginable. Murderers, rapists, child molesters, and many other career criminals are being released... except one.
California's ever-apologetic, restorative justice-supporting governor has issued pardons and commutations for all sorts of heinous criminals; he's approved parole board recommendations to release the most recidivist-prone convicts. And yet, he just refused, once again, to approve the release of a frail septuagenarian, a woman who never actually killed anyone.
Another reason why Californians are fleeing the state in unprecedented numbers is politics. You know it's time to leave when crime is accepted and criminals aren't sent to prison because of politicians who are moved far less by crime statistics than political polling. And so, whilst his state is being wracked by crimes committed by career criminals with extensive recidivist records, the governor has "read the room" when it comes to the aforementioned old woman who's spent the last 52 years in prison.
Criminals may be running wild across the state, but Californians... those who haven't already left, can rest easy... 72-year-old Leslie Van Houten will remain in prison. Apparently, it doesn't poll well to release a member of...
The Manson Family.
