Dude, I’m begging you. Someday you gotta do a New York State history series. Everyone likes to focus on NYC but there’s so much more to our Great State
This. Dude the Hudson Valley is a gem. Most people don't know anything about it. The closest people know is that Albany (exists somewhere) also when most people think of the city anyway, it's just the lower half of Manhattan. I grew up in the Bronx and it has some of the coolest old architecture.
Yeah its always funny hearing upstate people feel the need to always vent to me how overrated they thought NYC was, which always made me chuckle. Then I’d tell them how Westchester is upstate and just watch their brains melt
I love this video! Especially as a life-long California resident. One critique I have though - I recommend reading both Tom O'Neil's book "Chaos: The CIA, Charles Manson, and the Secret History of the 1960's" and Nikolas Schreck's "The Manson File: Myth and Reality of an Outlaw Shaman (Revised Ultimate Edition)" (for a pretty thorough debunking of the idea that Manson was intending to start a race war. Bugliosi's assertions have been pretty well demolished at this point - a point that wouldn't have been known in the late 1960's early 1970's - but which deserves clarification today imo.
Was the thesis of Chaos that Manson was *not* trying to start a race war? I thought it was that he had multiple incoherent and dangerous ideas and that the police were instructed to ignore him
@@yrobtsvt The unusual police interaction with Manson was one component, and a lot of people come away with this take after reading Chaos. However O'Neil, like any good journalist, takes pains to only assert what he actually can conclusively prove and other areas that give rise to ideas like the CIA connection to Manson etc. he is careful to distinguish as circumstantial evidence only. The circumstantial evidence is very compelling to me, but so are some of the alternative theories which conflict with this narrative. These are outlined very well by Nikolas Schreck - but in brief it has to do with the layers of drugs, pimping, and p*rnography in Hollywood at the time and the connection the Manson 'Family' had to these circles. The thesis if you will, of the first half of the O'Neil book at least, is simply that the official Bugliosi narrative doesn't add up and there has clearly been a cover-up and obfuscation involved in this case. In part this is why I recommend Nikolas Schreck's book too, because this goes much further to illustrate that Manson - while seemingly incoherent (but that's another topic) - almost certainly wasn't planning to start a race war. The whole 'Helter Skelter' thing is fairly discredited by these two books. The Schreck book is a bit harder to get your hands on in my experience, but there are also quite a few interviews with Schreck talking about this and laying out the basics of his book. Again, I highly recommend both of these books!
Great video! I also want to point out Orange County, 5th largest in the country, used to be known one of the most conservative part of the US. Anaheim, home of Disneyland, was especially conservative, quiet fitting because Walt Disney was also very conservative
@@moonshineiSounds like the typical story of a rebellious child taking the opposite view of the world to his parents. Just in the opposite way we re used to
Love the video! It is a great summary of California's political contradictions; wish you would have gone a little bit more in-depth to Jerry Brown's second term and Newsom, but maybe that is too recent.
jerry was always a fiscal conservative, while being socially more left leaning. By today's replublican standards, he is "left leaning" but jerry, and by extension, newsom (who was jerry's lieutenant gov) are very centric and not far left
My dad's from the Bay area, but I grew up on the East Coast. I always found the real CA that I visited much different than the scary/socialist/Left Coast CA that is always talked about in the media. Thanks for the historical background on this, I found it really interesting and helpful.
Same deal about the PNW. I'm actually a leftist, so there's a little "fuck I wish it was the deeply left place you think it is" about home. Washington and Oregon are deeply tied to their respective tech sectors, and corporate friendly policies. We have some really neat progressive legislation, but still have some ugly ties to racist housing policy, deeply expensive cost of living, and a distressingly and increasingly red rural population as young people move to urban centers. As most places, the left coast is a deeply complicated place.
@@kaminsod4077 Also, I'm from rural Washington. I miss a more purple, less insane, rural PNW. That's my home, and racist suburbanites who knocked down forest land and bought out my neighbors farms are to blame.
@@sekaiyoru01 "Big words"? What, "discrimination"? "Acceptable"? If either of those is a "big word" to you, you have bigger problems than some guy on the Internet.
NorCal born, but SoCal resident (also briefly lived in Texas). Yeah NIMBYs quite literally hold us back in urbanization. It probably wasn’t until recently that I had realized California was the testing ground for car dependent cities and why this seems to exist across our state. And yeah I’ve always known that we’re the origin of movies, tech, fast food, gourmet food, clothing, music, literature, video games, and everything in between.
15:54 While I was in Environmental Studies class after attending Earth Day at Fremont, my professor told me that half of not most people attending the Earth Day event didn’t care about it and only care for free stuff. I am not one of them but it’s pretty bad that people don’t care about awareness apparently. That’s my experience.
I'm on the side of your professor. I have yet to see anything that shows that awareness matters. At UVA people would use "awareness" as an excuse to get extremely drunk.
My parents managed to migrate to California right in the middle of Pete Wilson's governorship so you can imagine the fear that pervaded the era because he was so vehemently anti-migrant and so was the general culture pervading even the traditionally Mexican neighborhoods of Los Angeles at that time, I only learned about this as I got older because I was curious about why we never crossed bridges (we sometimes went to San Pedro/Port of Los Angeles and there's a beautiful suspension bridge) and it was apparently because way back during Wilson's administration they'd place hidden ICE agents in places like bridges, toll booths, etc., and that rumor drove them into avoiding any and all bridges or traffic choke points for literal years, it was only when I had to explain to them that that no longer happens that they finally relaxed on that point, but yeah, Wilson did a horrible number to the whole community like that.
Things would be a lot better if Dianne Feinstein beat Wilson in 1990. Not only would things be better for immigrants, but Biden could still easily appoint judges right now
@MrGksarathy That's exactly why I brought it up. She would only be able to serve 2 terms as governor but has been able to serve unlimited terms in the Senate
Great video - would love to see something really diving into Northern California in regards to the redwood empire shifting into the emerald triangle. Think you could tell a fascinating story that is an important part of the fabric of California. Towns like Garberville, Covelo, or Hayfork are really a massive complex of semi-legal operations that each tell quite an interesting story. Another good topic would be the Salinas valley considering the multiple styles of ag that have been practiced there at different points.
@6:41 Latasha Harlins, tensions were SO HIGH at the time a simple misunderstanding lead to a child getting shot in the head, and her killer getting community service. Ugh.
also, not to mention the OJ case. There was so much mistrust of the justice system at that time. Looking at the evidence today, he was most likely guilty, but he got off free.
Go to sponsr.is/cs_cynical and use code CYNICAL to save 25% off today. Thanks to Curiosity Stream for sponsoring today’s video. Click "read more" for further info, corrections, and bibliography Thanks for watching! Please consider supporting the channel by buying merch: teespring.com/stores/the-cynical-historian Or by donating to my Patreon: www.patreon.com/CynicalHistorian *[reserved for Errata]* 3:33 - Mendez v. Westminster was a 9th Circuit Appellate decision, as in federal court (thx Ken Landon) *Related videos* California history playlist: ruclips.net/p/PLjnwpaclU4wUD7y8912ViyAtGfraKi9ru Party Switch: ruclips.net/video/hBHHIJG8Rds/видео.html Political polarization series: ruclips.net/video/i-E14o6Do9Y/видео.html Judas and Black Messiah / Black Panthers: ruclips.net/video/fxFowVDa36k/видео.html *Bibliography* Jefferson Cowie, _The Great Exception: The New Deal and the Limits of American Politics_ (Princeton, N.Jer.: Princeton University Press, 2016). amzn.to/2ZbPOar Jefferson Cowie, _Stayin’ Alive: The 1970s and the Last Days of the Working Class_ (New York: The New Press, 2010). amzn.to/2KQT8Tb Christopher Gair, _The American Counterculture_ (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2007). amzn.to/3uQDiy2 John Mack Faragher, _California: An American History_ (New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 2022). amzn.to/3PQZmTo Daniel Lucks, _Reconsidering Reagan: Racism, Republicans, and the Road to Trump_ (Boston: Beacon Press, 2021). amzn.to/3wHugnp Rick Perlstein, _Before the Storm: Barry Goldwater and the Unmaking of the American Consensus,_ reprint (2001; New York: Nation Books, 2009). amzn.to/3rre0od Rick Perlstein, _Nixonland: The Rise of a President and the Fracturing of America_ (New York: Scribner, 2008). amzn.to/3sLTDlQ Rick Perlstein, _The Invisible Bridge: The Fall of Nixon and the Rise of Reagan_ (New York: Simon and Schuster, 2014). amzn.to/306XMo9 Rick Perlstein, _Reaganland: America’s Right Turn, 1976-1980_ (New York: Simon and Schuster: 2020). amzn.to/2NZ4f1R Kevin Starr, _California: A History_ (New York: Modern Library, 2007). amzn.to/30uufrM Kevin Starr, _Golden Dreams: California in an Age of Abundance, 1950-1963_ (Oxford, U.K.: Oxford University Press, 2009). amzn.to/3qGyyve
As a resident with more center-left views, it's always shocked me that California has a reputation for being so left-wing. While I get the reasons why, I think this video did a good job at laying out why California isn't as ideologically left-wing as people seem to believe.
I haven’t watched your entire California series yet, but I am very excited about it! One topic I’d love to see in a future video - why California is so welcoming to transplants and the shared identity of those of us who migrate here to call it home. If you have the pleasure to watch Elton John’s live concert from last November live from Dodger Stadium (available to stream on Capitalist Mouse plus), he talks a bit about how much California means to his family and why he calls Los Angeles home, his sons and husband call it home, and home would never be anywhere else for him. It’s beautiful, and encapsulated so much of what I feel. I’ve met hundreds of other people from all different countries and all walks of life who come here to pursue freedom from racism, sexism, homophobia, and we have a ton of problems in CA like anywhere else - but I think it’s worth exploring why despite the high cost of living, so many millions of people who were not born here call this place home and will literally do anything to stay here. (Hint - it’s nothing to do with the weather, as this snowy and cold year has shown - it’s been a miserable last 8 months of rain and cold and I’m still proud as ever to call this place home). I could literally never dream of raising a family anywhere else and would never subject my children to have to grow up anywhere else, as I know what an awful life I had on the East Coast growing up where I was regularly bullied and beat up for being bisexual and had rocks thrown at me and none of the kids ever got in trouble and I spent my first 17 years suicidal constantly until I moved to Los Angeles. I am so proud to be an Angeleno. I’d love to see a video exploring California pride with a specific section on Angeleno pride and San Fransisco Pride, as we know that city has a rich history of accepting LGBTQIA+ individuals from other states and countries that rejected us, and the things that make us all so proud to call California home. Would be cool to see you do maybe Zoom or Skype interviews or in person interviews as well with some of us who migrated here to avoid persecution or violence or dangerous and unsafe conditions in our states or countries of birth. I don’t believe in war or the right to bear arms and identify as a communist, and would never fight for America. But if California wanted to secede, and they would have me, I would take a bullet for and go to battle for my home pride of California any day of the week. I would die to protect my right to call this place home. I’d love to see a video on the history of California pride and hear from other people from different walks of life who feel the same! Amazing series and keep up the awesome work and congrats on the PhD! 👏🏻🎉💪🏻 Also maybe worth mentioning - as much pride as Joe Biden has in his home state of Delaware or Pennsylvania (I think he grew up in both as I’ve heard him refer to both as home?), even he has a bust of Cesar Chavez behind him in the Oval Office. Why isn’t Cesar Chavez day a national holiday yet? Maybe another great video topic! I truly think that it’s long overdue for other states to learn about his amazing impact on the world.
As a lefty, political junkie, and someone who lived in California, I've never heard the phrase "Left Coast" before.😂 I would never even consider it because having been a resident I've met some of the most conservative groups of people. Cypher gets it right. It's incredibly purple. Also great clip of the conservative granddaddy Ronald Reagan saying people shouldn't be walking around with weapons...of course they meant black and brown people. But the logic should hold for everything. But alas, you have conservative gun toters in the news today because they're walking around schools with their AR15s to protest how small their penises are...I mean to protest gun reform.
@@noskpain2792 That claim feels absurd. So much of his policy, rhetoric and style is still used today in the conservative movement. He's also beloved by many conservatives. This smacks of a no true scotsman to square beliefs with his anti (black) gun ownership.
@@noskpain2792 reagan didn't ruin marriage. marriage is hard. You could argue less corporate taxes and rising inequality is a cause of less marriages, but thats not a left leaning position
I think you're missing an important historical parallel. The rapid growth of California leading to ideological quirky extremes and social revolutions is precisely what happened in New York state's "burnt over district" emerging following the explosive growth coming with the Erie Canal. Rapid expansion of population without established social traditions leads to extreme and novel social movements. In the 1820s it was more religious, but it was a more religious era to begin with. One of the key 'whys" about Cali has to include the sociological impact of the spontaneous rise of unstructured communities.
7:00 Yes, Cesar Chavez helped lead the union efforts you can't also forget the tireless work of Dolores Huerta! She's an important figure in US history for workers' rights and representing Latino interests. She was also partners and co-founder with Cesar Chavez.
Cesar chavez was against illegal immigrants. It baffles me how Hispanics there think illegals lowering their wages helps them. I think many have family that are without documents so they have no choice.
3rd generation OC resident here, I just binged your CA series. It is super informative and interesting, you did a great job. I Found this channel because I'm trying to research Californias only pirate. Someone at the Pala Chief mine told me about him and how he would hide treasure in the hills between OC and SD and would leave a key hanging in a CA oak to signify where the treasure was buried. (btw the mining district of SD and the Tiffany co. and the Chinese miners would be a good segment to include) I feel like you could easily do 10 + more episodes on CA there's so much here and I love learning about my home state.
@@matt_9112 And nothing in that range/neither of those edges falls anywhere on the left. The American political spectrum is different than pretty much all of the other places, even close neighbors like Canada, which at least has a social democratic party.
@@BradyPostma I think that's a bit more accurate. The thing is, both parties get funding from the same corporate oligarchs and both parties work to represent those interests, so the idea that there are even two "sides" might be kind of pushing it.
Depends on your metrics. “Left Wing” and “Right Wing” are very broad descriptions, and can mean very different things depending on where you go, and what the context and is. It’s why I prefer to use the terms “American Left” and “American Right”, because it establishes context.
@@dakotadurham4788Yes, it is subjective. The American left is on the European right and the European right is on the South American centre. But broadly put, when compared to other countries in a similar situation (High income, multicultural, democratic) the Democrats are on the right side of the spectrum.
They call the Democratic Party a far left party because the Republicans don’t like anyone taking their guns and their private property and Republicans don’t like Anything that they consider WOKE.
Nimbys are smart too, they are trying to expand Malibu federal reserve to encircle Calabasas Agoura Thousand Oaks and even Simi Valley. This is to take land off the market creating exclusive island communties separated by buffer zones 30 min from LA sounded by national park unable to grow to allow affordable anything.
LAPD: currently 0 for 5 on race riots! NIMBYs are by far THE biggest challenge California is going to face in the future. Just look at the mess that they’re making of all the transit projects that we desperately need (from the bullet train to the Sepulveda pass metro!) My grandma actually grew up in Nixon’s congressional district and **hated** him (to the point where she had my elementary school aged mom and uncles campaigning for McGovern!) she said she knew he was rotten from his time with McCarthy. Her “I told you so!” Moment after watergate is still the stuff of family legend.
California, like all states, is growing old. No longer a population of young folks, old folks trend conservative. Religion, too, becomes more important to oldsters, hence the rise of Christian nationalism. As the boomers continue to die off, this deep conservative movement will go with them. Boomers are an enormous group of people and their effects have changed the world at every step of their aging.
Nixon was intelligent and had a lot of positive influence and policies domestic and especially overseas, but his failures (not getting out of Vietnam sooner when the writing was on the wall, the ill-fated "war on drugs" and then of course Watergate) as well as his personal insecurity complex overcame him.
I agree, but it should be worth a lot. I'm so sick of University Presidents and deans getting paid 100s of thousands but they can't take care of students or pay professors fairly? The end of tenure. Tenure is important as we need those voices of dissent every now and then.
I don't understand Charles Manson. Hippies are the new left, but race war is the far right. How did he unite both ideas? I guess to understand crazy, I might have to go crazy. I'm not willing to do that.
I think of Manson as just another cult leader with a murderous streak. He's the kind of crazy we see with all cults, just adding a thin veneer of the cultural zeitgeist of the 1960s. Also, the idea of a revolutionary race war was fairly popular with the far left in that time period. Look at the Symbionese Liberation Army, The George Jackson Brigade and others. The left's idea of a race war was to liberate the oppressed races while the right's is to reestablish white dominance.
The race war was not something he needed to stand behind, but rather the means to an end. He felt the race war would break the system, and in the aftermath, he would be able to create his utopia, as the forces of power would be tied up dealing with something else and not bothering him.
@@GreenJeepAdventures That sounds like the Boogaloo Bois today. Different reforms in mind, but they share the idea that the old system must burn in order to bring about the new system.
Silicon Valley will be a very interesting episode - I read a little about California in some encyclopedia style description and there was quite a but of information - I'm eager to see where this one is going to take us, and then watch more
If you are honestly looking for suggestions for a "quick" video on California I would recommend a history of state secession and ultimate breakup. This can lead to the future of california borders, interstate treaties, city borders, and my favorite possible new states and their flags!
Couple things to mention, however. Republicans have very little power at the state level, they only have some at city levels. Also, SEQUA laws and rent control in cities like San Francisco have had a major impact on the housing market that, along with other regulations, makes it too difficult, costly, and bureaucratic for building contractors to invest in new housing there.
I wish you would have said more about how Gray Davis got screwed and wrongfully blamed for the energy crisis, but I get that it wasn't the focus of this video.
'beatnicks in the 50s rebelled against this conformity' and by rebelled they just wrote some stuff and sat around talking about how the system sucks. I guess true rebellion was too much work.
@@grimaffiliations3671 I hope you're right. She is obsessed with public urination after her husband's conviction and registration as a sex offender from an action involving a minor and his penis. California is very conservative once you leave the cities and denser suburbs. I live in Placer County, in the town of Loomis. There are signs left over from 45's reign of mediocrity, ineptitude and dishonesty. People don't realize the size and variety of landscape geographical and cultural. Most of Northern California's towns were the result of the railroad needing places to stop and allow their breaks to cool or do maintenance or change crews or refuel. Placer County is where gold was first discovered and while Auburn exists for that reason.
I grew up in southern California and that's also where in person on two different occasions I saw neo nazis. Because California has such a big population, you're more likely to see crazy people. Same with Florida and Texas
Gotta love the Jack Chick tract "The Gay Blade" above the Yes on 6 sign seen at 15:23 Correction at 15:33, the "resident" who assassinated Milk and Moscone was a former SF Supervisor who recently resigned, regretted his decision, and wanted his job back. Moscone, with Milk's pushing, denied Dan White an appointment to his old seat, which is ultimately led to him assassinating them. He apparently had other people he hoped to target that he felt were responsible for him not getting his seat back, but thankfully it did not go further than what already happened.
I always see bumper stickers that say “Don’t California my Florida” (I live in FL) and it makes me cringe! First of all this state is more republican than most people know so it becoming democrat is ridiculous and most likely won’t happen. Second, with the information in this video that bumper sticker doesn’t make any sense
The vast majority of the state is democrat and Republicans have no power besides at certain city levels. In the state legislature they can do almost nothing.
Now I have somewhere to send the next idiot (you know, the one who's never been to California, yet they 'know' all about it) who says "Left Coast" to you. I am relieved. Thank you
Besides maybe Utah and Vermont, urban areas vote dem and rural rep. California is a mostly urban state so it largly votes Dem. Socially it makes sense, economically makes less sense to me for why this is the case.
california is farely fiscally conservative. Though they do have a very progressive tax policy, except for property taxes (which are low due to neoliberal policies in the '70s)
Very Interesting video. I like how you reminded people California is pretty conservative in terms of economics. I really hope you do a video about how Texas moved to the right.
I think "Left Coast" arose from the French term "Left Bank" (Rive Gauche). That term arose because in the French Revolution the most radical electorate in Paris was on the west (left) bank of the River Sienne. Also "Left" as a political term itself was a product of the French Revolution: Anti-Monarchists sat on the left side of the French National Assembly. Politically, CA did not first become associated with Progressivism in the 1960s but around 1910 when Republican Progressives such as Hiram Johnson became dominant in CA politics (as an opposition to prior political machine control that Southern Pacific Railway previously had). This Progressive Era brought female suffrage, the initiative process, and fair labor laws. In 1912, CA voted Left by voting Theodore Roosevelt over William Taft and Woodrow Wilson. I think the political term "Left" as applied to CA is an over-simplification: There has always been a libertarian (as opposed to economically Left ) element to Progressivism in CA. This is evidenced by CA voters supporting marijuana legalization in 1996 and 2016. In those referenda many registered Republicans voted for legalization. Also California's association with "free love" reflects a libertarian strain.
I’m 66. A California native. Lived in CA 2/3 of my life. In a democrat voting family. Seen the changes. Went from the Golden State too the Sh$thole State. Literally. California’s problems are self inflicted. It’s now a one party state. The one party is owned by the billionaires. It appoints the judges and hires the bureaucracy. Makes promises it can never keep.
The only problem you have is that trump lost. You can’t cope with that so you will find anything to blame.. after the 2020 election all trampaz started calling the blue states sh$Thales in very short time of period. I don’t think they changed this much so quickly.
@@BradyPostma Are you serious? I ask because the independent candidate got a considerable chunk of the vote in last years gubernatorial election. So I don’t exactly know how to answer that question.
@@jamesdragonforce I'm genuinely ignorant of Oregon's internal politics, and sincerely interested in hearing about it from an informed resident of that state.
love your channel and the video. Gotta say tho that Nixion did not end the war in Vietnam, he consistently tried to escelate our presence and then left when we had objectively lost
Yeah, a topic to cover about California history is the huge military and intelligence presence in the state - I call it the Military-Industrial-Complex archipelago.
Definitely interesting and balanced take. Can second the purple tendencies having lived in Duncan Hunter's district, gone to highschool with his family (and I think he directed some funds to build a library there), and the travesty that was Proposition 8.
And my father organized for me a college in the east But I went to California, the sunshine and the beach My parents and my lecturers could never understand Why I gave it up for music and The Free Electric Band just for the sake of completeness..
Since you covered Leary and LSD as part of the counterculture movement, you should read Stanislav Grof's "Realms of the Human Unconscious: Observations from LSD Research." Great book, and great video!
@@CynicalHistorian Yes thank you for replying. I think you were confusing Mendez v Westminster with the Perez v Sharp CA Supreme Court decision which was an analogue of Loving v Virginia but with a Mexican American plaintiff rather than an African-American one. Like Mendez, Perez occurred about 2 decades before the analogous US Supreme Court decision, was related to California, and involved Mexican American plaintiffs instead of African-American ones, though the logic of it also ended up benefiting African-Americans down the line.
California definitely has logical gaps within its own liberal demeonear. If you poll California to build low income housing, they will approve of it, but if you ask to build housing, it will often be rejected.
Little off topic but Earl Warren was freaking awesome! And I really wish Thomas Dewey would’ve won the 1948 election because I feel like the republican party today would be in a much better place right now today
I'm in Washington state and it's much the same story here. West of the mountains is pretty solidly blue, but east and south are a different story. Humans are weird.
Not surprising at all actually. What you described is very typical of nearly all 50 states: metro areas are solid blue while rural areas are solid red. The bigger the cities get, the more blue a state becomes.
Geography plays a huge role in the values we hold, irrespective of political parties. Rural trends towards isolation and with it, lacking diversity, thus is a natural fit for conservatism. Urbanism crams a huge number of people in a smaller area, promoting diversity of ideas, options, and new ideas to take hold. This naturally will trend towards liberalism.
@@ziqi92 What's fascinating are the exceptions to that rule. Florida has quite a few big cities that are growing, and yet the whole state is trending more rightward in recent years. Vermont is very rural, and yet it's probably the most liberal leaning state in the country (excluding DC). New Mexico is also very rural and leans more liberal.
@@LarryLopez91 yeah, Alaska as well. Anchorage is a red city because of its heavy reliance on fossil fuel revenue. Ironically, the rest of rural Alaska votes blue, probably due to environmental conservation priorities and the fact that natives all around the country tend to vote blue, which also explains the northeast corner of Arizona where the Navajo Nation resides.
I would love to see you cover anything in Placer County, especially as it relates to agriculture and the railroads. I'm getting ready to start a youtube channel with a hyper focus on Placer County because it's where I have called home for longer than anywhere else. It is one of the largest counties by size and I suspect also one of the wealthiest because of the gold initially and now the agriculture. Great video and I really appreciate your videos.
California is a good state to live in, yet some of the people whether they're Republican or Democrats can be to overenthusiastic in their political parties 🤔 .
Saying the Moscone and Milk assassinations were by an "angry resident" is true but a bit misleading. Dan White wasn't just an angry resident. He had been, until his resignation a bit over two weeks before the murders, another member of the Board of Supervisors who began serving at the same time as Milk. The full story is beyond what can be put in a comment of reasonable length.
AAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (i AM SOOOO GIDDY!! ok, caps lock off, lol. still giddy!) New Cynical Historian! One of THE best teachers and thinkers alive (no pressure) is BACK on the scene, crispy & clean!! Hell Yeah! Welcome back! The world has needed you- Love yr stuff! ttyl, T-
I like the Economist's different NIMBYs: NIMBY: Not In My BackYard NOTE: Not Over There, Either BANANA: Build Absolutely Nothing Anywhere Near Anything
When people say “well taxes and such that’s why people are moving to Texas” well let’s say this. California walked so Texas could run. Will Texas keep it going? I don’t think so.
I was born in San Diego in the 1980's It used to be the heart of Reagan Country.. My dad used to tell me how lucky we were to live in San Diego in the 1980s.
Diggin the video but dismayed that history once again leaves out Larry Itliong and the predominantly Filipino Agricultural Workers Organizing Committee (AWOC). They were the ones that initiated the Delano Grape Strike and was later joined by Cesar Chavez and the NFWA which then later merged to form the United Farm Workers. Perhaps an update could be considered to mention that esp since Itliong and the Filipinos have been left out of this so much that even the Filipinos in Cali and the US are mostly unaware of this. Chavez is nearly a household name and has his own Hollywood movie which also barley mentions Itliong.
If California were divided it would be north of Sacramento to the Oregon border. It would be very Christian and republican and also white. California I democrat in name only and is more republican but the republican party of Nixon and Goldwater time period.
I think Jerry Brown played a large role in CA's transformation in the mid 70s. I had the privilege of meeting him when I was a kid in 1975 when he was running for President. My Dad was in charge of his campaign during that time in Maryland. Guy was so kind. A true man of the people.
An episode on the most important cultural depiction of California: An analysis on how the state is portrayed in Red Hot Chili Peppers lyrics
"Ding dang ding dong ding dong dong, ding dang (california)" -RHCP
Dude, I’m begging you. Someday you gotta do a New York State history series. Everyone likes to focus on NYC but there’s so much more to our Great State
This. Dude the Hudson Valley is a gem. Most people don't know anything about it. The closest people know is that Albany (exists somewhere)
also when most people think of the city anyway, it's just the lower half of Manhattan. I grew up in the Bronx and it has some of the coolest old architecture.
I grew in Upstate NY my whole life and 100% agree NY needs a video. People seemed shocked anything north of NYC exists
@@snbks4ever cuz it’s the only part that matters
Yeah its always funny hearing upstate people feel the need to always vent to me how overrated they thought NYC was, which always made me chuckle.
Then I’d tell them how Westchester is upstate and just watch their brains melt
@@avacadomangobanana2588 not at all
Congratulations on your PHD Cypher!
I love this video! Especially as a life-long California resident. One critique I have though - I recommend reading both Tom O'Neil's book "Chaos: The CIA, Charles Manson, and the Secret History of the 1960's" and Nikolas Schreck's "The Manson File: Myth and Reality of an Outlaw Shaman (Revised Ultimate Edition)" (for a pretty thorough debunking of the idea that Manson was intending to start a race war. Bugliosi's assertions have been pretty well demolished at this point - a point that wouldn't have been known in the late 1960's early 1970's - but which deserves clarification today imo.
California Love
Was the thesis of Chaos that Manson was *not* trying to start a race war? I thought it was that he had multiple incoherent and dangerous ideas and that the police were instructed to ignore him
@@yrobtsvt The unusual police interaction with Manson was one component, and a lot of people come away with this take after reading Chaos. However O'Neil, like any good journalist, takes pains to only assert what he actually can conclusively prove and other areas that give rise to ideas like the CIA connection to Manson etc. he is careful to distinguish as circumstantial evidence only. The circumstantial evidence is very compelling to me, but so are some of the alternative theories which conflict with this narrative. These are outlined very well by Nikolas Schreck - but in brief it has to do with the layers of drugs, pimping, and p*rnography in Hollywood at the time and the connection the Manson 'Family' had to these circles. The thesis if you will, of the first half of the O'Neil book at least, is simply that the official Bugliosi narrative doesn't add up and there has clearly been a cover-up and obfuscation involved in this case. In part this is why I recommend Nikolas Schreck's book too, because this goes much further to illustrate that Manson - while seemingly incoherent (but that's another topic) - almost certainly wasn't planning to start a race war. The whole 'Helter Skelter' thing is fairly discredited by these two books. The Schreck book is a bit harder to get your hands on in my experience, but there are also quite a few interviews with Schreck talking about this and laying out the basics of his book. Again, I highly recommend both of these books!
The state has always been one of the edgiest and most unpredictable. Might I suggest something on the California prison movement.
California is a good example of 'States being the labratory for democracy' In the sense of giving small innovations a place to develop.
Great video! I also want to point out Orange County, 5th largest in the country, used to be known one of the most conservative part of the US. Anaheim, home of Disneyland, was especially conservative, quiet fitting because Walt Disney was also very conservative
That's because some of it's founding members were members of the KKK
Times have changed
Yeah this still exists in South County (where I live) but go up to Anaheim, Santa Ana, and those areas and it’s blue as LA.
Walt Disney being a conservative was always funny to me because his parents were ardent socialists
@@moonshineiSounds like the typical story of a rebellious child taking the opposite view of the world to his parents. Just in the opposite way we re used to
Love the video! It is a great summary of California's political contradictions; wish you would have gone a little bit more in-depth to Jerry Brown's second term and Newsom, but maybe that is too recent.
kinda hard to do Newsom when he still current governor so his story still being written
jerry was always a fiscal conservative, while being socially more left leaning. By today's replublican standards, he is "left leaning" but jerry, and by extension, newsom (who was jerry's lieutenant gov) are very centric and not far left
My dad's from the Bay area, but I grew up on the East Coast. I always found the real CA that I visited much different than the scary/socialist/Left Coast CA that is always talked about in the media. Thanks for the historical background on this, I found it really interesting and helpful.
Same deal about the PNW.
I'm actually a leftist, so there's a little "fuck I wish it was the deeply left place you think it is" about home.
Washington and Oregon are deeply tied to their respective tech sectors, and corporate friendly policies. We have some really neat progressive legislation, but still have some ugly ties to racist housing policy, deeply expensive cost of living, and a distressingly and increasingly red rural population as young people move to urban centers.
As most places, the left coast is a deeply complicated place.
@@callusklaus2413 Oh no rural people who don't vote the way you want them to, how scary.
@@kaminsod4077 Well, a sizable amount of those red voters want me and my friends dead so
@@kaminsod4077 Also, I'm from rural Washington. I miss a more purple, less insane, rural PNW. That's my home, and racist suburbanites who knocked down forest land and bought out my neighbors farms are to blame.
@@kaminsod4077 not anymore scarier than the "socialist" state that doesn't vote the way you want them to.
5:26 stands out to me. "Notice how they claim 'freedom' is being allowed to discriminate against black people."
Because any form of discrimination will cloak itself in the acceptable terms of the day, if said discrimination isn't exactly acceptable on its face.
@@elijahpadilla5083 Yeah we get it you use big words
@@sekaiyoru01 "Big words"? What, "discrimination"? "Acceptable"? If either of those is a "big word" to you, you have bigger problems than some guy on the Internet.
NorCal born, but SoCal resident (also briefly lived in Texas). Yeah NIMBYs quite literally hold us back in urbanization. It probably wasn’t until recently that I had realized California was the testing ground for car dependent cities and why this seems to exist across our state. And yeah I’ve always known that we’re the origin of movies, tech, fast food, gourmet food, clothing, music, literature, video games, and everything in between.
Damn and here i thought it was Texas that started the car dependency trend a long time ago.
I think Texas also took California playbook for car dependent cities too
15:54 While I was in Environmental Studies class after attending Earth Day at Fremont, my professor told me that half of not most people attending the Earth Day event didn’t care about it and only care for free stuff. I am not one of them but it’s pretty bad that people don’t care about awareness apparently. That’s my experience.
I always change my oil on Earth Day and dump it into a field behind my house. 😆
I'm on the side of your professor. I have yet to see anything that shows that awareness matters. At UVA people would use "awareness" as an excuse to get extremely drunk.
My parents managed to migrate to California right in the middle of Pete Wilson's governorship so you can imagine the fear that pervaded the era because he was so vehemently anti-migrant and so was the general culture pervading even the traditionally Mexican neighborhoods of Los Angeles at that time, I only learned about this as I got older because I was curious about why we never crossed bridges (we sometimes went to San Pedro/Port of Los Angeles and there's a beautiful suspension bridge) and it was apparently because way back during Wilson's administration they'd place hidden ICE agents in places like bridges, toll booths, etc., and that rumor drove them into avoiding any and all bridges or traffic choke points for literal years, it was only when I had to explain to them that that no longer happens that they finally relaxed on that point, but yeah, Wilson did a horrible number to the whole community like that.
Things would be a lot better if Dianne Feinstein beat Wilson in 1990. Not only would things be better for immigrants, but Biden could still easily appoint judges right now
@@aristotleasparaguspodcast1129Not a statement I expected to hear, given what's going on with her right now.
@MrGksarathy That's exactly why I brought it up. She would only be able to serve 2 terms as governor but has been able to serve unlimited terms in the Senate
@@aristotleasparaguspodcast1129 why would we want anything to be easier for Biden to do? He’s been a nightmare
Keeping illegals out is not horrible… if your family was legal they wouldn’t have anything to worry about. My family legally immigrated from Mexico
Great video - would love to see something really diving into Northern California in regards to the redwood empire shifting into the emerald triangle. Think you could tell a fascinating story that is an important part of the fabric of California. Towns like Garberville, Covelo, or Hayfork are really a massive complex of semi-legal operations that each tell quite an interesting story.
Another good topic would be the Salinas valley considering the multiple styles of ag that have been practiced there at different points.
What an eye-opener! 🤯 So much I didn't bother to learn about CA's political history
@6:41 Latasha Harlins, tensions were SO HIGH at the time a simple misunderstanding lead to a child getting shot in the head, and her killer getting community service. Ugh.
also, not to mention the OJ case. There was so much mistrust of the justice system at that time. Looking at the evidence today, he was most likely guilty, but he got off free.
Go to sponsr.is/cs_cynical and use code CYNICAL to save 25% off today. Thanks to Curiosity Stream for sponsoring today’s video. Click "read more" for further info, corrections, and bibliography
Thanks for watching! Please consider supporting the channel by buying merch: teespring.com/stores/the-cynical-historian
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*[reserved for Errata]*
3:33 - Mendez v. Westminster was a 9th Circuit Appellate decision, as in federal court (thx Ken Landon)
*Related videos*
California history playlist: ruclips.net/p/PLjnwpaclU4wUD7y8912ViyAtGfraKi9ru
Party Switch: ruclips.net/video/hBHHIJG8Rds/видео.html
Political polarization series: ruclips.net/video/i-E14o6Do9Y/видео.html
Judas and Black Messiah / Black Panthers: ruclips.net/video/fxFowVDa36k/видео.html
*Bibliography*
Jefferson Cowie, _The Great Exception: The New Deal and the Limits of American Politics_ (Princeton, N.Jer.: Princeton University Press, 2016). amzn.to/2ZbPOar
Jefferson Cowie, _Stayin’ Alive: The 1970s and the Last Days of the Working Class_ (New York: The New Press, 2010). amzn.to/2KQT8Tb
Christopher Gair, _The American Counterculture_ (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2007). amzn.to/3uQDiy2
John Mack Faragher, _California: An American History_ (New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 2022). amzn.to/3PQZmTo
Daniel Lucks, _Reconsidering Reagan: Racism, Republicans, and the Road to Trump_ (Boston: Beacon Press, 2021). amzn.to/3wHugnp
Rick Perlstein, _Before the Storm: Barry Goldwater and the Unmaking of the American Consensus,_ reprint (2001; New York: Nation Books, 2009). amzn.to/3rre0od
Rick Perlstein, _Nixonland: The Rise of a President and the Fracturing of America_ (New York: Scribner, 2008). amzn.to/3sLTDlQ
Rick Perlstein, _The Invisible Bridge: The Fall of Nixon and the Rise of Reagan_ (New York: Simon and Schuster, 2014). amzn.to/306XMo9
Rick Perlstein, _Reaganland: America’s Right Turn, 1976-1980_ (New York: Simon and Schuster: 2020). amzn.to/2NZ4f1R
Kevin Starr, _California: A History_ (New York: Modern Library, 2007). amzn.to/30uufrM
Kevin Starr, _Golden Dreams: California in an Age of Abundance, 1950-1963_ (Oxford, U.K.: Oxford University Press, 2009). amzn.to/3qGyyve
I always love Reagan's speech where he says that there's no need for citizens to open carry firearms. The NRA hates this speech.😂
As a resident with more center-left views, it's always shocked me that California has a reputation for being so left-wing. While I get the reasons why, I think this video did a good job at laying out why California isn't as ideologically left-wing as people seem to believe.
I haven’t watched your entire California series yet, but I am very excited about it!
One topic I’d love to see in a future video - why California is so welcoming to transplants and the shared identity of those of us who migrate here to call it home. If you have the pleasure to watch Elton John’s live concert from last November live from Dodger Stadium (available to stream on Capitalist Mouse plus), he talks a bit about how much California means to his family and why he calls Los Angeles home, his sons and husband call it home, and home would never be anywhere else for him. It’s beautiful, and encapsulated so much of what I feel.
I’ve met hundreds of other people from all different countries and all walks of life who come here to pursue freedom from racism, sexism, homophobia, and we have a ton of problems in CA like anywhere else - but I think it’s worth exploring why despite the high cost of living, so many millions of people who were not born here call this place home and will literally do anything to stay here. (Hint - it’s nothing to do with the weather, as this snowy and cold year has shown - it’s been a miserable last 8 months of rain and cold and I’m still proud as ever to call this place home). I could literally never dream of raising a family anywhere else and would never subject my children to have to grow up anywhere else, as I know what an awful life I had on the East Coast growing up where I was regularly bullied and beat up for being bisexual and had rocks thrown at me and none of the kids ever got in trouble and I spent my first 17 years suicidal constantly until I moved to Los Angeles. I am so proud to be an Angeleno. I’d love to see a video exploring California pride with a specific section on Angeleno pride and San Fransisco Pride, as we know that city has a rich history of accepting LGBTQIA+ individuals from other states and countries that rejected us, and the things that make us all so proud to call California home. Would be cool to see you do maybe Zoom or Skype interviews or in person interviews as well with some of us who migrated here to avoid persecution or violence or dangerous and unsafe conditions in our states or countries of birth. I don’t believe in war or the right to bear arms and identify as a communist, and would never fight for America. But if California wanted to secede, and they would have me, I would take a bullet for and go to battle for my home pride of California any day of the week. I would die to protect my right to call this place home. I’d love to see a video on the history of California pride and hear from other people from different walks of life who feel the same!
Amazing series and keep up the awesome work and congrats on the PhD! 👏🏻🎉💪🏻
Also maybe worth mentioning - as much pride as Joe Biden has in his home state of Delaware or Pennsylvania (I think he grew up in both as I’ve heard him refer to both as home?), even he has a bust of Cesar Chavez behind him in the Oval Office. Why isn’t Cesar Chavez day a national holiday yet? Maybe another great video topic! I truly think that it’s long overdue for other states to learn about his amazing impact on the world.
As a lefty, political junkie, and someone who lived in California, I've never heard the phrase "Left Coast" before.😂 I would never even consider it because having been a resident I've met some of the most conservative groups of people. Cypher gets it right. It's incredibly purple.
Also great clip of the conservative granddaddy Ronald Reagan saying people shouldn't be walking around with weapons...of course they meant black and brown people. But the logic should hold for everything. But alas, you have conservative gun toters in the news today because they're walking around schools with their AR15s to protest how small their penises are...I mean to protest gun reform.
Reagan was never conservative at least by today's standards.
@@noskpain2792 That claim feels absurd. So much of his policy, rhetoric and style is still used today in the conservative movement.
He's also beloved by many conservatives.
This smacks of a no true scotsman to square beliefs with his anti (black) gun ownership.
@@callusklaus2413 He literally ruined marriage. Percentage of married people has declined since Reagan years.
@@noskpain2792 Buddy I don't like him either, but conservatives certainly do, take it up with the old people you see at church, not me!
@@noskpain2792 reagan didn't ruin marriage. marriage is hard. You could argue less corporate taxes and rising inequality is a cause of less marriages, but thats not a left leaning position
High population =more diversity=more exposure to more povs.
You didnt need a twenty minute video for this, the answer is easy. California is called the left coast because its on the left side of the map!
I think you're missing an important historical parallel. The rapid growth of California leading to ideological quirky extremes and social revolutions is precisely what happened in New York state's "burnt over district" emerging following the explosive growth coming with the Erie Canal. Rapid expansion of population without established social traditions leads to extreme and novel social movements. In the 1820s it was more religious, but it was a more religious era to begin with. One of the key 'whys" about Cali has to include the sociological impact of the spontaneous rise of unstructured communities.
7:00 Yes, Cesar Chavez helped lead the union efforts you can't also forget the tireless work of Dolores Huerta! She's an important figure in US history for workers' rights and representing Latino interests. She was also partners and co-founder with Cesar Chavez.
Cesar chavez was against illegal immigrants. It baffles me how Hispanics there think illegals lowering their wages helps them. I think many have family that are without documents so they have no choice.
There wouldn't have been a Grape Strike if it wasn't about the forgotten Manongs who started it.
California is pretty much a forecast of national politics.
3rd generation OC resident here, I just binged your CA series. It is super informative and interesting, you did a great job. I Found this channel because I'm trying to research Californias only pirate. Someone at the Pala Chief mine told me about him and how he would hide treasure in the hills between OC and SD and would leave a key hanging in a CA oak to signify where the treasure was buried. (btw the mining district of SD and the Tiffany co. and the Chinese miners would be a good segment to include) I feel like you could easily do 10 + more episodes on CA there's so much here and I love learning about my home state.
It's the United States. There is no "both sides of the political spectrum."
Is it better to say 'both sides of the two-party system?'
The spectrum just has different edges/a different range than in some other places.
@@matt_9112
And nothing in that range/neither of those edges falls anywhere on the left.
The American political spectrum is different than pretty much all of the other places, even close neighbors like Canada, which at least has a social democratic party.
@@BradyPostma I think that's a bit more accurate. The thing is, both parties get funding from the same corporate oligarchs and both parties work to represent those interests, so the idea that there are even two "sides" might be kind of pushing it.
I wouldn't call the Democratic party "Left Wing"
You got that one right. The neoliberals are just a lighter version of the centrist republicans.
Depends on your metrics. “Left Wing” and “Right Wing” are very broad descriptions, and can mean very different things depending on where you go, and what the context and is. It’s why I prefer to use the terms “American Left” and “American Right”, because it establishes context.
@@dakotadurham4788Yes, it is subjective. The American left is on the European right and the European right is on the South American centre. But broadly put, when compared to other countries in a similar situation (High income, multicultural, democratic) the Democrats are on the right side of the spectrum.
The Democratic Party is a centrist party when comparing it other international parties.
They call the Democratic Party a far left party because the Republicans don’t like anyone taking their guns and their private property and Republicans don’t like Anything that they consider WOKE.
Nimbys are smart too, they are trying to expand Malibu federal reserve to encircle Calabasas Agoura Thousand Oaks and even Simi Valley. This is to take land off the market creating exclusive island communties separated by buffer zones 30 min from LA sounded by national park unable to grow to allow affordable anything.
I am all for it. Housing expansion needs water to sustain the growth. So Cal is geographically a near desert with not much water resource.
LAPD: currently 0 for 5 on race riots!
NIMBYs are by far THE biggest challenge California is going to face in the future. Just look at the mess that they’re making of all the transit projects that we desperately need (from the bullet train to the Sepulveda pass metro!)
My grandma actually grew up in Nixon’s congressional district and **hated** him (to the point where she had my elementary school aged mom and uncles campaigning for McGovern!) she said she knew he was rotten from his time with McCarthy. Her “I told you so!” Moment after watergate is still the stuff of family legend.
Imagine thinking things were so good that you could say the number one enemy is "drug abuse" without fear of being laughed at
Nancy Reagan was right, 100%!
Grats on your PhD, hope you feel sweet release now.
California, like all states, is growing old. No longer a population of young folks, old folks trend conservative. Religion, too, becomes more important to oldsters, hence the rise of Christian nationalism. As the boomers continue to die off, this deep conservative movement will go with them. Boomers are an enormous group of people and their effects have changed the world at every step of their aging.
But what if they cure aging?🤔
Nixon was intelligent and had a lot of positive influence and policies domestic and especially overseas, but his failures (not getting out of Vietnam sooner when the writing was on the wall, the ill-fated "war on drugs" and then of course Watergate) as well as his personal insecurity complex overcame him.
At one point Pat Brown, responding to a natural disaster , said "this is the worst thing that's happened since my election.
This isn't about the video, but do you think a PhD in history is worth it nowadays?
I agree, but it should be worth a lot. I'm so sick of University Presidents and deans getting paid 100s of thousands but they can't take care of students or pay professors fairly? The end of tenure. Tenure is important as we need those voices of dissent every now and then.
I don't understand Charles Manson. Hippies are the new left, but race war is the far right. How did he unite both ideas?
I guess to understand crazy, I might have to go crazy. I'm not willing to do that.
I think of Manson as just another cult leader with a murderous streak. He's the kind of crazy we see with all cults, just adding a thin veneer of the cultural zeitgeist of the 1960s. Also, the idea of a revolutionary race war was fairly popular with the far left in that time period. Look at the Symbionese Liberation Army, The George Jackson Brigade and others. The left's idea of a race war was to liberate the oppressed races while the right's is to reestablish white dominance.
You'd be surprised at how many crazy ideas end up being synthesized.
The race war was not something he needed to stand behind, but rather the means to an end. He felt the race war would break the system, and in the aftermath, he would be able to create his utopia, as the forces of power would be tied up dealing with something else and not bothering him.
@@GreenJeepAdventures That sounds like the Boogaloo Bois today. Different reforms in mind, but they share the idea that the old system must burn in order to bring about the new system.
Silicon Valley will be a very interesting episode - I read a little about California in some encyclopedia style description and there was quite a but of information - I'm eager to see where this one is going to take us, and then watch more
If you are honestly looking for suggestions for a "quick" video on California I would recommend a history of state secession and ultimate breakup. This can lead to the future of california borders, interstate treaties, city borders, and my favorite possible new states and their flags!
I did a diatribe awhile ago on whether there are multiple Californias
@@CynicalHistorian I know, I watched it!
Congratulations on completing your Ph.D. It’s quite an achievement. Are you going to publish it as a book?
Do more videos on ancient history, like your episode on the Bronze Age.
Couple things to mention, however. Republicans have very little power at the state level, they only have some at city levels. Also, SEQUA laws and rent control in cities like San Francisco have had a major impact on the housing market that, along with other regulations, makes it too difficult, costly, and bureaucratic for building contractors to invest in new housing there.
I wish you would have said more about how Gray Davis got screwed and wrongfully blamed for the energy crisis, but I get that it wasn't the focus of this video.
'beatnicks in the 50s rebelled against this conformity' and by rebelled they just wrote some stuff and sat around talking about how the system sucks. I guess true rebellion was too much work.
I feel that NYC is also more purple than blue. It's basically a police state.
Blame 9/11 and to a lesser extent the high crime era of the 70s and 80s for that.
After spending a few years in California, I was shocked at how much far-right rhetoric I encountered there, and I am from Boebert's district!
Boeberts district isn't that far right, she won't survive in 2024
@@grimaffiliations3671 I hope you're right. She is obsessed with public urination after her husband's conviction and registration as a sex offender from an action involving a minor and his penis.
California is very conservative once you leave the cities and denser suburbs. I live in Placer County, in the town of Loomis. There are signs left over from 45's reign of mediocrity, ineptitude and dishonesty. People don't realize the size and variety of landscape geographical and cultural. Most of Northern California's towns were the result of the railroad needing places to stop and allow their breaks to cool or do maintenance or change crews or refuel. Placer County is where gold was first discovered and while Auburn exists for that reason.
I grew up in southern California and that's also where in person on two different occasions I saw neo nazis. Because California has such a big population, you're more likely to see crazy people. Same with Florida and Texas
Gotta love the Jack Chick tract "The Gay Blade" above the Yes on 6 sign seen at 15:23
Correction at 15:33, the "resident" who assassinated Milk and Moscone was a former SF Supervisor who recently resigned, regretted his decision, and wanted his job back. Moscone, with Milk's pushing, denied Dan White an appointment to his old seat, which is ultimately led to him assassinating them. He apparently had other people he hoped to target that he felt were responsible for him not getting his seat back, but thankfully it did not go further than what already happened.
I always see bumper stickers that say “Don’t California my Florida” (I live in FL) and it makes me cringe! First of all this state is more republican than most people know so it becoming democrat is ridiculous and most likely won’t happen. Second, with the information in this video that bumper sticker doesn’t make any sense
The vast majority of the state is democrat and Republicans have no power besides at certain city levels. In the state legislature they can do almost nothing.
Now I have somewhere to send the next idiot (you know, the one who's never been to California, yet they 'know' all about it) who says "Left Coast" to you. I am relieved. Thank you
Nixon also opened up SSDI and SSI for the disabled in 1971 and that same year he lowered the voting age from 21 to 18
Besides maybe Utah and Vermont, urban areas vote dem and rural rep. California is a mostly urban state so it largly votes Dem. Socially it makes sense, economically makes less sense to me for why this is the case.
Aren’t Idaho Maine and Oklahoma exceptions also
Florida is now also a good example of Republican urban areas. Tampa, Miami and Jacksonville all voted republican during the midterms.
california is farely fiscally conservative. Though they do have a very progressive tax policy, except for property taxes (which are low due to neoliberal policies in the '70s)
15:37 strange characterisation of the Milk murderer as "an angry resident"
Yeah, it was literally a former San Francisco supervisor.
Congratulations on your doctorate!!!
Very Interesting video. I like how you reminded people California is pretty conservative in terms of economics. I really hope you do a video about how Texas moved to the right.
I think "Left Coast" arose from the French term "Left Bank" (Rive Gauche). That term arose because in the French Revolution the most radical electorate in Paris was on the west (left) bank of the River Sienne. Also "Left" as a political term itself was a product of the French Revolution: Anti-Monarchists sat on the left side of the French National Assembly. Politically, CA did not first become associated with Progressivism in the 1960s but around 1910 when Republican Progressives such as Hiram Johnson became dominant in CA politics (as an opposition to prior political machine control that Southern Pacific Railway previously had). This Progressive Era brought female suffrage, the initiative process, and fair labor laws. In 1912, CA voted Left by voting Theodore Roosevelt over William Taft and Woodrow Wilson. I think the political term "Left" as applied to CA is an over-simplification: There has always been a libertarian (as opposed to economically Left ) element to Progressivism in CA. This is evidenced by CA voters supporting marijuana legalization in 1996 and 2016. In those referenda many registered Republicans voted for legalization. Also California's association with "free love" reflects a libertarian strain.
I’m 66. A California native. Lived in CA 2/3 of my life. In a democrat voting family. Seen the changes. Went from the Golden State too the Sh$thole State. Literally. California’s problems are self inflicted. It’s now a one party state. The one party is owned by the billionaires. It appoints the judges and hires the bureaucracy. Makes promises it can never keep.
Okay, Boomer.
The only problem you have is that trump lost. You can’t cope with that so you will find anything to blame.. after the 2020 election all trampaz started calling the blue states sh$Thales in very short time of period. I don’t think they changed this much so quickly.
@@TheNocturnalLogician He’s right though.
@@TheNocturnalLogician he’s completely right
Did he watch the video though?
Good stuff as usual. Glad to be among the first to view this.
Smh good old commie coast /s
California has always bounced between the parties. In the 60's-80's it was a Republican state the 90's it's been going through a Democrat phase 🤨
Oregonian here. We’re “left coast” too. Just a friendly reminder.
How are third parties faring in Oregon?
@@BradyPostma Are you serious?
I ask because the independent candidate got a considerable chunk of the vote in last years gubernatorial election. So I don’t exactly know how to answer that question.
@@jamesdragonforce I'm genuinely ignorant of Oregon's internal politics, and sincerely interested in hearing about it from an informed resident of that state.
love your channel and the video. Gotta say tho that Nixion did not end the war in Vietnam, he consistently tried to escelate our presence and then left when we had objectively lost
Yeah, wasn't like he got into office and immediately ended it. But it did technically "end" during his administration.
Well... it's on the left of the country, I mean
Yeah, a topic to cover about California history is the huge military and intelligence presence in the state - I call it the Military-Industrial-Complex archipelago.
Already have
your video quality is amazing. thank you so much for educating all of us!!!
A Republican could never get away with saying something like that about gun regulation now.
How about the history of Los Angeles.
California is just purple but I still hate the fucking higher tax in my state.
If it weren't for LA, SF, and Sacramento, CA would be a red state and I might still be there.
Definitely interesting and balanced take. Can second the purple tendencies having lived in Duncan Hunter's district, gone to highschool with his family (and I think he directed some funds to build a library there), and the travesty that was Proposition 8.
And my father organized for me a college in the east
But I went to California, the sunshine and the beach
My parents and my lecturers could never understand
Why I gave it up for music and The Free Electric Band
just for the sake of completeness..
Since you covered Leary and LSD as part of the counterculture movement, you should read Stanislav Grof's "Realms of the Human Unconscious: Observations from LSD Research." Great book, and great video!
You probably have the best ‘history of California’ series on RUclips 👏 thank you from san francisco!
Time to do one on New Jersey. :D
God no
New Jersey is a wannabe New York sincerely a New Yorker.
3:33 It was a 9th circuit (federal court) decision not a California Supreme Court decision.
Thank you. I will note that in errata
@@CynicalHistorian Yes thank you for replying.
I think you were confusing Mendez v Westminster with the Perez v Sharp CA Supreme Court decision which was an analogue of Loving v Virginia but with a Mexican American plaintiff rather than an African-American one. Like Mendez, Perez occurred about 2 decades before the analogous US Supreme Court decision, was related to California, and involved Mexican American plaintiffs instead of African-American ones, though the logic of it also ended up benefiting African-Americans down the line.
California definitely has logical gaps within its own liberal demeonear. If you poll California to build low income housing, they will approve of it, but if you ask to build housing, it will often be rejected.
As a longtime resident of SoCal this was really interesting
Great video, and congrats on the PhD! I guess we need to call you "Dr. Cypher" now!😄
Little off topic but Earl Warren was freaking awesome! And I really wish Thomas Dewey would’ve won the 1948 election because I feel like the republican party today would be in a much better place right now today
I'm in Washington state and it's much the same story here. West of the mountains is pretty solidly blue, but east and south are a different story. Humans are weird.
Not surprising at all actually. What you described is very typical of nearly all 50 states: metro areas are solid blue while rural areas are solid red. The bigger the cities get, the more blue a state becomes.
ya that’s not too weird. i live in ohio and its a few blue dots in a sea of red
Geography plays a huge role in the values we hold, irrespective of political parties. Rural trends towards isolation and with it, lacking diversity, thus is a natural fit for conservatism. Urbanism crams a huge number of people in a smaller area, promoting diversity of ideas, options, and new ideas to take hold. This naturally will trend towards liberalism.
@@ziqi92
What's fascinating are the exceptions to that rule. Florida has quite a few big cities that are growing, and yet the whole state is trending more rightward in recent years. Vermont is very rural, and yet it's probably the most liberal leaning state in the country (excluding DC). New Mexico is also very rural and leans more liberal.
@@LarryLopez91 yeah, Alaska as well. Anchorage is a red city because of its heavy reliance on fossil fuel revenue. Ironically, the rest of rural Alaska votes blue, probably due to environmental conservation priorities and the fact that natives all around the country tend to vote blue, which also explains the northeast corner of Arizona where the Navajo Nation resides.
It became the left coast because when you look at the US on a map, the coast on the left is where California is
I always figured that it was because it's the west coast, and conventionally west is to the left on a map.
I would love to see you cover anything in Placer County, especially as it relates to agriculture and the railroads. I'm getting ready to start a youtube channel with a hyper focus on Placer County because it's where I have called home for longer than anywhere else. It is one of the largest counties by size and I suspect also one of the wealthiest because of the gold initially and now the agriculture. Great video and I really appreciate your videos.
California is a good state to live in, yet some of the people whether they're Republican or Democrats can be to overenthusiastic in their political parties 🤔 .
LOL...I always thought the moniker "Left Coast" was because, on most maps I've ever seen, California was to the "left".
Saying the Moscone and Milk assassinations were by an "angry resident" is true but a bit misleading. Dan White wasn't just an angry resident. He had been, until his resignation a bit over two weeks before the murders, another member of the Board of Supervisors who began serving at the same time as Milk. The full story is beyond what can be put in a comment of reasonable length.
AAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (i AM SOOOO GIDDY!! ok, caps lock off, lol. still giddy!)
New Cynical Historian! One of THE best teachers and thinkers alive (no pressure) is BACK on the scene, crispy & clean!!
Hell Yeah! Welcome back!
The world has needed you-
Love yr stuff!
ttyl,
T-
I like the Economist's different NIMBYs:
NIMBY: Not In My BackYard
NOTE: Not Over There, Either
BANANA: Build Absolutely Nothing Anywhere Near Anything
When people say “well taxes and such that’s why people are moving to Texas” well let’s say this. California walked so Texas could run. Will Texas keep it going? I don’t think so.
I was born in San Diego in the 1980's It used to be the heart of Reagan Country.. My dad used to tell me how lucky we were to live in San Diego in the 1980s.
Diggin the video but dismayed that history once again leaves out Larry Itliong and the predominantly Filipino Agricultural Workers Organizing Committee (AWOC). They were the ones that initiated the Delano Grape Strike and was later joined by Cesar Chavez and the NFWA which then later merged to form the United Farm Workers. Perhaps an update could be considered to mention that esp since Itliong and the Filipinos have been left out of this so much that even the Filipinos in Cali and the US are mostly unaware of this. Chavez is nearly a household name and has his own Hollywood movie which also barley mentions Itliong.
If California were divided it would be north of Sacramento to the Oregon border. It would be very Christian and republican and also white. California I democrat in name only and is more republican but the republican party of Nixon and Goldwater time period.
831 checking in (looks at publish date) fuck I’m almost a year late.
“It is no measure of health to be well-adjusted to a profoundly sick society” - J Krishnamurti
So, should I call you Dr. Cypher now? Congrats!
If you do a sequel to this, you got to cover Prop 22 since that's the most blatant example of California not being the Left Coast™
I think Jerry Brown played a large role in CA's transformation in the mid 70s. I had the privilege of meeting him when I was a kid in 1975 when he was running for President. My Dad was in charge of his campaign during that time in Maryland. Guy was so kind. A true man of the people.
Re: free or cheap college, did college remain free or cheap outside of California and change at about the same time?
congrats on the pHd!
What's your take on the war in Ukraine?
God dammit Cali, don't let Colorado carry the left!