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By Sharan Street
Published Dec 12, 2022

Does California portray America’s future? Does California portray America’s future? Image credit: Simone Hogan   Shutterstock

12-12-22: Our Sooner State

At California Local, we’re always looking for stories about what makes our state unique. But in his most recent story, reporter Jonathan Vankin found himself musing about the ways in which California exemplifies many of the greatest strengths of the United States of America. Especially if one considers diversity to be a virtue. California is the most diverse state in the union, according to a 2022 study by the financial site WalletHub, which makes a habit of ranking states by different metrics.


Ahead of the Curve

WalletHub’s definition of diversity goes far beyond the Golden State’s vaunted ethnic diversity to include “socioeconomic diversity, political diversity, religious diversity, cultural diversity, household diversity and economic diversity.” And that nationwide trend of diversification is coming to other states. Vankin quotes University of Southern California sociologist Manuel Pastor, who said “California is America, only sooner.”


California: The Most American State

How the American story begins in California, and continues to play out here.
California is the most American of all states, both setting the direction for the rest of the country, and acting as a mirror of what the U.S. is today. Here’s why, and how it got that way.

The Third Rail of California Politics

When it comes to political phenomena, few are more quintessentially Californian than Proposition 13, a measure approved by voters in reaction to the unintended consequences of California’s economic success in the 1970s and ’80s. As the economy grew, so did real estate prices—and property taxes. Anti-tax activist Howard Jarvis saw an opening and waged a successful campaign for the measure, which mandated that the purchase price of the property would be its value for tax purposes. But Prop 13 has had its own unintended consequences, which Vankin delves into.


How Prop 13 Drives Economic and Racial Inequality

Businessman and Republican activist Howard Jarvis was the main advocate for Prop 13 in the 1970s.
Proposition 13, the popular tax reform law passed in 1978, has driven increases in economic inequality and racial wealth disparities in California. Here’s how.

’Tis the Season

The weather outside is frightful…and so are the rising cases of flu and other respiratory ailments. So why are supplies of one of the most efficacious antibiotics running low?


Amoxicillin: Why the Popular Antibiotic is in Short Supply

The Israeli drugmaker Teva is one of three manufacturers experiencing a shortage of Amoxicillin.
Amoxicillin, the most widely prescribed antibiotic, is suddenly in short supply just as a wave of respiratory illnesses is sweeping California. What is causing the sudden shortage?


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