Okies from the Great Depression

Where the first Great Depression was epitomized by the migration of Dustbowl ihabitants to California, the not-so-great depression that is unfolding before our eyes will probably be characterized by bankrupt Californians relocating to states that haven’t been so improvident.  I am tempted to go buy an orchard, so that I can have some work for the previous real-estate flippers to do as they arrive to my state en masse with their BMWs and bindle staffs.

I think a bright young literary mind will probably document the travails of the participants of this great migration of “Fornies” into the heartland in the form of a novel, or perhaps a reality TV show.  The Grapes of Wrath, starts with Tom Joad being released from jail from a manslaughter conviction.  Where much of the Californian population that hasn’t left yet is incarcerated, it would be easy to imagine an echo protagonist of Tom Joad who is released from the current California penitentiary system early because of overcrowding.  Where the okies in The Grapes of Wrath typically did agricultural work and pretty much all starved to death, Fornies will migrate across the land in search of solvent states with government entitlement programs.  The Fornies that aren’t anorexic will complain that there are no In n’ Out Burgers in their new home states.

Where the Grapes of Wrath is a narrative that explores the explosion and consolidation of the extended family, the modern day sequel will consist of Fornies fleeing the familial and marital bonds that they see as financial liabilities.  The Grapes of Wrath ends with Rose of Sharon nursing a dying old man after giving birth to a still-born baby.  The sequel will end with a female character with breast implants aborting a fetus somewhere in the heartland of America.

I know that there are some gaps to fill in, but I think the overall premise of a novel such as this would lead to a classic. I was speaking with an acquaintance in Callfornia the other day who is trying to start a business. To start an LLC in California costs $800 a year on top of the registration costs. I think the same thing costs like $50 in Utah. This seems like a pretty stifling barrier to entrepreneurship.  No wonder businesses are fleeing California in droves. It is also no surprise that the state is clunking like an old jalopy towards bankruptcy.  As California drives its business tax base to states with less prohibitive taxes, the state’s budget problems will only become worse.  We can expect to see the great migration of bankrupt Californians accelerate in the coming months.

If you are a Californian, you should get some help.