7 Reasons Why I’m Leaving California

[00:00]
What is up, guys, Max, here I make this video with a heavy heart, with a non triumphant victory dance, as I usually would this type of video, simply because I don't know. Seems as though sometimes life throws you curveballs and you have to stick in there and not get out of the box. This is definitely one of them and. I need to change one thing now back. OK, that's better. There are so many issues and so many pervasive problems that this is not going to be an empty California rant because that's not what I want to communicate, nor the sentiment I feel towards this Golden State.

[00:45]
What I do feel, though, and what I do see factually is a lot of issues and these issues, I'm going to go one by one. Let's go. The real issue of the matter here, the overarching theme is these good intentions with unintended consequences, as in we really good intentions to fix the homelessness problem and what we're going to do just to keep on spending more and more money on it. And the thought is, the more money we throw at it, the more it's going to improve.

[01:13]
But we've seen over the last 20 years that the more money you throw at it, their problem actually continues to exacerbate, not because the money's the issue, but because the people on power who make these decisions on where the money goes or doesn't go is the issue. And that's been the issue for a long, long time. The decline of California did not begin just a year ago. It's been declining for quite some time. It's just now coming to a head in 2020 and now pouring into 2021.

[01:41]
And I'm really glad I'm all nice and clean now because. Oh, man. If you go to any Southern California desirable beach, Venice Beach, Huntington Beach, or let's go even downtown downtown Los Angeles, downtown San Diego, all these really desirable places to live. I mean, seven figures, a million dollars plus won't get you anything besides the six hundred eighty square foot, one bedroom or studio depending upon where you are. The huge issue is there is so much trash, filth and oh, my goodness, this is the most crazy thing.

[02:13]
When I was in Malibu, which is where the likes of Justin Bieber and a lot of celebrities live, there are literally I kid you not tents in front of these homes and not the kind to go camping, the kind to camp at Venice Beach in front of a huge house with a really nice fence in front that you need to Entercom the butler to come in. You have that and you have people would like tent cities in front of these houses directly in front.

[02:44]
They to open their gate, to go walk their Welsh corgi in the morning and they hit people at their tents. That's how pervasive and how ridiculous it's become. The homelessness problem, especially in southern the southern part of the state, has been absolutely insane. And Malibu is just one one part of it. It's it's absolutely crazy how an absolutely beautiful, beautiful, beautiful piece of the world can be just destroyed by tents everywhere. And believe me, I'm not knocking on the homeless, homeless people.

[03:13]
That's not what I'm saying here. It's just I'm knocking the people who are completely able bodied and able minded, yet choose to be homeless and do things that homeless people do, like eating out of trash cans and not contributing to society one iota. So the tents are a big issue. The trash is a big issue. My goodness, the. I'm not going to go into California, like I said, there's just so much trash and so much filth and these really, really high, high, high dollar areas.

[03:43]
It's just crazy. Second reason, my dream city, my dream city, have a little little boy was to look over my home in Marin County, which is San Francisco, and see. The ocean, the peninsula, and then another part, see the Golden Gate Bridge. I've had that thought and sentiment for quite some time, and we're going there as a kid and saying, oh, my gosh, it's cool, which is nice. You know, the ocean, which you can only observe, which I'm OK at it like sand.

[04:12]
And you get the awesome city life that San Francisco has to offer. That city with these unintended, terrible policies has now been completely and I mean completely destroyed at 11 o'clock in the morning. You know what time it is for most of the residents there? It's time to shoot up that black tar in your arm. When I was visiting there last time, no joke, 11 o'clock, walking around to grab a bite to eat after waking up and lunchtime.

[04:40]
I see not one, but a couple of people very nearby. The hotel is staying. And what are they injecting themselves in the middle of the morning with drugs? Again, criminalizing it, I don't know how effective that is, I don't know how effective any of it is, but it's really a shame to see how this is such a pervasive and such a normal part of the city life now. And that's what really is unfortunate, because a lot of this problem, a lot of significantly the homelessness and the drug problem can be remedied when people have some meaning and responsibility in their life, when they're on the government dole receiving their disability or Social Security check for whatever purpose, whatever purpose they earned it or were entitled to.

[05:21]
And I guess they have no purpose and no meaning and no responsibility when people, especially men, have no purpose, responsibility and meaning, they gravitate towards very, very bad substances, substances and decisions. And quite honestly, drugs and alcohol are like easy substance most people go towards because when you have no meaning in your life. What's the point of living nihilism exists, and it is well and alive, and it's really unfortunate that, again, a beautiful city that I have desired to be against me, I'm not super selfish.

[05:54]
I have a desire to be throughout my young young years now that has literally gone told me to the back burner unless things drastically change, which, to be completely honest with you, as the legislator sits right now in Sacramento, it's not going to happen. So San Francisco is off the books. Third reason A. anecdotally, anecdotally said three times fast, people want more government. I talk to small business owners. I talk to individuals. I talk to those who are in C suite positions.

[06:23]
They all seem to be OK with the government expanding, expanding, expanding. Whether that be is another bill they're going to pass to to give more money to people, which is really what it's come down to. We've really lost our way. When you start just all these all these bills are vote for this and you get this, vote for this and you get this. Once you start voting, voting for our own personal benefits, money wise, we're in a heap, that is for sure.

[06:49]
And even if they're not really desiring it with their words, they're complacent. They're not fighting for freedom or liberty, which is difficult for me to wrap my mind around because liberty is my number one value. And that's Prager always states liberty is not a it's not the default human human thing. The default human reaction to life is to be taken care of and not to be free, to be free. You have to make a choice to do that and to be honest, to be free.

[07:19]
That takes responsibility. Which let's go back to a couple other things. When you have responsibility of meaning, which creates your life a hell of a lot better than it usually is, but when you have no meaning, you have no freedom and you're on the government dole. People just seem to anecdotally, again, last night, as I said, in my experience, three decades in California, almost people are complacent with more government. And that is why I cannot get behind those decisions, because as the government expands, the individual diminishes.

[07:49]
And this country was built on the individual, the individual sovereignty and liberty and. That needs to continue moving forward in order for us to be. The nation that we were once a nation that we can be in the future, and that's when people talk about unity, that's what I think unity is about getting the individual sovereignty back to the individual, less on the government, the community helping out the individual in times of need, not only the government.

[08:18]
And that's not my next taxes, you know, taxes are usually most people's highest expense, whether they realize it or not, just because you're getting a tax refund at the end of the year does not mean the government's actually giving you any money back. That means you're just getting money back that you already pay into the system. California has really one thing going for in regards to taxes. The property tax in California is quite a bit lower, not the lowest, but it's lower than places like Texas, Florida, these places that have no state income tax.

[08:52]
They got to make it up somewhere. And the property taxes are where there's no state income taxes make it up. But that being said, in the future, perhaps California will be my secondary home or I don't claim my income and only have my. Property tax there and not my state income tax, because it is about one percentage point lower than Texas and throughout time as mine and your incomes continue to increase, you've got to keep in mind because California, look at this overlay shows that it is the highest, highest, not even close.

[09:24]
Highest income tax bracket, state income, which means if you want to continue. Supporting the state, which I love, supporting the state, I love supporting roads, law enforcement, teachers that teach kids, not teachers unions. However, the government funds have been so distributed so. Idiotically, in my estimation, I don't feel as though, you know, almost 14 percent is is a good investment anymore, which is why I'm moving to a lower state income tax state or zero.

[09:57]
I can keep more of my money so I can put into causes and things I want to invest in and not rely on Big Brother to do that, because as we all know, the more things Big Brother touches, the more they destroy, the more he or it destroys the utility company. Oh, my goodness. You have one choice, one choice for utilities, almost. I don't can't talk over the whole state. But in Northern California, where I live, you have one choice, one choice for natural gas or electricity.

[10:24]
And usually it's just one choice. And it's this large quasi state private company. They say it's private, but goodness they are. What do I sell them better? The government ridiculous. They filed for bankruptcy while this forest fire happened a couple of years ago. Now, living in the forest fires, I'm just laughing at how ridiculous, how a company can file for bankruptcy and continue operating. And it's, you know, business as usual. It's it's just ridiculous.

[10:48]
So just having one option for anything creates a monopoly. And the owner this is where most people do understand monopolies, where I didn't for a while, I thought monopolies were because the private industry, the one company was so good at doing everything, they were able to jack up the price so substantially. But in reality, is this is the reality. So that's what perception is. This is reality. Reality is every time the government gets in bed with a private company like the large electricity and natural gas provider in California, they create lots of legislation that makes it almost impossible for a newcomer to come in, which creates the monopoly that this energy company now has with the state.

[11:32]
And how is that good? I'm not really too sure, but it always makes rates higher for the consumer. And when you only have one option, you can't shop around, which sucks for the individual. Again, government has more power and this quasi state run private organization, which they say that private when I kind of joke, but they are private, but it seems as though, you know, they're taking their their orders from the state. That's why the free market is so powerful, because if you have one choice.

[12:01]
You're in trouble if you have five choices, like in Texas, I had five providers, five or six, I forgot five, five or six options. And the place where I'm moving now that I can choose from, they all different rates, different packages, different contracts, different ways of going about business and which Asma is awesome about. This is the regulations in California specifically for energy. Look at your bill. If you live in California and see all these taxes, regulations, fees, all this junk.

[12:32]
But the part that you really don't see is the subsidizing for the clean and renewable energy you won't see on your bill. You simply want to. But if you look at all the bills that we passed in the last decade to fund these renewable energy things, which I'm all about, renewable, renewable energy, it just doesn't make sense in every single instant and for everybody. And now in California, when you build a new home, guess what, you have to install bylaw.

[12:59]
Solar panels by LA. Again, this is when the government is in bed. What these companies. And now an individual can't even buy a house like mine, which cost fifty thousand dollars a few years ago. There's no such thing as one hundred fifty thousand dollar home with solar. The solar panels cost at least 10 to 20 thousand dollars, maybe even more. So that's the ridiculous thing there. It's these government mandates on how the private enterprise should do business.

[13:27]
And that's more. I have a big issue because there's so much red tape. So much. Regulation that makes it almost impossible for anybody with and with a genius or new idea to enter any of these markets, especially energy, and especially because there's only one option, one option sucks. Having five options is way better contrasting, apolitical. But the reality is this the K through 12 education and even the universities in California and more so everywhere at this point, it's not like it's it's a mystery, a complete indoctrination, indoctrination camps for Marxist thinking.

[14:02]
It's all about the community. It's all about the warfare between the intersectionality, whether it's rich versus poor, black versus white, male versus female. They want to tear us apart. And the only way. The left and I say left leftists are very different than the liberals. He has a different way to do leftists. I want to sound for free speech. Liberals want to promote free speech leftists, which are the people who call themselves antifascists, yet hit people with bike locks and bring crowbars to their protests.

[14:37]
Mostly peaceful protest. By the way, leftists want you to completely suppress free press and pit male and female child and parent everybody against each other to where all they all they can have is one thing and their religion and what their duty is, is the government. The government is here to save you from your parents, your spouse, your other other ethnicity around you. It's all this pitted against each other. And that's again, where unity will genuinely not the unity that the government is about, the unity that we come as one.

[15:09]
And that comes because individuals choose to link arms with brothers and sisters on on their own. Not indoctrinate indoctrinating in these educational programs, I don't know about you, but I don't want my second grader at age six, seven or eight years old to learn about the gender unicorn. Are these drag queen drag queen situations the only sexuality they should be thinking about six years old is what parts they have, and that's about it. Not even how they work.

[15:37]
You know, one goes one goes poof. That should be it. None of this any sexuality whatsoever. Six years old. Hell, no. So that's the K through 12, the K through 12 is seemingly soft core. Let me get to the university, which is the hard core indoctrination, which means if you have any if you have an R next year name, you're the devil if you have any conservative value that does not align with modern leftist thinking.

[16:03]
I mean, I don't wanna go through everyone. There are too many that are outrageous, but if you do not if you're not a Puritan in the sense of you think exactly as we are, they think, then you are cast out and you are canceled for everything. They don't want to have income, a voice or anything. It's all gone. And that's the activist. I mean, it's. It's really staggering how many stupid degree programs are, and, yes, I say stupid because anybody can pass them.

[16:32]
You don't need to do anything besides flatter your professor with some leftist. Jargon and drivel, because. So needless to say, at some point I may have children and there is no way on this Earth I'll be sending them to California public schools because. Well, look back to the last. And then lastly, the weather in in Texas where I'm going. Well, first of all, in California, California, it's usually, you know, 60, 75, 80 degrees.

[16:59]
It's not that cold. And Northern California is a little more cool, but not so much. I can't wear jackets very often, and I love wearing sport coats and leather jackets and at 75 and sunny almost yearly, I can't do that. And I really do like that because in my opinion, winter fashion for Metalist is way, way more enjoyable than wearing a polo or a short sleeve shirt, because to be on a short sleeve, short sleeved shirts for me are the undershirt.

[17:27]
So the weather is going to be fine. It's going to be different. There's gonna be a little humidity. I know that's how the South works, but the reality is I'm really excited for it. And the weather is just one small factor that. Most case, most people in California, but for me, it's actually helped me push me out, which if that's the only thing you have going for you is the weather. Good luck keeping people.

[17:51]
And the last side now is lots of large companies, Elon Musk, Joe Rogan and the large company, a lot of these influencer type people who have a big pull on culture have now completely exited California. Maybe they keep their secondary helm here, but it actually California has the resonance and moved to Texas or Florida, I guess some Idaho, but usually Texas and Florida. And the more and more these rich folks, you know, the job providers like Musk, for instance, the more they leave, the more the government has to squeeze taxes out of the middle, folks, the more the middle folks, basically, the more middle folks are squeezed, the more they figure out.

[18:24]
Hmm. Why am I being squeezed? Well, they start realizing that since Elon Musk and his friends have all left, the super billionaires that pay or that create the jobs that create most of the taxes, the more and more those jobs leave the state, the less and less tax base there is. The less and less tax base there is, the more money to squeeze the middle guy. And the more and more you squeeze them middle that, the more the middle is going to end up exiting.

[18:47]
So I have I used to have a little bit of faith. I am usually optimistic about most things. I'm not optimistic about where California's going. I'm not optimistic about anything, financially speaking for the state. I think they're although they have surpluses, I don't think that surpluses are going to last one bit. And those are accounting surpluses. So I don't know if they're actually there or not. The surpluses may be there, but the tax base is exiting in droves.

[19:10]
Guess what? I couldn't even book a freaking U-Haul to move out of the state because they're all booked up in the whole entire state, Nevada. And California completely booked up. Does that tell you something? Well, the trend is right now, so this is my farewell to California. I'll be moving very, very soon. And this will be the last video in the California, you know, area. And I have a little bit of bitterness towards that.

[19:38]
I really wanted this to be my forever home, and that's OK because I'm making Forever Home and the Lone Star State and I'm looking forward to it. You know, a lot of fun. It's going to be quite the adventure hauling all my stuff three days with a lot of animals as well. So you guys will see some updates on that and it'll be fun. It's going to be fun. And I think it's going help me stretch myself and grow.

[20:02]
Being in the new environment. I'm going to meet on new business connections, all new friends, new gym. I mean, there's so many different things that are going to be so new that it's exciting and apprehensive. I'm apprehensive at the same time, but more so excited because it's going to really push me to become the person I need to be and the person I want to be. And that is the best person I can be in this life.

[20:23]
And that's super exciting. And I want to hear what you have to say. Do you love California? Do you hate California? Hate my Texas folks. Tell me the best place to eat in Dallas, Texas, because I want to go there the first to come there. See you guys later and get your suit.