Catherine Liu: California is Capitalism’s Multicultural Utopia

[@gatblau1]

As a lifetime Californian the disparity is overwhelming and shouldn’t be ignored. If you look at the majority of cities outside of the relatively wealthy coastal cities, the rest of the cities and towns in central California, Northern California, and the Southern California desert communities are seriously economically depressed with no jobs, high drug abuse, and a general hopelessness. Driving through Barstow, Fresno, Stockton, or Eureka you will realize that the political class in California are clueless and out of touch.

[@estitt1973]

Well that works out well for rich Californians, because, out of sight, out of mind.

[@Draxtor]

My son was born in Salinas where we lived at the time, then we moved to the coast. I was unprepared for the utter disdain those folks on the Peninsula had for people who lived inland: for them they were at best lazy Mexican illegals and at worst Mexican gangbangers. I am from Germany originally and it was a new thing for me, the very uniform hate (by liberals!!!) for poor people, yes of course, including poor whites. Anyhow: micro-revolt happened when Pacific Grove school district hired a wonderful 2nd grade teacher out of Soledad. Middle class parents threatened to home school their precious kids …

[@matthewbenavides7694]

Fresno native here. There are a few upper middle to high income communities in the North that are nice... As soon as you leave that area huge amounts of poverty and homelessness. We have more poverty than San Francisco here. A lot of food insecutity.

[@ryri51]

And the only way that gets better is with unions and more left wing Democrats. The Republican answer is just to kill us all.

[@SafetyPropaganda]

SF is basically the fucking apocalypse and that says everything. The richest city ever has 400 frothing at the mouth drug addicts throwing molotov cocktails around. It's a nightmare. Fuck California.

[@Draxtor]

As a German who lived half his life in CA this resonates deeply. And as I am watching this latest statistics in local LA elections? Only 5% of 18-34 year olds have voted as of right now 😢

[@eltaninshrdlu2925]

Unter jedem erdenklichen englischsprachigen KZbinvideo findest du Kommentare von Landsleuten. Echt beeindruckend. Irgendwann machen Bots Vifeos mit zufälligen englischen Wörtern und dann kommentieren Deutsche das Gebrabbel der Bots. 83 Mio Einwohner erklären die Anzahl der Kommentare nicht. Ich glaube, wir sind eigentlich 830 Millionen und alle sind auf KZbin am kommentieren.

[@eltaninshrdlu2925]

Wer den Tippfehler findet, darf ihn behalten ;)

[@hollywoodartchick9740]

Well, Liu has a point about how youth voters drop away when you disillusion them. They can't help but consider the whole spectacle illegitimate when they were ripped off in a strong populist campaign. Why show up in the Fall if they guy they are telling you to vote for ripped off the one who should be in the race still.

[@vannajs5024]

Why would someone come over, from a beautiful and economicly strongest Europan Country ,to spend half of his/her life in the USA,in general, California it's not exception..I understand to be there, temporarily for the business purposes,But to actually live there,unless you don't have too..It's sounds ridiculous to me to be quiet honest.Even if you are wealthy Still,US,still not a good place to reside,if you are from Western Europe originally,I'm saying.

[@Draxtor]

@@vannajs5024 sorry no offense but I don't feel I should respond to this reductive reasoning :)

[@GR3YS0RG4N1CS]

People are addicts and mentally ill not because of "soft love" but instead because of the "tough love" that capitalism promotes so "tough love" isn't the answer just like it wasn't when the mentally ill were shown "tough love" and experimented on and lobotomized in the past. As an addict who is also mentally ill, the LAST THING I NEED is more "hard love". I've been given nothing but "tough love" my entire life and things have only gotten worse. We don't need even more authoritarianism, we need care, understanding, and support.

[@middle_pickup]

I hear you. I think her argument against "soft love" vs "tough love" is rooted in the poor outcomes of current policy. She was talking about homeless people specifically, and I agree that these people need tough love in the form of socialized housing, and healthcare with drug rehabilitation.

[@eccentricaste3232]

@@middle_pickup Her point was another extreme. It's weird. Drug use and homelessness are symptoms of something much more serious. The sickness is the system.

[@jenathent4840]

@@eccentricaste3232 she names it. Capitalism for the people socialism for corporations.

[@Roger-r7s]

I think that in an earlier day a left analyst would just consider it as capitalism in it's cultural corruption/decadence and erosion of the conditions and quality of social order and relations.

[@mrtibbs8335]

As a former drug addict and working class guy from California, it was all personal choices and not the system. The system is full of psychopaths, I choose to stay away from them and get high.

[@franklyqueso]

It is hard to get young people to vote after they watched many decades of the government not responding to public opinion in any meaningful way.

[@neilmuir3503]

We have to be more tham voters

[@harrymills2770]

They gave the people what they voted for, but the people asked for all the wrong things. "Rule me harder, Daddy. Protect me from the consequences of my bad decisions, Mommy."

[@B_Estes_Undegöetz]

@@harrymills2770That’s not what they ever voted for in the America I know. Nope. They voted for “freedom” and “small government”. Do I need to quote Reagan? That’s what America keeps voting for time and again since the 1980s. Even the Democratic Party since the time of Clinton and his “Third Way” have sold out the working class and the idea of a truly interventionist government on the side of working people that might stand a chance of remedying the half century of damage caused by neoliberalism and its beneficiaries the ultra rich ruling class. They keep getting sold on the rich man’s drug. “Freedom”. So what they actually get though is a highly interventionist government but one that is dominated by a bunch of rich insiders who enact policies to build the wealth and power of the rich 1% ruling class capitalist oligarchy. And when THEY need government intervention it’s there for them with bailouts (your “not taking responsibility for their actions” point defiantly applies to the new neoliberal finance capitalists who just write off losses and failures and add it to the national debt), tax breaks and draft bills written for Congress to vote on that look just the way the lobbying group wants the law to look to accomplish what they want for their interest group. And every election the working class 95% gets conned by these guys of both parties to vote for it again and again. Less government, more military, more “freedom” under capitalism. Because they’re conditioned relentlessly from birth by rich controlled institutions and rich owned media to be frightened and repulsed by their own neighbors that don’t look and act just like them … and to fear socialist policies as being “the end of America” … rather than the end of the oligarchic dominance of America, which is what the promise of a just socialism really is.

[@tomt55]

Excellent conversation. I am 57, have lived in CA my whole life. There is so much truth here in this video. It's so sad that health care and housing solutions are off the table. Yet there's plenty of multiculturalism support from the government, because multiculturalism doesn't interfere with capitalism.

[@borakaraca9788]

you americans live in a huge welfare but still yelling about it people never realize how good their life until they lost it

[@cb-rl5bu]

shes so quick witted and down to earth. this segment made me buy ger book right away

[@leslieroeder8949]

What's with the Chesa hate? SF will be sorry if they recall him. What do they want, more "tough on crime" BS?

[@vanessanorton455]

I agree!

[@fedexpress14]

As I write this, there are Arizonans that are flocking here for the summer to occupy all of the vacation rentals and further enrich the local landowners at a rate of $30,000 or more/month for a 2,500 sq. ft. home. It’s a rentier economy through and through. Read through the local newspaper and it is nothing but real estate ads for selling $2+ million homes. If you dare mention redistribution to less well off communities, then the backlash is severe. “I worked hard for this and you’re going to STEAL it from me for some lazy person someplace else.” That mentality is engrained to the bone of most in my coastal community. I’m a product of parents who did some property investing in the 80s, but at least I’m aware of the problem and trying to build some power in my public employee work union for the low wage workers we represent. I’ll admit, though, that there are a lot of PMC in my union that have the same outlook as the rich I just mentioned. It’s going to be an extremely heavy lift to make some progress.

[@beyondaboundary6034]

I agree with a lot of what Liu says, but at times her critique of liberal identity politics echoes a certain right-wing black vs. Asian narrative, i.e. "Dems cater to black people but take Asian people for granted." I like how Jen pushed back against this by pointing out the vast class differences within these groups. Liu recognizes this but she sometimes slips into this kind of divisive group vs. group talk. At a time when reactionary trolls like Ann Coulter are tweeting footage of black-on-Asian hate crimes to try to attract conservative Asian Americans, exploiting legitimate anger for cynical purposes, the left needs to do better at talking about this shit.

[@mhvichy]

I was going to write something very similar here. Good point! Catherine also fell into that hole that most folks fall into when it comes to folks advocating for blacks specifically. I see that unwritten rule didn't miss her either. That was disappointing- it comes off as if she's taking pages from old white men who use the constitution as a shield to thwart any idea of specificity when it comes to blackness.

[@mk-oc7mt]

100%. This matches the rhetoric of the police unions in the Bay Area that are campaigning in alliance with wealthy homeowning districts against Boudin, so it’s strange that she would fall for this

[@stud6414]

What Grievances do blacks have against Asians but they work hard and have succeeded in America

[@beyondaboundary6034]

@@stud6414 "Blacks" and "Asians" don't have grievances against each other because these groups are not unitary entities that act or think collectively. If you are talking about hate crimes you need to investigate the individual criminals involved, not ask what "Blacks" or "Asians" as a whole think about anything. That kind of logic is a huge part of the problem.

[@stud6414]

@@beyondaboundary6034 But I'm sure you view whites as a monolith aka whiteness studies

[@KingPleaseMusic]

if by tough love she means free treatment then yes. If youre talking about police locking up addicts and the welfare state denying them housing, we tried that for 60 years, it created the hellholes that youre complaining about.

[@samij6071]

I've always really respected Catherine but she is wrong about how to go about helping drug users & addicts. "Tough love" doesn't work. The practicum she is criticizing has MOUNTAINS of research behind it. It isn't something people like & MANY aren't comfortable with it but the fact remains that requiring drug addicts to abstain from drugs in order to access resources doesnt help & in fact keeps MANY of them from seeking help. You have to have something to build sobriety on & the way to do that is to treat the immediate problems first. Catherine I really wish you'd delve deeper into this subject. The knee jerk reaction (as you well know) isn't always (or even usually) the correct one.

[@leovalenzuela8368]

Agreed. She’s way off the mark here, and I would never put her in charge of public health policy.

[@sparklemotion8377]

She should talk with Gabor Mate

[@TravisRiver]

Yea, she described fentanyl as a drug people are "addicted" to. She doesn't really know what she's talking about there. Fentanyl is a drug that quickly kills you for which you need narcan.

[@stefkadank-derpjr1453]

You are nuts. It does work here in the conservative south. You are homeless and want a nice modern apartment to live in? Free medical and free food? We got you but you must get off the drugs and stay off. An addicts life is not going to get better until they do THAT. We have 30, 60 and 90 day treatment centers and lots of assistance to stay clean. You get like 3 chances to go to treatment and stay clean. If you can't do that in order to bring some stability into your life and have a nice place to live then you end up having to move out to California where there is no tough love. Y😂ou can be a drug addict, steal daily for your dope and get free stuff from the government, sleep in the doorway of a business and poop in the street.

[@sandp.7472]

I live in Los Angeles and this is Sept 2024. Its so fascinating how the ideas discussed have manifested. I would so love to see this same discussion now.

[@AmnesiaMau5]

nothing screams PMC like watching and getting butt hurt from Chapo while also advocating for a "tough love" outlook :)

[@theory_underground]

.... Really?

[@theory_underground]

What the fuck is wrong with you? It is very relieving of your interests that this, of all things, is your takeaway. It is literally her field of research to know what the liberals and leftists are saying, what they focus on, and how it is talked about. That podcast is the biggest in the gente, so of fucking course she checks out Chapo. But not a word from you about /the point/ she was making in the section that references Chapo. I doubt a single one of those 15 likes this top comment currently has came from a person who listened that far. For some reason (hmm I wonder what it is) there are a lot of people eager to critique her on inessential points while ignoring the thrust of her work, much less shit like the fact that the COVID relief fund surplus Chapo reported on was off by THIRTY-SEVEN BILLION. You show know interest in the point, nor in the larger one about how the largest and wealthiest progressive liberal state in the country has been taken over by these blood sucking lunatics who humiliate, gaslight, and scapegoat regular working people while doing things that directly run counter to everything they purport to believe because they know they can get away with it. Like how Liu talked about how Pelosi backed a pro life, pro gun Texan against a Berniecrat. Yet now all we hear from her is that we need to back her more than ever because Roe v. Wade, as though she cares about these issues as anything more than keeping them alive for job security. Nah, nevermind all that. Let's just cast shade on Liu. Disgusting.

[@jasongrote9114]

The lawlessness in SF is a real thing, but it's also coming from big tech: last time I was there, a week before lockdown, there were 30+ people shooting up on the BART steps, but there were also Teslas and Benzes illegally driving along pedestrian-only Market Street because they don't care if they get ticketed. Heavy failed state vibes.

[@lib1007]

The politicians in SF is encouraging crime, robbery, lawlessness. Also there is lots of lazy drug addicts in SF.

[@kace999]

I wonder if the reparations for slavery will apply to the Native Californians who were enslaved.

[@eccentricaste3232]

They've already got reparation. What's your point?

[@kace999]

@@eccentricaste3232 What was it? When?

[@JudoJonny5]

Land value tax would solve this 🥱

[@shzarmai]

exactly, everyone should take the Georgist pill and Social Corporatist pill tbh

[@terriej123]

I know that Catherine Liu is going to chalk my comment up to my just being uniformed. But I happen to be a working class person & I can tell you that most working class people in this country are quite confused & uninformed & thus have very fucked up politics. If any politics at all. Same goes for poor people. I should know, I live amongst them & have done so my whole life. I highly doubt that Liu can say the same. So no, they do need to be educated, & there’s nothing wrong with that. I myself used to be anti-abortion when I was younger. But thankfully I’ve always loved to read & even though I mostly just read fashion magazines back then, they actually taught me a lot about things, such as why legal abortion is so necessary. By the way, I’m not college educated either (just in case that bolsters my argument with her in some way🙄).

[@antondalemma5484]

Quite possibly the most authentically left and uplifting comment I have read in weeks ... maybe months. Thank you.

[@vallarieastman3519]

"We really need to get another party in California." Me: like, idk, maybe a...Socialist Party. Yea. Of course.

[@daniellarson3068]

I think Socialists would be better than Republicans if they just listened to people. Republicans seem to be in a different alternate universe than the Democrats but both are controlled by money.

[@middle_pickup]

I would LOVE to see Hasan react to this. These are some solid critiques of California, and the dems. We need to end this kind of corrupt, out of touch leadership who has zero compassion or care for their constituency.

[@AlexCab_49]

Me too. As a long time California resident this is really relevant to me

[@mk-oc7mt]

I think Hasan would rip a lot of her reactionary takes on black people, crime and homelessness

[@B_Estes_Undegöetz]

Thanks for sharing Catherine Liu with us Jacobin. What a hoot to hear someone as fed up with the commodified cultural left (after putting up with it for 40 years since the grad school days) as I am and ready to Stan for materialist universalist egalitarian Marxist socialism.

[@drewimmesoete2855]

Well said, Catherine! 100% accurate.

[@GaminHasard]

Change zoning laws. Make it easier to build and too build diverse type of housing. Nimby must be destroyed.

[@AlexCab_49]

I disagree with Liu about how the crime wave isn't overblown. The people who back Caruso more and his "crime is too damn high" rhetoric tend to live in more affluent areas. Working class people in South LA (pretty dangerous area if you know this region) backs Karen Bass who isn't a law and order candidate.

[@allahdivinecipher]

leave it to a Jacobin comment thread to instantly jump at someone who uses the "wrong" phrase to advocate for true drug treatment outreach that prioritizes pushing people to get help, rather than standing by idly while they destroy themselves. Great conversation. Catherine has such a great analysis on so many of our problems

[@KC-lc8dx]

She's incredible

[@capricious6383]

Wow! Two very intelligent women discussing the truth! How refreshing in this state of hyper hypocrisy.

[@kraz007]

Big fan - great and concise book 📖

[@mk-oc7mt]

agree with most of what she said about CA politics overall but there were so many red flags holy shit

[@the_derpler]

Me and the missus are techies, even we can't imagine owning in CA. We missed that train.

[@haidagwaiiintel7696]

Jen is so pretty and smart, Catherine too

[@TravisRiver]

Why are we paying so much attention to Chapo in this video? And arguing that they're symptomatic of a certain demographic of the left does not feel sufficient.

[@gray404]

The Californian multicultural utopia hasn't made it's way to Humboldt county. It's still a white bourgeoisie stronghold and there isn't even a multicultural mirage

[@jackjohnson2101]

Oh my god, they're white! God forbid.

[@raleighrmb]

Humboldt is not exactly a PMC stronghold. Its part of the deindustrialized West Coast rust belt.

[@eccentricaste3232]

@@jackjohnson2101 Yeah, because of segregation and discriminatory home loans. California was heavily segregated. If you read, you won't be responding with ignorant takes like a moron.

[@AlexCab_49]

@@raleighrmb They now have the emerald triangle. Maybe they could use that to jump start a weed economy in Humboldt county

[@Nerdcoresteve1]

Ugh, I lived most of my life in California's central valley until about 12 years ago. I feel like it's gotten so much worse since I left.

[@stephenmerritt7368]

On the Chesa Boudin discussion. Firstly, there is not a crime wave in SF. Of course crime statistics are notoriously hard to pin down, but by most metrics crime is actually down in SF, especially violent crime. Catherine Liu wants to talk about the way people feel about whether crime has gone up or down and that is not useful when discussing policy. We are in a pandemic during which we have all become terrified of being around other people, especially Asians who have been violently targeted because of the associated racism. People's feelings about safety obviously matter, but to extend those feelings, which are contradicted by the evidence about Boudin's prosecutorial policies, is just not defensible. It is also not intellectually defensible to paint the recall Boudin coalition as homogeneously working class, as it is well documented that the recall of Boudin was started by conservative leaning groups and individuals in SF and the greater Bay Area. Also, anecdotally, I am a bartender and the majority of people I hear bitching about Boudin are RICH AF. It's also super weird that it's kinda vaguely implied that Boudin is in any way associated with the Democratic Party structure in California, or more precisely, that he is apart of the same problem of the democrats totalitarian like control of the state. They hate him. Like a lot.

[@mk-oc7mt]

100%. It’s kind of a self report that she paints Boudin like this. Ironically, like you point out, Boudin got his electoral support from the more working class districts of the city. It’s strange that Liu would lazily fall into the reactionary talking points in this issue.

[@benp4877]

Is it not possible that he was/is universally reviled by more or less everyone but white and black IDpol-based progressives?

[@stephenmerritt7368]

@@benp4877 No, that is not possible. Silly question, but thank you!

[@mk-oc7mt]

There are a ton of generalizations made here, and while I hold no sympathy for the CA democratic establishment and their benefactors like the realtors association, it would serve the host and guest better to have more detail in their criticism, and target it toward the systemic issue, not easy scapegoats. It feels really patronizing to hear some wealthy homeowner in OC spout off about the political interests of working communities hundreds of miles away. Allowing ADUs are not primarily homelessness policy Residential rooftop solar is not responsible for increasing electricity costs Single payer was not killed. It was saved by Ash Kalra so that it didn’t ultimately get killed in a vote. Don’t blame homelessness and addiction on a lack of tough luck policies, especially when you admitted we don’t have a real public “housing first” solution The only crime that has increased in the Bay is property crime, and best believe it’s more wealthy constituents that are shrieking about crime. It permeates into the news, and funds coalitions against the DA Boudin. CA was a slave holding state. It was legal to take indigenous folks as slaves here too.

[@roberteleneke9631]

Single prayer is dead that s***'s not happening. It seemed to be ignoring the fact that they were allowing homeowners to build small homes in their backyard while Giving out subsidies to these upermiddle class people. Instead of using the money from the subsidies to build public housesing because Homeowners are always to make money at all costs.

[@mk-oc7mt]

@@roberteleneke9631 which subsidies are you referring to? All I’m saying about single payer is that the statement that it’s dead is subjective. You can view it as dead, but nothing is actually stopping them from continuing to fine tune the policy.

[@suckmyartauds]

Thank you. I was so frustrated at their handling of addiction. Gatekeeping addicts from all resources doesn't make any sense. Isn't that what most of America has been doing for years and it hasn't done shit? They literally mention the solutions in this video, single-payer healthcare and housing projects but still choose to be classist assholes

[@sparklemotion8377]

She is the same managerial class that she criticizes but doesn't see it. They are both very condescending about black and poor people. I would like to see them make comments like that about pink-washing.

[@firebreathingllama]

I'll never forget going to San Francisco and seeing people walking out of a Supreme store with their arms full of bags less than 500 feet from a block full of people living in the streets.

[@AlexCab_49]

You mean city hall?

[@ThefattestCatOnMars]

That could literally apply to any large metropolitan city in the world lmao

[@antondalemma5484]

Among the slate of self declared leftist broadcasting their views here and other platforms, Catherine Liu ranks ... or ranked ... up in my top ten. Sadly her thoughts towards the homeless and addicted around minute 17:20 and on were so ill informed and ignorant I may not get over the disappointment soon. She's obviously never lived among the abject poor or ever worked with the addicted or studied addictions. Heaven forbid we treat the addicted "with respect or keep them alive." "Tough love" she suggests, like every other reactionary. She suggests we ... or someone ... police them .... IN THEIR PRIVATE SPACES. Leaving aside the outrageous HOW this is done ... I would like to stand on Catherine's doorstep and check her for drugs and alcohol daily. So sad. So disappointing, Catherine. These are truly the thoughts of the privileged. Do better.

[@beyondaboundary6034]

Exactly.

[@emilianosintarias7337]

you don't need to be roommates. don't admire thinkers, use what useful tools they offer, throw away all else.

[@stud6414]

But you're asking taxpayers to provide housing for drug addicts and then ask nothing of the drug addict

[@antondalemma5484]

@@stud6414 Thanks for proving how badly Liu failed on this profound issue.

[@benp4877]

@@stud6414 Exactly. The objection the original commenter made more or less reiterates her point about what’s not working.

[@angelasoto4540]

Great! Auxilliary Dwelling Units will make the homeowner like a feudal landlord.

[@dannydenison6253]

My only criticism is why the hell did she randomly advocate for requiring people to be sober before they can have access to emergency housing. Like that's not a way to help people. That just destroys them further. Horrible horrible take on. Drugs. Tough love is like maybe forced care for addicts, no keep them in the streets.

[@biometronome7010]

And she hated on Chesa Boudin.

[@hotwheelz55]

Try renting out your house to a couple meth heads for 72 hrs and see what happens to it.

[@Wkay04]

New York has got a system of public hospitals none of that in CA

[@elviahernandez5170]

I just want to say, there's a difference between housing only solutions and housing first initiatives. Housing first initiatives makes it so that you connect people with a network of resources social workers and jobs that they need in order to make it on their own. Whereas housing only solutions is worried about sheltering individuals even in the short term because that means they're no longer "homeless". For example, I recently talked to an unhoused individual who came from Northern California, and she told me that there was a shelter she tried to stay at that would not let let her park her car as she stayed at the shelter, but she has no where else to park it. It's strange regulations like this that make individuals give up a semblance of upward mobility for shelter that is backwards. "Temporary shelter is not a permanent solution"

[@sparklemotion8377]

A lot of divide and conquer going on here if you read between the lines advocating for Asian Americans while bashing African Americans and homeless people Talk about talking in a bubble

[@joeyknotts4366]

Good talk, I also listened to the Chapo episode and am always glad to hear multiple perspectives as an outsider.

[@matasuki]

Catherine Liu♥️

[@lokitus]

The only good thing left about California is the weather. Won't be long before climate change will sort that out.

[@noserly]

Talk about Horseshoe Theory! I’m on the complete opposite end of the political spectrum but agree with far more in this video than anything out there in the mainstream conversation. I guess we really are closer to each other than to the political center on some things. Critique of capitalism and foreign policy views among the strongest areas of agreement. Interesting.

[@akatgif]

Blaming people in poverty ( low income) on a political party is partially misguided. Why aren't people looking at parents that are low functioning in life and don't have the capacity to prepare their children for the pitfalls and pearls of a complicated world? Blaming politicians for poverty is parsley misguided. I was born in 1959, my parents were low functioning, and did not prepare me for the perils and pitfalls of a complicated world. Essentially my parents were stupid and really didn't have much business having children. I dropped out of high school in 12th grade with probably a 3rd grade academic skill level. This has nothing to do with Republicans Or democrats

[@cow_tools_]

Catherine Liu should go on Chapo and give the boys a little talking to, hahah.

[@johnstewart7025]

The mayor of San Francisco wanting to pay for black women to become EMTs. Some of the antiracists seem to believe that a pro black policy will help everyone: if it helps that group, it will have to help everyone. Well, not if it cherry picks one group out of all groups.

[@13squier]

I don't get the hostility to permitting accessory dwelling units (ADUs), is that not just one of many workable ways to deliver affordable housing? It's a small housing unit that would be otherwise prohibited. Property owners like Catherine don't HAVE to build them, and if they choose to, they don't HAVE to charge rent to let people live in them, for example aging family members. It's really US-style Euclidean zoning based on R-1 single family districts that's the historical anomaly. Accessory dwellings are a traditional idea, think of the apartment over the store.

[@AlexCab_49]

She's a homeowner. Unfortunately, most people when they get the privilege of being able to buy a home, especially if they're older, their leftists beliefs start to fade as they benefit from the high home values and the fact that property taxes are low here.

[@chiara-qx5qi]

Catherine should go on Chapo and set them straight

[@merbst]

Go Anteaters!

[@chr_sten]

sf resident here. disagree with liu on sooo many of her "points"... her pmc is showing.

[@biglebowski3961]

40 year resident. Housing is out of reach for large number of folks, roads are pretty bad, congestion is a nightmare, homelessness in Los Angeles and Frisco is out of control yet I don't really see mass exodus to neighboring states.

[@johnstewart7025]

seems like I have noticed a lot more California people moving to Texas and Florida.

[@addammadd]

Nobody who lives in California calls San Francisco "Frisco".

[@collin5052]

There is no dystopia, only capitalist utopia.

[@HerpaDerpaZX]

There's that quote from Dune "Scratch a conservative and you find someone who prefers the past over any future. Scratch a liberal and find a closet aristocrat"

[@Bigglesworthicus]

California sounds like a silly place. I don't think I'll go there.

[@angeliquerider-mitchell2538]

I have yet to see anything that Jacobin puts out that isn't a myopic, inaccurate portrayal of the "others". This take on homelessness in California is more of the same. How does the elitism these women wear like a favorite pair of jeans have anything to do with a left perspective?

[@mk-oc7mt]

100%

[@zachflame123]

"No investigation, no right to speak"

[@merfymac]

Building an approved little home on your property... You mean like a servant's quarters?

[@SarcasmGuy091]

Yes!!! 💯 As a conservative, I have been telling my fellow CAs (the ones willing to listen without telling me that I am racist) that environmental racism is at its best in my state😢 Even if “leftist” point these things out, the policies in place will not move. Gov. Newson is beholden to his donors and the “progressives” are all about culture markers rather than actual kitchen-table issues. News flash: Americas are materialistic-minded. If politicians deliver material goods and wealth, then the people with respond.

[@BrodieChree]

ADUs are also tax write-offs for wealthy PMCs with fail sons and daughters. The cost of approval and construction here is really high and happens mostly within the previous infrastructure of the poor in previous eras, coach houses and horse barns that have gentrified into Town & Country dream homes. They are rarely housing at-risk. Just more luxury real estate for the wealthy to own.

[@nealwilliams7831]

As long as corruption is allowed to run wild policy will mean nothing. That is the solution to homelessness in California…

[@mtnclimberut]

HyperCapitalist Multicultural Professional Business Utopia -- Dystopia for general economic classes, environment. Brilliant analysis here of identifying the core structural and ideological problems that prevent California from fixing *any* of its major social, environmental, and civic issues, even despite being one party controlled, with virtually unlimited funds.

[@MrKansaitim]

Nancy has her hundreds of millions so what's the big deal?????

[@addammadd]

Ranked choice voting now!

[@christopherdean759]

Ouch. Right on the money

[@TheEnriqueSpeed]

With the EMT thing they are probably trying to avoid the mistakes Bernie and Kamala made. Newsom knows even if there aren't many black people in your state you will need the support if you intend to go for the presidency. To be honest I feel like there's an internal dissonance in this part of the left because it both seems angry the dems make a lot of people suffer, but is also resentful that the dems will prioritize helping the worst off even if it only is to keep things somewhat stable.

[@ottovoncarlsberg3445]

Nice content. Despite the dip in Crypto, I still thank you for the level-headed financial advice. I started forex and Crypto investment with $4,345 and since following you for few weeks now, I've gotten $18,539 in my portfolio. Thanks so much Mrs Ethel Arthur

[@ulrichlchegounbalogoun5123]

it's amazing seeing people making good recommendations out here about expert Mrs Ethel Arthur. Trading in the forex market is indeed a great risk. one needs a certified broker to help manage these market risks..Mrs Ethel, my broker just got me double my trading equity! when I look back at the car I bought just from a $2500 startup capital which went up by about 550% in a two weeks I've just been short of words

[@alherigracecletus9358]

Investing with Mrs Ethel , has been a great opportunity for me to change my financial status and many other things in my life

[@joelkulenkamp847]

I invested €9,000 and she traded it in 1 Week making close to €42,000.

[@edwardjones442]

I just started investing in cryptocurrencies. How do I get in touch with your broker?

[@ateeaaljubory5765]

@@edwardjones442 She is available on whataApk👎🏿

[@DEWwords]

Check, check, check from Massachusetts.

[@DEWwords]

They're building (un)affordable "affordable" housing here like they'll never run out of people with a half mil (or more) just burning a hole in their pocket.

[@DEWwords]

I am a big fan of these women.

[@DEWwords]

Annnddddddddd, here come the what abouts and the liberal position explainers...and the No-content people.

[@MrPuddin]

This was the most spot-on assessment of California politics and the problems in this state that I've seen in two decades. Catherine should run for governor!

[@blackfeatherstill348]

Nothing changes -

[@JENTHINKSO]

Well, this was disappointing.

[@twotone1977]

Does the guest get that Chapo Trap House is a comedy show?

[@420_Blushed]

Sure, 25 percent turnout is a real working class mandate.

[@masseffect48]

Way to invent another "kulak" to pogram

[@rbj5767]

❣️🇺🇲🗡️💋💢🙏👠👄👸👑🎇🦹‍♀️💫💫💫

[@the_derpler]

Fentanyl is the tough love unfortunately.

[@austinjonestyler]

Green Party Candidate Delilah Barrios For Texas Governor

[@GlobalTheatreSkitsoanalysis]

46:47 - "The Richard Blum Center study of poverty" rich people buying their legacies as usual

[@FullChick-h4l]

Lopez Frank Davis Joseph Lewis Maria

[@lukefairbanks8622]

It's dystopia in my experience; 26m PhD student at ucsd. Uni is fine, profs and staff are decent, uc doesn't pay enough though for example my 30% rent burden threshold is ~850 yet housing in the area is median ~1250 so I can't even apply to most places & at my income bracket it's all 2ndary markets like FB/CL filled with scammers. We're going on strike, student workers. Their resistance to better contracts is compelling us to do so...ngl I would be totally down to live in a tiny house in someone's backyard lmk folks

[@greenvelvet]

What I don't understand is even though the recall was initiated and funded by Republican millionaires and billionaires, ultimately it was only able to succeed if the voters felt the same way. So I don't know where the truth lies. if he was actually good for San Francisco or if a majority of San Francisco voters actually felt that he wasn't doing a good job.

[@chr_sten]

it's called propaganda.

[@juandoe2696]

Love Catherine Liu, she always has something interesting to add to the conversation. I would have loved her to further expand on the throw away line that one party states in the US are simply a little version of China and the CCP? More and more governors like in Texas, Florida and Cali remind me of the great leader.

[@AQuietNight]

Depends. Anything not hard Left is seen as dictatorial Right wing.

[@janosmarothy5409]

there was nothing there. it was a pointless half-joking provocation. way too much of her argument edges into shitty "post-left" capitulation to national conservative "populist" talking points right down to some weird and factually dubious statements about crime, addiction, solar... Other commentors have picked up on this. California's a deeply dysfunctional, highly unequal state and is in many ways a testing ground for the rest of the country (e.g. Prop 22). a proper analysis of social conditions and political prospects would've been great, but alas...

[@NathansHVAC]

you will vote democrat and like it.

[@wavell2000]

Lol @ uvalde blue lives matter

[@AQuietNight]

Admit it Catherine, you need the Republican Party back in strength. Voting in a little less Left Democrats (or any combination there of) will not improve things at all.

[@yasminmata1313]

I just need to touch on this and I know it’s going to be unpopular opinion but I think homeless people don’t have incentives to get clean. I do think we should make homeless encampments illegal because we are getting the homeless from other states. I live in a Hispanic working class community (Boyle Heights, CA) and the homeless are violent and someone of them have harassed and almost attacked me but I ran way. I know a lot of people that face these issues everyday at bus stops, going to the grocery stores and sometimes these homeless are outside their homes. It’s scared and we need change.

[@d.m.collins1501]

I was playing the "Jen Pan Drinking Game" where you take 1 shot for every minute Jen talks before getting around to asking a question. Normally this leads to just absolute blackouts on my part. But today was a SPEED run: Jen only had one run-on sentence after formulating her question, so the guest was able to get a word in edgewise as early as the 2:34 mark! I mean, I'm still drunk. But I had to round UP to do it.

[@cameronwixcey9692]

To a large extent a adequate welfare state is impossible in multicultural, large countries. Why? Because a welfare state is built upon trusting your neighbours not to take the piss. That trust declines as your neighbours become less like you and known to you. It is no coincidence that the welfare state grew up in an era of homogeneous populations whilst declining as countries have become more diverse. Daily mail attack lines on benefits would be harder if they couldn't use migrants as examples of benefit cheats.

[@mk-oc7mt]

This is not true

[@pn7036]

Loved this refreshing analysis on the dystopic reality of working and middle class people here. Just one point of conjecture--California participated in slavery just as much as slave holding states. The full report about this on slavery in California and the case for reparations can be found here: oag.ca.gov/system/files/media/ab3121-reparations-interim-report-2022.pdf

[@mjzenbar]

California entered the U.S. As a free state in 1850. - per that report, and known history. There was a 4-5 year period between CA being taken from Mexico and it becoming a state that slavery of African Americans was sorta allowed, but that hardly compares to the extensive and long term practice of slavery in the slave states. If you want to bring up the slavery and state sanctioned genocide of Native Americans than that's a different story... But that's not what that report or the commission are concerned with.

[@roberteleneke9631]

California under Mexican control it was illegal to own slaves including in Texas, New Mexico and Arizona. What lead to the Mexico American War is Slave holders wer moving in to Texas and othe northern Mexican territories wanted to keep slaves. Witch justified American Manifest destiny, led to a five year period, before it was state, to allow slavery. Mexican Americans though that were forced to live on this side of the border I did the border had their landtaken. They should also Be given some form of reparations.

[@jakecarlo9950]

Did she really just come out against Housing-First without even knowing the name? And blame homelessness on drugs and ‘mental illness’?! Utter b.s.

[@TheRealMattKronik]

The idea that some policy maker looked at one of those Little Lending Libraries and thought, "but what if we made it a halfway house?" is so insane.

[@scottheathco7323]

where's m4a for california y'all have a super majority

[@willzsportscards]

Yup. perfect example...look at UC tuition in the mid 80s and compare it to now. Where are our tax dollars going? corruption/administration bloat etc etc. Our public schools were bad when I grew up, now they're utter garbage.

[@prometheus200]

I love this discussion. Thanks ladies. 😊