The Official California Flag. I couldn't think of a good Dwight quote to put here about bears.(Source: http://www.parks.ca.gov/pages/22491/images/california_state_flag.jpg)
California is also the number one agricultural provider within the United States. According to Agriculture in the Classroom, California grows more than 350 different crops per year, with many of them being solely grown within the State. These crops, which makes up over half of the nation's fruits, vegetables, and nuts, generate an estimated $36.2 billion every year in revenue and has made California the top agricultural state (AG Classroom). One reason why California is so strong agriculturally is due to the state's climate. The state enjoys 261 days of sunshine a year on average, according to the Current Results Nexus. The amount of sunshine varies throughout the state, giving the state both cool and warm environments and maximizing growth capabilities by allowing farmers to grow whichever crops they'd like. Another reason includes the concept behind specialty crops, where a farm will focus solely on growing one particular crop in order to maximize efficiency. California normally distributes the their crops the most during the wintertime to other states due to the fact that the weather that occurs in the rest of the United States give poor growing conditions.
Almond trees growing in California(Source: http://musingbymoonlight.files.wordpress.com/2011/01/almondtrees.jpg)
California is also known for its revolutionary political views, which often differ from the rest of the country's beliefs. Items such as legalized same sex marriages, open border policy concepts, and legalized marijuana (as well as dispensaries located throughout the state that make it easy to obtain marijuana) are quite often not seen anywhere else, especially in more conservative states. The reason behind this lies in the diversity that creates California. Most of the northern and midwest portions of the United States stay very homogenous, which can also cause their views to become very similar with one another, and quite often single focused. Other factors, such as universal religious beliefs, also deeply impact individual's values. With factors like these, it becomes difficult for the people within these regions to understand the reasoning behind certain new laws and beliefs, mainly because they cannot view the concept from both sides (or actively refusing to.)
Pro same-sex marriage rally in San Francisco(Source: http://www.csmonitor.com/var/ezflow_site/storage/images/media/images/2010/0124-weekly/0124-awedstrategy-san-francisco/7265824-1-eng-US/0124-AWEDSTRATEGY-san-francisco_full_600.jpg)
California is also known for being the leading state in a number of industries. One example of these industries can be seen within Southern California, which is the leading aircraft-manufacturing center in all of the United States. This is because many aircraft companies choose to have their planes developed within California (such as Boeing), or because the actual aircraft company is based in California, such as Lockheed Martin. Though this industry may be viewed as being a limited one, it is quite the opposite. Approximately 20 percent of the Department of Defense's budget is entered into California every year, which the majority of it goes to Lockheed Martin. This, plus half the federal budget for NASA, helps employ many of the 2.9 million people who currently live in San Diego today. Another leading industry within California that has recently become more popular is biotechnology. According to the California Biotechnology Foundation, the biotechnology industry was started in California, and has made California the home of over half the life saving medical therapies that have been approved by the FDA in the past 26 years. Biotechnology is the leading industry that is focused on curing "non-curable" diseases by altering the way DNA works (masonbay.com).
F-35 Joint Strikc Fighter Jet, developed by Lockheed Martin(Source: http://www.aviationearth.com/Lockheed_F-35_Joint_Strike_Fighter.jpg)
In conclusion, it can be understood on why some people view California so differently from the rest of the United States, and why not everyone is comfortable with the way Californians live their lives. However, this change, though it may be daunting, should not be viewed as bad. As the old saying goes, "The only thing that never changes is change". Some of us just embrace change more than others.
No comments:
Post a Comment