The Grandchildren of the Okies Go Home

In Wisconsin I pay a fair amount in taxes.  In general I think the place is run pretty well although as a fiscally conservative sort I can see a few areas where the state government could do better.

Things are much more difficult in places like California, where high taxes, governmental inefficiency, and in the opinion of some, restrictive environmental laws are making it difficult for businesses to thrive. 

It was not always thus.  Back in the days of Dust Bowl and Depression California was the shining El Dorado sought out by impoverished Okies fleeing hard times.  It didn't always work out as they thought it might; Woody Guthrie once wrote a poignant ballad about how California might not welcome you "If you don't have that Do Re Mi".

I am told that successful entrepreneurs are now leaving a business-unfriendly California in flocks.  No doubt some of them are the successful grandchildren of the Okies.

Is it time to re-write the Woody Guthrie classic?  With due apology to a great American talent:

Do Rei Me

2012 Edition



Lots of folks back West, they say, is leavin' home every day,
Beatin' the hot old dusty way to the California line.
'Cross the desert sands they roll, gettin' back to that old dust bowl,
They think they're goin' to a sugar bowl, and here's what they find
Now, the police at the port of exit say,
"You're number fourteen thousand for today."

Oh, if you got the do re mi, folks, if you got the do re mi,
Why, you better go back to beautiful Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Georgia, Tennessee.
California is a garden of Eden, a paradise to live in or see;
But believe it or not, you won't find it so hot
If you got the do re mi.

You want to buy you a home or a farm, don't do the smelt no harm,
Or take your vacation by the mountains or sea.
Don't swap for a hybrid car, don't stay right where you are,
Better take this little tip from me.
'Cause I look through the want ads every day
But the headlines on the papers always say:

If you got the do re mi, boys, if you got the do re mi,
Why, you better go back to beautiful Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Georgia, Tennessee.
California is a garden of Eden, a paradise to live in or see;
But believe it or not, you won't find it so hot
If you got the do re mi.

Its actually difficult to know how Woody would view our politics.  He was certainly an Old Line Lefty and would be consistent in favoring higher taxes on "the rich".  But there was a strong sense of individuality and a respect for work ethic in his lyrics.  And as to idling agricultural land for smelt, well you have to recall that Woody Guthrie was for a time employed in helping publicize hydroelectric projects in the Northwest.  As the man said:

     "Your power is turnin' our darkness to dawn, roll on Columbia roll on"