State Hate -- We are ONE country people! A minor rant.

Listen, I know I'm from the US's most hated state. (California) and I'm fourth generation native, so I take this personally. I don't care if you hate California. I love California and I'd be there in a heartbeat if I could afford it.  But I can't.

And not because of the way I voted. This is not meant to be political, it's meant to talk about how we treat others as Americans.

California haters, who complain that we will move to your state and ruin your state, too, listen up.  We didn't ruin California. Greed did. I personally think it changed when tech became about stocks. It used to be Silicon Valley was a bunch of nerds playing with gadgets, and showing their friends what they could accomplish to make the world better. Then, money got involved and overtook the nerds. The perfect example of this is Steve Jobs overpowering Steve Wozniak at Apple. Jobs had vision, but Wozniak had the know-how. Jobs couldn't engineer anything!

So money flooded into Silicon Valley and normal families could no longer afford homes. International money swooped in and overpaid for houses with cash. So people fled so they could afford to feed and house their families.  I understand other states hate California because this happened in their states too, but it happened to Californians first. And if you don't tackle the original problem, it festers.

I think this hatred among states only helps the politicians to create division. It's a free country. We can live wherever we want.  You may not like it, but this is the law of the land. The division between red states and blue states may be political, but it shouldn't be personal. Judging someone by their state is ridiculous. We are all out here trying to make the best life for our families. If you want to be mad at someone, be mad at your government who sells our farmland to our enemies for cash. 

What sparked this? Today on social media, I had a fellow Arizonan say, "Go back to your dystopian state."  Dude, I would love to. Advance me some cash and I am outta here!  

But why would any adult in this country say stuff like that to another?  Get mad all you want. Money is what is ruining your state. Money and greed by corporations, not families trying to create a life for their children. For every California jerk that moves somewhere, there is a litany of wonderful people who are trying to survive in a state that is outpricing them with crazy insurance rates, business regulations and taxes, house taxes and HOA's upwards of $500 a month.

This is where I used to walk my kids in a stroller. Trust me, I'll go back.