California has always been dubbed the land of opportunity and the land of the ever-changing demographic landscape. But based on statistics, Californian’s aren’t feeling as lucky as they once have. According to the 2000 Census of the 33,871,648 people living in California, 50.2% were born here; which is a 9% decrease from the 1990 Census which shows a population of 29,760,021. Plainly stated, in 1990 there were less people, but the greater majority was native to the state. So why is there a drop in native population? You can look at the situation two ways. First, takes into consideration a possible increase in immigration to the state during the decade between censuses. With this consideration, one could presume that the overall population rose and included more immigrants, which caused a mathematical shift decreasing the percentage of natives to non-natives. The alternative approach is to consider that those born and raised in California have decided to move on to greener pastures. I think that it is a combination of both theories that can be attributed to the decrease can be attributed to both. What does this transient citizenship say about the stability of California?
As a state, California has always been in perpetual movement. First settled by the Native Americans and Mexicans it was then taken over by Europeans who recently immigrated to America seeking bigger and better. California is the promise land! So why are people still coming and going and what does this say about the state’s stability? Determined to hold its own through those who believe in the dream and those who don’t, California and its citizens have always posted propaganda to not only attract newcomers, but to reinforce their own belief in the dream. Today’s slogan for California is “Find Yourself Here” but that certainly isn’t the first or last of the state’s catch phrases used to entice strangers. In music, movies print and radio, California is typically portrayed as the sunshine state. With television being at the height of its popularity, advertising for the state has had a significant focus on commercials. To ensure a constant stream of citizen replenishment, California advertises its positive attributes with its “Everyday in California is a lucky day” commercial. To keep the dream alive, the campaign was designed to parallel average citizens with major Hollywood icons, as if to make the famous life more attainable. The commercial is structured so that every other shot shows a mega star, and then a “normal” person, and each says trite phrases like, “We inspire”, “We pop”, “We believe in Nirvana”. To further illustrate what California is capable of providing you, the different celebrities and non-celebrities are golfing, or skateboarding, running out of Disneyland and standing in front of a Nascar track. So the viewer takes a look at the beautiful beach that Mr. and Mrs. Governator are walking on and says, “Yeah, that’s what I want” and answers Clint Eastwood’s question of “Do you feel lucky, do ya?” with “Well no, I don’t feel lucky under 6 feet of snow here in South Dakota in January, but boy if I were in California, I would be the luckiest person on earth!”. And for those who live in California and are watching the campaign, it may actually serve as a wakeup call for what they don’t have.
For the millions of people who immigrate here each year in hopes of “getting lucky” there are obviously just as many who have been here their whole lives and cannot afford to go to Disneyland. Fed up with an intolerable cost of living coupled with poor benefits and mediocre wages they leave California and move to the Midwest or the East Coast in hopes of not having to work so hard to get by. Their $60,000 a year job will afford them a home ownership, a new car, and maybe even vacation time to California.





Who where expressing themselves and had the right to do it. Why was this done to them in the first place? What other action should the police had taken? So many questions, I just hope that there are answers to all of these. 



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