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THE VIEW FROM HERE - Los Angeles is not unique. For centuries, millions fled Europe to America where upward mobility was merit based. Between 1845 and 1852, 1.5 million Irish peasants flooded into America because Irish authorities due to the Potato Famine. The Mexicans, who migrated north in the 1700's and 1800's to Del Norte, were not the Castilian upper class, but rather those of mixed Indio Spanish background, e.g. Mestizo heritage. In the early 1900's, the movie industry departed from New Jersey because Thomas Edison’s Motion Picture Patents Company (MPPC) had monopolistic control over film making. When today’s young Angelenos survey opportunity here in Los Angeles versus other places, they see a system which rigged in favor of the 1%, i.e., Wall Street or Wokeism’s alleged victims.
Before packing your bags to “Go East young Man, Go East,” it would be helpful to understand the core values which support a decision to seek your future away from Los Angeles.
Flip the Script on Power Corrupts . . .
Since power corrupts, then move to a locale which exerts less control over your life. The places which were ideal ten or fifteen years ago such as Austin Texas and outside Nashville, Tennessee are no longer prime since the early birds beat you to it. The best hunting grounds are the exurbs – those places beyond the suburbs. They’re perfect for those who will jettison Los Angeles’ dense urban center vs bedroom community model, requiring long commutes.
Characteristics of Good Destinations
(1) High Percentage of Unincorporated Land:
This means the only government is at the county and state level and developers and Wall Street are busy ruining more dense areas which they can maximize their profits. When planning long term, you want to get in on the ground floor.
(2) Infrastructure Deficits Being Met by Private Demand:
This is another indicator that neither developers nor Wall Street have seized control. We are at the outset of an expanded internet along with ai where the need to physically travel to many locations is being reduced. Not only can many people work at home, the old concept of a downtown crowded with office towers is dead. Los Angeles’s downtown is going bankrupt as the work at home option expands and Family Millennials move out of state. But for the crimogenic Los Angeles Council which is a subsidiary of Wall Street, DTLA would already be a ghost town.
(3) Growth in Sole Proprietorships and Family Owned Businesses
This means the land use decisions are in the hands of people who prize individual initiative (see Values below)
Although life does not promise a rose garden, exurbs offer one more control over their destiny.
Are You Up to the Relocation Task?
(1) Rotter Internal vs External Scale (Google the Rotter Test
Whether by nature or nurture, some people are more internal, which means that they act on the basis of their own inner thoughts and feelings and not based on external pressure. If your Rotter score high (External 20-23 points, stay put in LA where decisions are made for you. You see yourself as a victim and when things go badly, you act with rage blaming others for your condition. Not only do you see the entire system as inherently stacked against you, but you do not move way from it.
A person with a low score (Internal 0-4 points) sees himself as master of his fate and sees himself as the locus of control of his life. If things do not work out, he looks inward to figure out what he did wrong. “If you first do not exceed, try, try again.”
(2) “As the Twig Is Bent So Grows the Tree,” except for Internals
To an extent, what one is taught determines one’s abilities. The Jimmy Kimmel show had an interesting Man of the Street segment where it asked young adults to write in cursive They could not because that knowledge was not part of their neurological pathways. Similarly, most young adults have not been taught core American values. Starting in the early 1990's and accelerating after 2000, schools and colleges stopped teaching American history and political philosophy in lieu of a new curriculum which focused on discrimination and oppressions as hallmarks morality. The Declaration of Independence’s inalienable individual rights were inherently immoral and designed to perpetuate slavery. Students were taught that the only moral philosophy was the Oppressor vs Oppressed model where individual character was irrelevant. Fewer than 20% of American colleges and universities require a course on U.S. government or history to the point that most believe that America is democracy, where there are no inherent individual rights such as Life, Liberty, and Pursuit of Happiness.
Why some people persist in being Internals in face of such anti-individual rights propaganda is not known. The general rule is Garbage in Garbage out. Yet, 16% of Americans are Internals while most people, 68%, fall in the midsection of being a mixture. There has been definite increase in Externals in the last few decades when the External philosophy of Wokeism has denigrated the Internal values of the Declaration of Independence. The right wing has MAGA as its group of Externals.
Internals Should Leave Los Angeles
The Externals will accept the new social orthodoxy that one’s outcomes in life are due to institutional racism. If they see themselves as belonging to Wokeism’s Oppressed, they are more likely to favor the progressive (DSA) Democrats who promise to favor victimhood. Also, DSA philosophy provides a comforting rationalization why people do poorly. Black Internals, however, are likely to exit LA, while the Black Externals are more likely to expect the city and state to provide housing, food and shelter. Jews, however, are likely to be personally Internal for themselves, while seeing Blacks through the External lens of victims.
A Couple Questions for Angelenos to Ask Themselves
Am I happiest allowing others to make decisions? If you can easily go along to get along, stay put. If, however, your personality is wedded to initiative, self-responsibility, and thinking for yourself, life under either Wall Street’s monetization of everything or Wokeism’s Victimization will be intolerable. The only remaining question is “Where should I relocate?” Internals are great at seeking out facts. The data is out there. "Seek, and you shall find."
(Richard Lee Abrams is a former Los Angeles-based attorney, an author, and political commentator. A long-time contributor to CityWatchLA, he is known for his incisive critiques of City Hall and judicial corruption, as well as his analysis of political and constitutional issues. Abrams blends legal insight with historical and philosophical depth to challenge conventional narratives. A passionate defender of civic integrity and transparency, he aims to expose misuse of power and advocate for systemic reform in local government. You may email him at [email protected])
