California, a State of Unintended Consequences

Over the last 50 years California has slowly turned from the Golden State to a State of Decline.  Having lived here the entire time, it appears to me one of the reasons for this decline is the unintended consequences from “feel good” politics.

This is brought to mind as we endure gas prices approaching five dollars per gallon.  There is plenty of oil, so why the sudden spike in prices?  One reason is that California has not built a gasoline refinery in this state for 32 two years.  Normally this would not be a problem; we could bring in gasoline from Texas or other states with additional capacity.  This cannot happen in California because we are using the special summer blend of gas which is only used in our state.  A special blend of gasoline in a State with no extra capacity in refining equals high prices and possible shortages when there is a refinery problem.

The above scenario comes to us from politicians and special interest groups pursuing their own agenda without concern for the greater population. There was a severe smog problem in Southern California and the summer blend was an attempt to correct the problem.  If the summer blend had been a great idea,
other States would have rushed to use it.  Then when this shortage came along, we would have been able to get help from the other States using the blend.

The second issue with gasoline is the questionable idea of global warming.  Anytime someone tells you something is a scientific fact and not open to debate, you should get nervous.  Science is about challenging all theories, even those which most people believe true. The belief that global warming is man-made
and the State has to restrict commercial activities to save the planet has made
it impossible to build more refineries in the State of California.  The fact that no refineries have been built since 1980, given the growth of the State, would lead one to believe there are less cars and less need for gasoline.  Does anybody think we need less gasoline now than we needed in 1980?  Normally the marketplace would have kept pace by building refineries to keep pace with the increased demand for gasoline.

This morning new, lower unemployment numbers were released. This number surprised me and I took a few minutes to look into the report. One of the things I saw is the large number of young people unable to find employment. For years our Liberal friends have pushed the idea of a minimum hourly wage. The large number of unemployed youth can be traced to the unintended consequence of requiring local businesses to pay a minimum wage.

Before minimum wage laws when a kid was in high school he or she could get a job at the local supermarket bagging groceries, at a fast food restaurant selling french fries, or at a service station pumping gasoline. The amount of money earned was low, but the benefits were vast. A young person who worked a job learned many useful skills such as dealing with the public, making correct change, the need to be on time each day and appropriate dress when working. These basic skills were used by the young person throughout their working lives. The young person’s protection from too many hours and low pay were their parents.

But those of the nanny state could not leave it alone, they had to inject themselves in the name of fairness and kill off the jobs. I’ve always felt self-serve gasoline was a direct result of minimum wage laws. When it became too expensive to hire a kid to pump gas, the service stations came up with an alternative. So the feel good group looked in the mirror and congratulated themselves for their good deeds and the young people lost employment opportunities. Unintended consequences have had a major effect on California.

Is there an answer to California’s problems?  I would like to think the answer is a trend toward personal responsibility and less government intervention.  I like the idea that a government that governs least, governs best.