California has been a lighthouse, a destination, a paradise, and a promised land ever since the gold frenzy exploded.

It was also a constant source of envy, ridicule, and contempt.

This negative opinion has become even more prevalent in recent years as California's population has declined for the first time in more than 100 years.

The “spill” has become an industry, igniting real estate markets from Nevada to Tennessee, fanning the flames of red-versus-blue political fire, and launching thousands of analyzes of what went wrong.

The latest insult — or more of a reality check? A Los Angeles Times poll last week found that 50% of adults nationwide believe California is in decline. (Shame on you, man.)

Nearly half of Republicans surveyed said the state is “not the real America.” Whatever that means.

LA Times columnists Mark Z. Balabak (a proud California native) and Anita Chhabria (a happy Ohio transplant) discuss polls, hate from haters, and still love despite their problems. I will talk about the current situation in the states where

Barabaku: First of all, Anita, are you okay? Have you ever suffocated to death from toxic air pollution or been run over by a burglar on the run in a hole-in-the-wall neighborhood?

Cabria: To paraphrase Mark Twain, reports of our deaths have been greatly exaggerated. The Golden State is still alive and, dare I say it, a thriving region of the United States.

However, I am troubled by the fact that nearly 30% of respondents agree that California is “not the real America.” Nearly half of Republicans thought so, which isn't all that shocking. But, inexplicably, so did her 21% of Californians. It's not just the Fox crowd spouting the right-wing narrative that California is a hotbed of social evil.

Folks, we joined the union in 1850. ahead of Kansas, West Virginia, and Nebraska, to name a few. We have been Americans longer than many of the so-called core states. I've been confused for the past few days about whether one-third of Americans are bad at geography and history, or whether they're just considered California diggers.

What do you think, Mark? Are we not actually American in some fundamental way that I don't understand?

Barabaku: I think it depends on your definition. American.

If you're talking about a kind of America, an America that's overwhelmingly white and conservative in its social, political, and cultural values, then no, California is that, uh, standard. has not been reached.

We have been a majority-minority nation for more than a generation. Politically, the state has leaned strongly toward the Democratic Party for decades after supporting the Republican Party for much of its history.

Culturally, we always tend to be tolerant, or in the eyes of our critics, overly tolerant. Fresh starts and reinvention have been the attraction ever since the first gold seekers, actual gold diggers, flocked here from the more austere and class-conscious East Coast.

It's not just Fox News, as you suggest. With more than 5 million registered Republicans, more than the population of many states, California has many marginalized Californians who are ignored in Sacramento and purportedly sophisticated in San Francisco and Los Angeles. I feel that people look down on me. This probably accounts for 21% of his headaches.

But let's be clear: Many people interviewed in the poll clearly view California through a partisan lens. Well, maybe I should say that I was wearing a thick blindfold.

That means three in 10 Republicans say their state's natural environment is worse than other states. Really? Let's shout it from the top of Yosemite Falls. Or at sunset in Santa Barbara. Or on a sunny winter day in Joshua Tree National Park, when Midwesterners unshovel snow and dig their cars out of snowdrifts.

That being said, there are a lot of problems, right?

Cabria: This is true everywhere, and of course we are no exception.

This research highlights one issue that most of us agree on. It's that the cost of living in California is too high. More than 80% of Californians felt that way, and that's not surprising.

I think it has a lot to do with housing prices. People are unable to pay their rent, leading to many other problems such as the elderly being forced into homelessness.

I truly believe that California's future depends on finding a way to build lots of new housing instead of just a few here and there. We need the mental health beds promised in Proposition 1 on the March ballot, and we need to find ways to build more affordable housing for a wide range of middle-class Californians .

That's just the beginning.

But the survey also pointed out that the vast majority of Californians, myself included, are happy here.

So the Huntington Beach City Council can rant all they want, and the haters can hate. California continues to represent diversity, freedom, and tolerance. All of these values ​​sadly seem to be becoming increasingly rare east of the Sierra Nevada.

Where are the bright spots, Mark?

Barabaku: Beyond its unparalleled physical beauty, California continues to be a magnet for innovators and entrepreneurs. It remains a port for people who are politically persecuted or who feel unwanted or unwelcome to live as their authentic selves elsewhere.

Yes, our sales and income taxes are high compared to other places. As you suggested, housing is prohibitively expensive and we desperately need more housing.

But check out living in other places that seem cheaper and better.Please take a research on it florida insurance premiums. Earn nickels and dimets every few miles on the toll road back east. Let's sweat out the Texas summer and pray for the power grid to recover — and your air conditioner -It does not come out.

It is true that our government has stricter regulations than other countries, and it is not difficult to find examples of excess. But wouldn't it be nice, for example, to breathe in some clean air and get relief from the watery eyes and chest tightness experienced by the smog-bound people of Southern California decades ago?

Speaking of seeing through the darkness, there was one encouraging finding in the dismal poll. That's the attitude of young people.

Seven in 10 people ages 18 to 34 believe California is a trendsetter, and 43% of respondents are twice as likely as other Americans to say they would consider moving to the state. They believe California's future is bright. me too.

I've moved around a lot, including mandatory assignments for political hacks like me, and thought I'd spent my career reporting from Washington. However, it lasted only seven years. Like Dorothy, who went all the way to Oz to find out she really wanted to be in Kansas, California has been pulling at me all the time I've been away.

Despite all the challenges, or even challenges, this state has, I can't imagine living anywhere else. California is deep in my heart.

what about you?

Cabria: I love California.

As a mixed-race woman with mixed-race children, I value that tolerance and diversity. I value their willingness to fight and take initiative at this critical time when democracy is fragile. I value being a place where people can truly live and be let live, even if we don't agree with them.

To me, the poll results say less about life in California than about the sad effectiveness of right-wing political propaganda and its power to incite fear of the truth. MAGA needs to demonize California to represent the supposed failures of the Democratic Party, especially on crime and immigration, but the reality is to be condemned.

If no one else wants it, we will take the tired and poor, the huddled masses. California has and will continue to embody the American Dream: that each of us matters and that each of us belongs.

Our commitment to fairness and equality is what makes us the Golden State.