Learning a Hard Lesson

Since mid-nineteenth century and the Gold Rush, California has been the ultimate land of opportunity and personal freedom, at least in the public imagination not only in the U.S. but around the world. To top it all, it became the home of Hollywood, the premier fantasy factory of modern popular culture.

But, these past few years, reality has been catching up with the American Dream everywhere, and the Golden State is no exception. Now, one of its most prestigious claims to fame, its public educational system at the university level, is in serious trouble for economic reasons. The idea of unlimited growth and prosperity -- a fantasy, if there ever was one -- led the state to spread itself too thin in this regard, maintaining a number of institutions that, in the long run, would be impossible to keep operating. The state government has only the recourse of raising taxes to prevent the shutting down of some institutions or the elimination of educational programs, a proposition that is a hard-sell with voters in this difficult economy.

Sic transit gloria mundi.

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