Written by T. Logan Dayne
In mid 2021, a UC driven study to show California population trends was published. The study started briefly after 2020 when it was revealed that for the first time in California history, California had lost a congressional seat. The “research” by the University of California included studies done by scholars at UC Berkeley, UCLA, and even UC San Diego. The research consisted of investigating several factors some of which include public opinion, U.S. census data, and homeownership rates. The study concluded that there was no “California Exodus”, saying that, “Despite the popular notion of unhappy Californians leaving the state en masse, our robust research shows there is actually no exodus,” chair at the political science department at UC San Diego stated. In other words, “Don’t believe your lying eyes.”
Numerous data collected including that from U-haul shows an increased fluctuation of California residents leaving California “en masse” and fleeing to places that are cheaper such as Nashville. U-Haul even had the unprecedented event of running out of trucks leaving California for one-way moves. A newly moved resident to Nashville stated that, “A lot of people are just over the ways of California…A lot of it has to start with COVID, all the laws and all the things that happened there.” In March of 2022, even the New York Times had to admit that the data simply did not support the UC claim. Since 2020 the population in California has decreased for two straight years. Birth Rates are falling and many citizens are leaving for greener (and cheaper) pastures. Newsom is attempting in a desperate move to try and get more people to come to the state, branding it as an Abortion Haven and an LGBTQIA2S+ friendly state.
However UC San Diego and the intelligentsia of the UC systems have conducted their studies, it goes directly against the cold reality that is being unfurled in front of many Californians as they are seeing their friends and family seek a better future somewhere else. Californians are still in for a lot in the future as the prospect of the mandatory Gas Price Hike is set to be put in place in July, a proposition supported by Newsom himself. Further, Newsom’s effort to hand out money to try and offset the price of gas has its own setback and probably will not come to fruition until late October.
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