Ireland's budget deficit is bigger than California's crisis deficit!

[patslatt]

California with a population of 37 million,nearly 9 times Ireland's, considers itself in a serious financial crisis,with a deficit of about $21 billion (€14 billion) at state level. This provides some perspective on Ireland's budget deficit of over €20 billion. See State finances: Keynes in reverse | The Economist The California deficit is in addition to its approximate 14% share of the federal deficit of about $700 billion (€470 billion), a share amounting to $98bn (€66bn),or a total of both state and federal deficits of $119bn or €80 billion. The latter would be about €9bn relative to Ireland's population.

[teapot]

Ireland also has higher (not per capita - HIGHER numerically) unemployment figures than some places almost as big as California. Lot of these ills come from trying to be a big fish in a big pond - Politicians' remuneration; Govt. spending; Banking and so on. 'Look at us, World...' Ireland is a small fish on the shore of a large pond and only just got to that level. We need restraint and logical thinking at all levels and we need to stop trying to be a world leader. Others are coming out of the recession, Ireland seems to be knee deep.

[derm0t]

If you visit LA, you'd be surprised at how normal everything is (or seems). Buses run, electricity is on, shops are full of produce.

Then, you read about the dire state of the state, and the conditions in outlying areas (which sound like something out of the 1930s).

Hard to see how the show is still on the road, if the fundamentals are as appalling as reported - which I think they are. Where is the tipping point?

E.G. 40% of californians out of work:
Study: 2 out of 5 working-age Californians jobless

More recently, the state began paying it's employees (aka public sector) in IOUs.

A friend recently drove up the I-5, and saw sign after sign on ruined farms saying "Congress created Dust Bowl". The farmers are in a fury, blaming congress for switching off the water supply to protect an endangered fish. Well, that's what they're choosing to believe. There's an element of truth, as there IS an endangered fish, and water is being allocated to the fragile river ecosystem. The bigger picture is that there's a serious drought, and that's why they're dying out.

The New Dust Bowl | Mother Jones

Amazing accounts of hardship in that article.

California, like Mexico, faces a perfect storm of economic collapse, water shortage, and general clusterf-ck goodness.

A few miles outside of LA in the high desert is the hellhole of Victorville. Yasha Levine of The Exile has been writing about the surreal existance there:

http://exiledonline.com/tag/victorville/

Like I said, those of you who visit California (if anyone can still afford to do so) will almost certainly not see anything amiss. To me, it seems like a tsunami. The surface of the water is perfectly placid - but below the surface, bad things are happening... This has been going on for about 2 or 3 years now --- it's amazing that the wheels are still on...at least Ireland is reasonably culturally homogenous - but LA is a powder keg waiting to blow.

[cactusflower]

Thanks for that derm0t - read the Mother Jones article and I recommend it. This was one of the comments:

Greetings from down under. Do you run many livestock in the area? We are currently debating climate change (like everyone) and the emissions from livestock. We have 28 million cattle and about 87 million sheep and they've caused ecological devastation in these arid lands. Dryland salinity and soil erosion is a serious problem. In the west, salinity is swallowing up a land mass - the equivalent of 19 football fields every day and the livestock exacerbate the problem.

Of course most people object to literature encouraging people to eat less meat, however, when you consider that a lactating dairy cow requires between 80 and 120 litres of water a day in summer, one can understand the need for a reduction. Strangely with our large consumption of dairy products, we in the western world have the highest rate of osteoporosis on the planet.

Several of our rivers are now on life support in Australia, from industrial pollution and agricultural run-off but it appears that farmers will be exempt from a carbon pollution cap and trade scheme. I sincerely trust they will voluntarily mitigate the use of fossil fuel based synthetic chemicals. We are experiencing more frequent mass fish and bird kills. Fewer fish for the birds to feed on I imagine. We will need to live more simply I think or Mother Nature will soon sort us out.

Anyhow I send best wishes and I hope it rains cats and dogs for you guys in the very near future. Cheers

Salinity and top soil erosion from intensive agriculture and climate change may be the biggest single threat to our population. It was frightening to see the reaction in some comments on that report was to attack the farmworkers- for having children, or for being there. Some great comments too. This is capitalism at work, pushing for growth and with no built in imperative for sustainability. It makes more sense to rip the place off and then chop the trees down, sell them for firewood and move on. The situation is the same now with the great forests, that are being ripped out for palm oil plantations. We really are at the brink and things have to change.

[seabhcan]

If you visit LA, you'd be surprised at how normal everything is (or seems). Buses run, electricity is on, shops are full of produce.

Yip. LA is as much a dump as it always was. Awful place.

[soubresauts]

... This is capitalism at work, pushing for growth and with no built in imperative for sustainability. It makes more sense to rip the place off and then chop the trees down, sell them for firewood and move on. The situation is the same now with the great forests, that are being ripped out for palm oil plantations. We really are at the brink and things have to change.

That reminds me of this website -- mind-boggling propaganda.

Palm oil is really, really bad.

I'm not sure how this is going to solve Ireland's budget deficit problem, but you can at least help your health and the planet's health by avoiding all food containing:
* palm oil
* soya (in any form except fermented organic soya [miso, tempeh, natto, tamari])
* GMOs
* hydrogenated fat
* artificial chemical additives
* fluoride (including food prepared with fluoridated water)
* aspartame
* monosodium glutamate
* non-organic sugar

Come to think of it, Ireland could save itself economically by growing healthy food...