Why California Has So Many Problems

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California is an island not literally of course but geography and history has subjected the state to the same pressures and influences that make actual Islands so insular towering Mountains separate the bulk of the state from its neighbors but America's largest desert places hundreds of miles of harsh sparsely populated landscape between it and the more populated states farther east conversely the largest richest and most influential cities in California all sit on the coast San Diego Los Angeles and San Francisco this is no coincidence granted statehood in 1850 California began its interaction with the rest of the nation by ocean it did not border any other state the next nearest was Texas the interior was considered hostile dangerous Wilderness but also just fundamentally lacked roads so steamships would leave from the East Coast snake through the Caribbean and drop off passengers in Panama their Travelers would cross the country by foot and horse and boat to