The End of California?
Men's Journal|November - December 2021
The American Dream never gleamed any brighter than in the Golden State. But these days, that warm glow might just be a dumpster fire.
By Ky Henderson. Ilustration by The Sporting Press
The End of California?

Every U.S. state has its own romanticized identity. New York is the high-energy center of high culture. Wisconsin is the land of beer and cheese. Texas is full of things that are bigger than the things in other places. But no state in the country has been more romanticized, in more ways, than California.

Endless beaches strewn with surfer babes. A perfect climate that nurtures the nation’s television and movie stardust factories. As many breathtaking national parks as New Jersey has clogged turnpikes. California was glorified even before it became our 31st state, when the gold rush of the mid-1800s saw San Francisco grow from a sleepy outpost to one of the biggest cities in the country. Eighty years later, in America’s largest-ever migration, 200,000 dust bowl farmers abandoned their heartland homes and headed to California’s verdant farmland.

In fact, the state experienced such a steady flow of optimistic newcomers for so many years that today, one in eight Americans calls California home.

Never mind that those seekers often didn’t find the land of plenty they’d envisioned (see Karate Kid), and that indigenous inhabitants were massacred and wiped out by disease courtesy of all the new arrivals. The Golden State continued to burnish its gleaming allure as an easy-living utopia where riches and fame waited behind every swaying palm.

This story is from the November - December 2021 edition of Men's Journal.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.

This story is from the November - December 2021 edition of Men's Journal.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.

MORE STORIES FROM MEN'S JOURNALView All
Fantasy League
Men's Journal

Fantasy League

Inflation, war and endless political campaign ads got you down? Hollywood wants to take you far away.

time-read
2 mins  |
August - September 2022
The Tug Trip
Men's Journal

The Tug Trip

Chasing grizzlies and pushing deep into coastal British Columbia aboard a uniquely Canadian touring vessel.

time-read
9 mins  |
August - September 2022
Death, Incorporated
Men's Journal

Death, Incorporated

How Putin's mercenary army known as the Wagner Group does the Kremlin's dirtiest work in Ukraine and in conflict zones around the world.

time-read
10+ mins  |
August - September 2022
Cynthia Addai-Robinson
Men's Journal

Cynthia Addai-Robinson

The British-born actor trades the Shire's misty mountains for a fantasy island in Amazon Prime's prequel to J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings trilogy.

time-read
3 mins  |
August - September 2022
Idris Elba – Been Around the Block
Men's Journal

Idris Elba – Been Around the Block

Superstar actor Idris Elba hits 50 in September. But we might have not seen his prime yet.

time-read
6 mins  |
August - September 2022
American Ruins
Men's Journal

American Ruins

This country's unmatched and unlimited industrial might helped define the 20th century. But that was then, and this is now.

time-read
10 mins  |
August - September 2022
NICK KROLL
Men's Journal

NICK KROLL

The comedic powerhouse and man of many voices behind Big Mouth and Human Resources returns to the big screen in the star-studded thriller Don't Worry Darling.

time-read
2 mins  |
August - September 2022
HAIL TERRY
Men's Journal

HAIL TERRY

Four-time Super Bowl champion, avuncular television football analyst and all-around entertainer TERRY BRADSHAW's secret to career longevity? Letting it rip.

time-read
3 mins  |
August - September 2022
EVOLUTION OF Z REVOLUTION
Men's Journal

EVOLUTION OF Z REVOLUTION

How Nissan reinvented the smart, soulful sports car.

time-read
2 mins  |
August - September 2022
PLUNGE RIGHT IN
Men's Journal

PLUNGE RIGHT IN

Mallorca's cliff-lined coast is the peak playground for deep-water soloing-as grippingly demonstrated by the emerging sport's top climber.

time-read
2 mins  |
August - September 2022