Stand with California
I’m not sorry to be from California
I was born and raised in Colorado and have lived in Washington, Texas, Arizona, Utah, and Calgary. But California is my home.
On this trip, I’ve been asked where I’m from, and when I answer “California,” people often say, “I’m sorry.” I let it slide. Sometimes I reply, “One of the things I’ve learned on this trip is that there are good people everywhere—including California.” I never go farther than that. The purpose of this trip isn’t to argue; it’s to learn.
Some folks, right after hearing I’m from California, say something like, “I was looking at this here Apple phone and saw on Facebook that people in California… [insert something appalling, horrible, or stupid]. It’s true—just Google it.” Little do they know they’ve just named three of the most successful companies in the world—all based in California.
I don’t hear that kind of nonsense from the poor. I hear it from some all-knowing, generally overweight, middle- to upper-middle-class white person. I ask where they get their news, and they say, “Fox News.” Then I get, “You know what Laura Ingraham says…” I smile and try to change the subject.
What some of them don’t know is that California is the economic powerhouse of the country. If it were its own country, it would have the fourth-largest economy in the world. If you take every state I’ve traveled through on this trip—Nevada, Utah, Colorado, Kansas, Missouri, Indiana, Kentucky, West Virginia, and Virginia—and add their nominal GDPs together, you’d get $3.26 trillion. California, by itself? $4.10 trillion.
“California makes movies, but in [insert state], we feed the world.” I don’t bother arguing, but the truth is, California is also the agricultural powerhouse of the United States—and if it were its own country, it would rank fifth globally in agricultural output. Here are some real agriculture facts —not Facebook posts from Aunt Phyllis claiming California gives free healthcare to Satan worshipers.
California ranks #1 in annual cash receipts for agricultural products, ahead of Iowa, Texas, Nebraska, and Illinois. In 2022, its agricultural sales exceeded $59 billion.
California grows over 400 commodities, producing more than one-third of the nation’s vegetables and over three-quarters of its fruit and nut output.
Its crop sales are about 59% higher than those of second-ranked Illinois.
The agricultural workforce depends heavily on immigrant labor—up to 70%—making immigration policy critical to the state’s future.
“Why do you folks let all those damn immigrants in?” Well, here’s why: to support our agricultural industry and help keep America fed. I’m sure farmers would love it if U.S. citizens lined up to work the fields. I saw plenty of folks in the hollers who looked like they could use something to do—but they’d have to get off the porch and put in some serious effort. And if they did, you’d be paying way more for your vegetables.
Innovation is what truly makes America great—and guess where it happens? California. As of 2020, California led all states with 50,496 patents granted, accounting for a staggering 27.6% of all U.S.-origin patents. Texas, the next closest, had only 13,192. That’s not a gap—it’s a canyon. Guess who does a lot of that research that turns into patents and makes us more competitive as a nation….. immigrants.
Our president is using attacks on immigrants to stoke resentment among people who feel left behind. He’s even illegally deployed Marines into my state. What if one of these brave men and women, who were trained to fight for our country, are asked to shoot at Americans? Last night I read about the poor national guardsman at Kent State. Their lives were never the same, like the ones they were wrongly asked to extinguish. If you’re worried about illegal aliens, maybe start by reducing drug demand and tightening gun policies. Our addictions and our weapons fuel the violence in their countries.
Guatemala, Honduras, and Mexico didn’t fall apart by accident. Guatemala had a democratically elected government in the 1950s—until the U.S. overthrew it. Since then, we’ve backed governments that wrecked their economies and terrorized their people. I’ve been to rural Guatemala—bread trucks need armed guards. If I’d been born there, I’d do anything to leave too. Unfortunately, they don’t live in a country where you can sit on your porch, collect welfare, and do nothing. You know which country we don’t get illegal immigrants from? Costa Rica. Why? Stable democracy, tourism economy, relative transparency. Simple.
On this trip, I met a smart older woman named Debbie in a small-town diner in Indiana. She said, “Maybe we should spend our resources addressing why people want to leave their countries instead of punishing them for it. We should never separate a child from their parents. Remember, these are all God’s children.”
One California export that a lot of folks in the states I’ve visited seem to admire? Ronald Reagan. Here’s a fascinating video of Reagan and George H. W. Bush debating immigration during the 1980 Republican primary. Watch these two adult, human Republicans have a thoughtful, respectful conversation on immigration. Can you imagine that orange buffoon joining that discussion?
The other guy—doing the bad Dana Carvey impression—was a soft-spoken war hero who helped land the Cold War, brilliantly ended the Gulf War, and didn’t get a second term because he was just plain bad at taking credit for what an incredible human he was. Oh, and according to Jenna Bush Hager (who my wife just loves), he was also a terrific grandfather.
When I talk to people in rural, conservative towns, I get why they admire him. Reagan spoke with civility, compassion, and vision. The people I’ve met on this journey don’t insult others. They don’t boast. They help strangers—like the rancher who came to my rescue when I accidentally trespassed on his land.
The people I’ve met on this trip survive by helping each other, not by tearing each other down. Trump doesn’t deserve to be mentioned in the same breath. They’re so much better than him—every last one. These are people that try to buy you lunch when they have nothing themselves!
California, like many of the wonderful people I’ve met on this trip, can sometimes be almost too generous. And just like anywhere, some people take advantage of that. It’s like at church when no one’s assigned to watch the dessert table, and there’s always that one person who takes two. “Well, bless his heart—he’s probably just getting one for his wife,” you say out loud. But you know the truth.
Some of California’s social policies are both comical and tragic—often hurting the very people they’re meant to help while costing everyone a lot of money. Sometimes, it’s a little embarrassing to be from California. It’s easy to focus on the bad parts. But when you step away—or roll away, in my case—you start to see it differently. Many of California’s flaws stem from a well-intentioned desire to protect the unprotected and help the under-resourced. And those are the same core values I’ve seen again and again in the people I’ve met on this trip.
California is that crazy neighbor who loans out all her tools, even though she clearly knows someone either won’t return them, will return them dirty, or—bless his heart—will break them doing something stupid. And when they bring it back and tell their sad story, she just says, “That’s alright.”
California is stupidly generous—and sometimes just plain stupid—but somehow, it still manages to do pretty well. You might say it’s a “successful failure.”
Tomorrow, I’ll be on the road during Trump’s birthday party. There are plenty of dictator parades I can watch on YouTube if I want entertainment. They usually involve tanks, missiles, and questionable haircuts. Check out North Korea’s—they’ve got some pretty fancy footwork.
Just think of Kim Jong Un is like a thinner, shorter Trump. Paint him orange, shrink the hands, and voilà—same guy.
Dwight D. Eisenhower—five-star general, Supreme Allied Commander, and 34th President of the United States—wasn’t exactly a fan of military parades. On military parades, he said, “Absolutely not. We are the pre-eminent power on Earth. For us to try to imitate what the Soviets are doing … would make us look weak.” Can you imagine trying to out-propaganda the Soviets? Ike knew better.
In short: Eisenhower earned his medals the hard way, and that’s exactly why he didn’t think we needed to turn the National Mall into a missile runway. He believed that true strength doesn’t have to strut. Not not like “General Bone Spurs".”
The video I actually prefer to watch at times like this is the final speech from Charlie Chaplin’s The Great Dictator. If you’ve never seen it, it’s worth your time. It’s a reminder that kindness, humility, and courage—not cruelty and ego—are what actually make a leader.
The Great Dictator is this gutsy, funny, and heartbreaking film that Charlie Chaplin wrote, directed, and starred in—back when fascists were the other guys. He plays two roles: a sweet, slightly dazed Jewish barber who’s just trying to live his life, and a loud, power-drunk dictator named Adenoid Hynkel, who’s basically Hitler with a sillier mustache. After getting injured in World War I, the barber loses his memory and comes back years later to find his neighborhood wrecked and his people under siege. Thanks to a mix-up, he gets mistaken for the dictator and suddenly has the mic. What he delivers isn’t comedy—it’s a raw, passionate plea for peace, for decency, and for remembering our shared humanity.
The trip is almost over. I’ve had the chance to meet some incredible people from some truly remarkable states. I’ve been privileged to witness both the natural beauty and the human spirit that make our country unique. And along the way, I’ve been reminded of how connected we all are—and how much we still value the same things. What worries me most isn’t just the attack on California, the economic, technological, and agricultural engine of this country. It’s an attack on what truly makes America great: kindness, empathy, and the simple willingness to help others. An attack on California is an attack on the United States. Please stand with California, no matter what you think of her.