New California Nationalist Unity Platform

The failure of the California Gubernatorial Recall has been used by the media and the Democratic Party as a mandate for one party rule. Californians don’t necessarily embrace one party rule, or the policies of the Democratic Party, but there lacks a viable alternative that addresses the needs of Californians. With the national divorce trending, Californians need to build their own political framework, beyond the rest of the nation’s Red vs. Blue partisan divide. The term California Nationalism is generally associated with the cause of independence, but regardless if California seeks independence or not, the state needs its own Political framework.

In 1995 two British media theorists coined the term California Ideology. Californians need a California Ideology that emphasizes California exceptionalism with political stances tailored to unique California issues. California’s Democratic Party serves an agenda set in Washington DC that neglects California issues and is holding us back from reaching our full potential. Why should we be limited to looking to New York or DC for guidance when we can create our own framework and borrow from the best ideas from across the globe, such as the Swiss Canton System.

I put forth an update to my previous platform, an Alternative Vision for California, a new unity platform that can appeal across the spectrum from progressives to libertarians to populists and even conservatives. I can’t claim that this platform speaks for all Californians, but if it were to be adopted by a political party or campaign with enough funding and infrastructure behind it, it would offer a formidable challenge to Democratic one party rule. At the very least it would surpass California’s GOP as the main opposition. This unity platform can help lay the framework for what will soon be known as the California ideology.

CA State Basic Income

-Eligibility: all adult US Citizens who have been California residents for at least 5 years 

-Funded by a tech dividend, automation of inefficient state bureaucracy, an oil extraction tax, and consolidation of non-healthcare CA state benefits 

-Direct cash payout generated by revenue from above sources issued via a new state bank

-Bonus payout of new California based crypto currency linked to states business

State Bank

·Proposal for a new state bank to fund infrastructure projects without usurious debts

·Bank would also provide low interest loans for citizens and entrepreneurs and small businesses

Jobs & Economy

-Establish a jobs database, a public private partnership, that uses algorithms to pair job seekers with employment based upon compatibility, specialized skills, and personality

-State sponsored beautification projects for the unemployed (ex. planting trees in low-income communities)

-Tax incentives to relocate jobs to affordable regions that lack high paying jobs

-Reform regulations and the licensing process to empower the self-employed and entrepreneurs

Taxation

-Temporary freeze on all taxes for small businesses that were harmed during the pandemic

-Establish a progressive business tax; highest on multi-national corporations but very low on the self-employed, small businesses and new startups

-generous tax relief for the middle class, and for families across class lines, for state income and property taxation

-tax cuts offset by property tax increase on vacancies, underutilized properties, and on corporate/Wall Street ownership of residential properties

Infrastructure

-Invest in Mass Transit, including subways, revive high speed rail, and propose a direct coastal rail connection from LA to SF

-Invest in alternative energy sources including solar and consider nuclear, taking into account seismic zones

-invest in maintaining our reservoirs and in desalination to meet water demands

-Upgrade our electrical grids and enforce regulations to prevent wildfires and rolling blackouts

Zoning Reform

-Tax incentives and guidelines to build walkable communities, including bans on all zoning laws that inhibit pedestrian friendly development (eg. parking minimums), and for development to include communal spaces and larger units to accommodate families

·Implement a statewide greenbelt program to limit sprawl and create ecologically sustainable communities

-Create special enterprise zones to experiment with liberalizing zoning laws

-Grant state properties, including universities but excluding any protected lands, immunity from zoning laws

-Reform zoning to make it easier to build recreational amenities and private schools and homeschooling co-opts in residential areas

-Incentivize the construction of new resorts and theme parks to encourage tourism and create a culture of fun and leisure  

Agriculture

·Economic incentives for small scale family farms with higher taxation on corporate agriculture with incentives to sell to homesteaders

·Plan to phase out Factory Farming over a two decade period

Arts & Media

-Create a new cultural renaissance to make California the Florence of the 21st Century

-Grant artists a greater role in the economy, tech sector, and urban planning via a public private partnership

-Sponsor public arts and monument projects to create iconic new landmarks that celebrate California exceptionalism and identity

-Set up local media stations (radio, TV, and film production) open to all viewpoints

-Establish quotas requiring media corporations to allocate funding and slots on streaming sites for independent filmmakers  

Race Relations

-Offer an alternative to policies based upon divisive Critical Race Theory in favor of a new pluralist vision that respects true diversity (eg. right to form ethnic based student unions in secondary and higher education for all groups)

-Platinum Plans for all; creating specialized versions for European Americans, African Americans, Latinos, Native Americans, and Asian Americans, tailored to each group’s specific needs and concerns

-Honor diversity by establishing a Neighborhood Freedom Amendment in the California State Constitution to empower communities and enclaves within our multi-cultural democracy

Canton System

-Propose a Swiss inspired Canton model for granting regions of California a degree of autonomy on policy

-Cantons could be on a county level or by sub regions of a county

California Autonomy

-Protect California’s autonomy and its citizens from an overreaching Federal Government

-Protect the share of tax revenue paid to the Federal Government by Californians

-Foster a unique California identity and recognize the legitimacy of Calexit as an insurance policy if national issues are not solved or balkanization intensifies

-Propose trade and temporary worker visa agreements for students, tourism, specialized skillsets, investors, and for the entertainment industry with states/regions recognized by the State of California as Sister States (eg. New South Wales Australia, Parana Brazil, Provence-Alpes-Cote d'Azur France, Baden-Wurttemberg Germany, Punjab India, Osaka Japan, Jalisco Mexico, Catalonia Spain, Western Cape South Africa, Syunik Armenia, Altai Russia, Osaka Japan, and Chungcheongnam Korea.)

Internet bill of Rights

-Guarantee the right to free speech by recognizing social media as the town square of the 21st Century

-Guarantee the right to privacy and ownership of personal tech data

Social Capital

-Use levels of social capital, personal wellbeing, and mental health as a metric of success for California

-Promote mental and physical health, incentivizing fitness, a sense of community, walkable communities, and healthy food (eg. support for community gardens) with the added benefit of reducing costs for healthcare and mental health

-Promote local social events that foster social capital

Reverse out-migration

-Lost Californians initiative that includes tax breaks for anyone born in California, or who can prove Californian ancestry, to return, to help foster a California identity

-Tax incentives to move to California and extend in-state tuition costs at Universities to the rest of the nation to attract out of state talent

-Attract digital nomads to new remote work hubs

Criminal Justice

-Find the right balance between public safety and support for law enforcement and protection of civil liberties

-Greater funding for mental health and crisis management and community policing programs

-Oppose surveillance by federal agencies that violates the rights of  California citizens

-Use artificial intelligence to reduce violence and misconduct in prisons.

-Specialized classification system using algorithms to address inmate’s specific needs, including rehabilitation programs

-Legalize the therapeutic use of psychedelic drugs

-Legalize and regulate sex work

Education

-Expand school choice with vouchers to cover the cost of private education and homeschooling for all citizens regardless of income

-Propose legislation to make it easier to break up large urban school districts 

-Greater partnerships between the education system and communities including apprenticeship programs with local businesses

-Specialization in secondary education with personalized programs geared towards each student’s personal, academic and education needs and career goals

Higher Education

-Tax endowments and use AI to reduce the size of educational bureaucracy to cut tuition costs 

-Greater integration between The UC system, CAL States, City Colleges, extension programs, and with local communities

-Offer certification exams so that students can study independently at low costs

-Implement a tiered system that includes alternatives to credentialism with independent study and research programs open to those with specialized skills or talents and/or savant intelligence

-Use and expand City College enrollment to attract students from across the nation and abroad for the “College experience” to help revitalize smaller cities and urban districts into college towns