| Give or
take a zero here or there, there are quite a number of
similarities |
|
between California and Sudan. That's not promising because
back in 2003 |
|
we
forecast that if the then twenty-year civil war did not end
shortly there
|
|
would
be no possibility of any of the three regions (the west, known
as
|
| Darfur,
the south and the north) surviving. Unfortunately, we could
find no |
|
strategy that salvaged the west and the north even if the south
managed a |
|
relatively peaceful
separation. That has very negative consequences for |
| Chad,
Egypt and Ethiopia, among others. That's all in the future and
very far |
| away.
Here and now, Californians cannot fight Californians. Of
that we are |
| certain.
The Golden State's shortages of doctors and nurses vary by
region, |
| but it is
safe to say our state does not have enough medical
professionals |
| for day
to day activities, let alone if a mega-disaster strikes.
|
| Even
though California has been successful at harvesting the fruit
of other |
| societies
in terms of doctors, saints, Nobel laureates and old-fashioned |
| good
citizens, such valued assets do not grow like weeds. They have
to be |
| produced
on tended trees at great cost through a uniquely human process
|
|
called
education. It hardly matters if one prefers to measure the
production |
| of
farmers and firefighters instead of physicians and prisoners.
Our report |
|
card does
not have good grades. And that matters. A great deal. |