POSTCARD FROM SOCAL

Southern California is more than ever the blueprint for often envied exaggeration. Nature is too luxurious, houses are over the top, people are divided between the very beautiful and the rest, between the smart and the "deplorables", and so on. Even nature runs in overdrive.

If California is a state in the nation, Southern California is a state in the state. It is too rich, too much of everything good and also some things objectional. There also exists a Victor Hugo demarcation line which divides the jobs that look reserved for the immigrants and the high caliber employment in academia, entertainment or high-tech.

Europe is mostly absent, seldom mentioned, and no party to the discourse. Nihilistic events in the world feel far away (in contrast with the sensibilities at the East Coast). Asia, and China in the first place, occupy the minds if not the hearts. For Europeans, and in the first place for the EU, it is an uphill battle to try correcting the usual quaint/obscure nonchalance that has overtaken its former appeal.

The upcoming presidential elections are a done deal in California, since the Democrats win there by "divine decree". The absurdity of the US electoral machine is also such that the most important state, California, has only two senators, just like the Dakotas where almost nobody lives besides some lost buffalo.

Trump creates revulsion, Biden meets resignation. The worsening situations in Ukraine and the Middle East don't move the compass, which got stuck in the largely detached mode. Maybe there is so much here that there is no room left for a "there".

People enjoy the surabundance while it lasts, but they might try to be more tuned to the various geopolitical and moral storms that are around. Hidden from view doesn't make problems go away. There is nothing wrong with feeling happy as long as it doesn't lead to the denial of what is happening in the backyard. Southern California is a hub for contemporary creativity and intellectual drive. It can also become even more so if it felt more than just a night at the opera.