In the waning years of the Soviet Union, most of the citizens in that cold tyranny could see that their system was irredeemably broken. 

But for the most part, they marched through the same routines, repeated the same slogans, and lived their lives as if it could not be changed. 

The commissars were in power, the poor were under control, and what was left of the middle class was mired in dysfunction, and, at times, despair.

The system, however, was not unbreakable. 

The accumulation of corruption over the 20th century placed enormous pressure on the state. And brave individuals who overcame their fear of punishment began to tell the truth. In time, the Soviet Empire would fall.

There is a similar dynamic happening now in the state of California. 

The Golden State was founded on the dream of the infinite frontier and the desire to build a civilization at the edge of the American continent. Now, the state is weighed down with enormous corruption. 

The commissar class, which has insinuated itself within the governing institutions, has accumulated enormous power and stripped middle-class Californians of their freedom, their income, and, at times, their........

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