California: Failed State?

My native state is in a hurt locker and the Guardian (U.K.) wonders if she'll ever escape. I wonder myself. If the economy turns around, she'll probably limp along okay. If the economy turns down again, she'll be a mess. Interesting read.

One very strange event from the article:

Michael Pollan, author of The Omnivore's Dilemma and now an adopted Californian, remembers arriving here from his native New England. "In New England you would have to know people for 10 years before they let you in their home," he says. "Here, when I took my son to his first play date, the mother invited me to a hot tub."

Only in California...