Yes, California is neoliberal hell. Yes, California is part of the United States and the US is evil, so by extension so is California. The state was built on stolen land and genocide, just like the other 49.
But I've been in the weird position of defending California on this site not because it's "good", but just because I think for those of us who have no choice but to live in the US, it's the least bad option.
I think the issues around homelessness are a good microcosm to look at. Yeah, CA is really shitty towards our homeless population, no doubt. But at the same time there are quite a few people here who actually want solutions that help homeless people and there are programs at the state and local level - feeble as they may be - that try to do this. Meanwhile, since I'm a transplant I can compare CA to my native Midwestern state. Back there, they are only a couple steps below "just fucking shoot homeless people we don't care". Literally every person I know back home sees homelessness as a "problem" that just needs to go away. If I was homeless I would never even consider going back to where I grew up, I'd stay here.
So yeah, I would sorta defend CA here. And now I feel like over the last year you've seen how absolutely christofascist the red states are going w/r/t abortion, trans issues, even gay marriage, you all are starting to see just how awful most of the US can be for anyone who isn't a well-off cishet white guy.
Fun CA fact: if you can land a job in CA state or local govt (including in the massive UC system), your health insurance is required by law to cover all gender affirming care, including expensive surgeries.
I just wish that Commiefornia was half as cool as chuds think it is. Through things like auto emissions standards history has shown that the biggest state in the country can swing its weight around in a way that makes life better for everyone else too, imagine if we had some politicians worth a damn what you could do. You could nationalize the electric companies and build out a shitload of green energy, then sell it to neighboring states at prices targeted at undercutting fossil fuels and make the entire country west of the Mississippi finally drop them. You could build out a ton of desalinization plants along the coast in areas where people don't live, increasing the water supply enough that all of the problems with the Colorado River drying up go away. You could actually build high speed fucking rail instead of talking about it for thirty years.
Remember when they fell for every trick Enron could come up with and got price gouged on electricity, despite clearly being able to avoid it?