 They say Californians are living the dream, but things aren't all that glamorous. Nope. We have our struggles. It's no capable. No kidding. For well over a century, California was synonymous with the American dream of starting over and making it big. By the early 1960s, it had become the most populous state in the country. Now California's population is declining for the first time in recorded history like New York, Illinois, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan, and West Virginia. California is losing a congressional seat. Another first for the Golden State. The reasons behind California's decline aren't hard to fathom. According to Chief Executive Magazine, California is the worst state to do business in, a position it has held for most of the list's existence. California ranks eighth in combined state and local tax burden, forcing residents to kick in an effective rate of 11.5% of their income just for being alive. What did they get in return? Public schools that ranked 37th in the country. Insanely expensive housing whose costs are inflated by strict environmental and land juice regulations that make it nearly impossible to match supply with demand. Rolling blackouts and power shortages caused by environmental mandates and poor utility governance. In above average, violent crime rate and the nation's highest poverty rate, with more than 36% of California's residents at or near the poverty level. Governor Gavin Newsom faces a recall election in the fall, hardly due to his hypocrisy regarding his own stringent lockdown rules. Rather than grapple with his state's sinking status, he's chosen instead to deny reality. This remarkable, remarkable home to more dreamers and doers than any other part of the globe. A smarter strategy might be to look at the two biggest states that are gaining in population at California's expense. Between 2010 and 2020, Florida's population grew by 14.6% and Texas's increased by 15.9%. Their weather is awful by California standards and they lack its natural beauty. But they rent second and first in business climate, which means more opportunity, even as their cost of living is a fraction of California's. Until and unless the Golden State makes itself affordable to dreamers and doers, they'll keep heading to other destinations. As California loses a congressional seat, Texas is picking up two and demographers predict that it may become the most popular state by 2045, much sooner than was predicted just a few years ago. Texas may not have the beaches, the forests, the celebrities or the glamour. It'll just have the jobs, the companies, the forward momentum and the people.