California Loves Its Workers. (And Its CEOs.)

Chief Executive magazine says that California ranks dead last as the worst place to do business in the United States. I’m a little suspicious of any list that ranks California #34 in “living environment,” since that’s precisely the reason so many people put up with our high taxes and regulations, but I suppose they have their reasons. In any case, there’s a flip side to this. Guess which state Oxfam ranks as the best state for workers?

I imagine this is sort of a zero-sum game. If a state is good for CEOs, it’s probably not so great for workers, and vice versa.

But wait! As it happens, despite our terrible taxes and endless rules and high minimum wage and environmental tomfoolery, it turns out that the average income of the top 1 percent in California is over $500,000. That’s the highest outside the mid-Atlantic and the 6th highest in the country. So for all their bitching, and for all the worker protections we have in place, California seems to be a pretty good place for CEOs after all. Maybe there’s a lesson to be learned from—

Nah. What am I thinking?

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LET’S TALK ABOUT OPTIMISM FOR A CHANGE

Democracy and journalism are in crisis mode—and have been for a while. So how about doing something different?

Mother Jones did. We just merged with the Center for Investigative Reporting, bringing the radio show Reveal, the documentary film team CIR Studios, and Mother Jones together as one bigger, bolder investigative journalism nonprofit.

And this is the first time we’re asking you to support the new organization we’re building. In “Less Dreading, More Doing,” we lay it all out for you: why we merged, how we’re stronger together, why we’re optimistic about the work ahead, and why we need to raise the First $500,000 in online donations by June 22.

It won’t be easy. There are many exciting new things to share with you, but spoiler: Wiggle room in our budget is not among them. We can’t afford missing these goals. We need this to be a big one. Falling flat would be utterly devastating right now.

A First $500,000 donation of $500, $50, or $5 would mean the world to us—a signal that you believe in the power of independent investigative reporting like we do. And whether you can pitch in or not, we have a free Strengthen Journalism sticker for you so you can help us spread the word and make the most of this huge moment.

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