Culture?

Also, without us, who would have introduced the slang term "hella" to the world? And tree sitters? And the Grateful Dead, because I would love to hear "Truck'in" one more time--I missed some of the nuances the first million.

Love it. I'm sold on the liberal, progressive SF style. I think the Grateful Dead and even "hella" kind of tie into that cultural thread.

However, I'm iffy on whether the "Gold Rush" mentality is true California culture, or simply coincidence that people have come here to "make it big" more than once. I don't know that there is necessarily any correlation between gold country way back when and the modern-day affluence of Silicon Valley and Hollywood. These days, it's more profitable to hold a business address in just about any other state and just do business with clients here!

I think @NightOwlnOrinda said it best - I think of the Beats, and the laid back sixties stuff as well. I think the Gold Rush mentality is not of the California native but more of the "transplants" who wind up staying here.

I almost want to say that transplant culture is part of the culture here. Not good, not bad, but it is a reality of living in such a desirable place that so many people want to move to.

I rode the the whole Gold Rush thing a bit too hard--it was a point I had heard bandied about in college. But I think the whole transplant thing (really just a pejorative term for someone who has moved here) is related to it. None of us are really from here unless you're a full-blood Miwok or Ohlone. So the cutlure here is one of people rushing in looking to change their lives radically in an environment that gives them the space to do it.

My dad was a pilot and could of choosen to live a lot of places but he loved the US generally and California specifically because it gave him the most freedom to make his own life. He said that what he loved was the fact that you could wear flip-flops into a movie theater--that's California at its best, I think. Lax rules and space to create yourself.

And all the people who come here from around the country and around the world just make it that much better and more interesting as far as I'm concerned. California is all about accepting the "transplants" seemlessly--we're like a Frankenstein monster that turned out alright.