Declaring surfing its state sport is the next step in California’s identity secession from the US

California is continuing to distance itself culturally and philosophically from of much of the geographical US. The state greeted 2018 by enshrining new protections for undocumented immigrants, tougher gun laws, and recreational marijuana. These positions are all out of step with this moment in US politics. Now, the state is set to declare surfing it’s official sport.

State assembly members Al Muratsuchi and Ian Calderon introduced a bill on Jan. 15 that would make surfing California’s official pastime. “Nothing represents the California Dream better than surfing—riding the waves and living in harmony with the beautiful beaches and ocean of our Golden State,” Muratsuchi wrote in an statement.

Not that long ago, surfing was derided as a dead-end sport for losers (Jeff Spicoli, anyone?). Not anymore. Now, it’s a $6 billion industry, supporting a pastime enjoyed by millions in the US, from professionals to drop outs. Calderon, the assemblyman co-sponsoring the bill, says he’s a life long surfer. The sport (or way of life, as some have it) has churned out cultural icons from the Beach Boys to Gidget, and prominent professional surfers from Kelly Slater to Layne Beachley. William Finnegan’s 2015 book about surfing, Barbarian Days, won a Pulitzer Prize.

If California votes to pass the bill, it would be yet flag planted in the state’s long-standing efforts to distinguish its culture from that which defines most other parts of the country. California’s more restless residents are even launching campaigns to secede from the US on the basis that, according to advocates such as Yes California, the state is culturally distinct from the rest of the country.

But, of course, some US states just like to adopt beloved sports as totems. North Carolina has NASCAR, Alaska has dog mushing, Minnesota has ice hockey, and South Dakota, Texas, and Wyoming all list rodeo as their official sports.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Why China sees Myanmar's Rohingya crisis as an opportunity

Image
Thomson Reuters Myanmar's government has been embroiled in battle of rhetoric over its alleged ethnic cleansing of Rohingya Muslims, but unlike the west, China sees an opportunity amid the affair. For China, Myanmar's crisis is a gateway for it to pursue similar economic and infrastructure strategies it has undertaken in Africa in order to extend its geopolitical reach. Myanmar is part of a complex geopolitical maze in which China is but one player. As the Myanmar government's violent policy towards its Rohingya Muslims drew increasing international condemnation in 2016, the country's sometime icon of democracy, Aung San Suu Kyi,   declined to speak out   for the persecuted minority. And in her attempts to protect Myanmar from renewed isolation, she has continued to deepen its relationship with her most powerful authoritarian neighbour: China. It seems the common notion that newly democratic states have little time for autocratic partners is false. Before the W...
Read more

Losing my faith in philanthropy led me to rediscover its power to change the world for good

Image
On Christmas Eve 2012, I was seriously considering quitting my job at the Gates Foundation. As I confessed to my wife, Emily, while wrapping presents, “I no longer believe in philanthropy.” I’d been at the foundation since the early days, rising from an entry-level analyst to R&D Lead for Maternal and Child Health, where I led the launch of the Grand Challenges Explorations program and published a number of articles in top journals like Science and The Lancet. By all professional measures I was “outperforming,” as we would describe successful grants. After one annual review, Bill Gates remarked at the high-degree of “actionable information” in my portfolio. Yet, despite the praise, there I was disillusioned and disconsolate. My doubts went beyond the usual critiques of rich-country philanthropists imposing foreign values or scientists pursuing unrealistic pipe dreams. My questions were more fundamental and vexing. Am I changing the world for the better? Or am I deceiving myself...
Read more

The 10 safest countries in the world for women

Image
Leanna Garfield/Business Insider New World Wealth consultancy has carried out an analysis on the safest countries in the world for women.  They claim there is a correlation of 92% between historic wealth growth and the safety levels of women. Australia ranked as the safest country in the world for women.  It was followed by Malta and Iceland, but the  UK didn't make the top 10. Australia is the world's safest country for a woman, according to analysis by consultancy New World Wealth in its 2018 Global Wealth Migration Review. The report mainly looks at the movement of high net worth individuals (HNWI) across the world. However, part of that analysis involves reviewing the safest countries for women. "Woman safety is one of the best ways to gauge a country's long term wealth growth potential, with a correlation of 92% between historic wealth growth and woman safety levels," the report says. "This means that wealth growth is boosted by strong leve...
Read more