Defining California Identity

Gold Rush in San Francisco

California is the 31st state of the United States. The state started to develop in 1848, when James Marshall found gold and started the Gold Rush since then and it ended in 1850s. And the encouragement of finding gold in every people’s mind becomes their dream, which is the dream of wealth and position, that’s what we call the California Dream.  In chapter 1 of The Silicon Boys, David A. Kaplan states the effect of the Gold Rush, “The Gold Rush reined in the Western frontier and set off the largest voluntary migration in the world history (Dreams 20). “ More and more people rush into the state and wondering they can be wealthy someday. And this led to the development of the modern California. After the Gold Rush ended, for the next 150 years, every successful California story began with a dream.  Like the Silicon Valley, it started to became the techno-entrepreneurial center in the world, those popular name we have always heard while walking down the street like Apple, Google, etc. are all located in this area. The California dream seems never end in everyone’s heart. Every Californian has their own dream here and they work hard to achieve and make their dream come true.

“Why California?” I asked this to myself. I would like to know the reason why people choose California to live or to work. A character in Steward Edward White’s 1920 novel, The Rose Dawn, asked a question, “Why should anybody die out here? (CDR 25)” Someone answered, “They’ll never get any closer to heaven (CDR 25).” It shows how good the California when people think about it. People in here have their own California dream. I think this is one thing that every Californian should have. The dream represents the opportunity and success. These are the deep meaning of the California Dream. And every person fights hard for opportunities and dreams for success. That’s what Californian would do. For example, Steve Jobs, is a Californian of course, he started Apple with his friends in 1970s. After 20 years, Apple had become one of the best in electronic device.  Steve Jobs got his talent and gave many innovative ideas. And his inventions have changed the whole world, like the iPod, iPhone, and iPad. These made Steve Jobs so successful and he became many people’s role model. We can see that Californian would hold their opportunity tight and work really hard and gain their success.

Californian loves entertainment. In “A New perspective on the Dream,” Denise S. Spooner has quoted a young migrant from Iowa Priscilla Eckert’s impression of the southern California, “That’s when the Beach Boys were a large part of the teenage life, as far as music went; and [they] had a connotation of the beach and the bikinied girls and the tans, the blonds, the water… I did figure that California looked like that (CDR 44).” I think this is true because I have heard a lot of comments about California before I came to study. People in Hong Kong always say California is a place with bright sun and beautiful beaches. After I came to this place, I think there should be more besides bright sun and nice beaches. For example, Hollywood is the world-known place where those famous movies are filmed. The Star Panel attracts many people from different places to visit.  Everyone wanted to take a picture with his/her beloved celebrities. It shows that Californian love to have entertainment, and when they want to, they can build the best in the world, just like the Hollywood, the best filmmaking place in the world.

Since there are not just only Americans in the California, people in here are with different races; hence most of them are generous to each other. In the “Notes of a California Expedition,” there are “presence of persons of all nations, the Indian, Chinese, Mexican and Chilian, decked out in the gaudy variety of colors… (CDR 35)” Since it is a “mixing pot”, people are affected by different cultures and they learn to coexist. After I came here, I have met many people from all over the world, like Vietnam, India or Mexico. It makes me so excited to learn more about other cultures. This brings me a huge cultural shock because I have never been in a region with such huge variety of people living in here.

In the Silicon Valley, there are so many high-technological companies. Many Professionals are here and there are always competitions.  In The Silicon Boys, Kaplan expresses his impressions about the Silicon Valley. “Everybody’s a professional. Because the factory workers who actually assemble the chips and      package the software all live in the Far East, where labor costs twenty-five cents an hour, not twenty-five dollars. If you mix together obsessed engineers and venture capitalists flush with billions to invest, along with real-estate developers, marketers, and public-relations specialists, how can this Brownian motion not help but form a new company or two? (Dream 26)”

Silicon Valley

I think Californians are greedy. They love challenges and competitions. If not, why there are such huge amounts of companies with similar businesses located in such a small places. They all wanted to earn as much as they can. However, it is different from what I thought. Those professionals are smart; they know that cooperation has its advantages. There are no such competitions but cooperation in the Silicon Valley where people interacts with their competitors. In fact, they earn more by working this way.

Californians have their dream and got talent to achieve it. Meanwhile they are also generous and entertaining. They know how to cooperate well. In this state, no matter who you are, where you come from. All people come here because of their dream – wealth and status. Just like me, I learnt more about the California in the past two years. I can say I am also a Californian because I have my own big California Dream, even I am still not so professional. I might need a long period of time to achieve my own goal. However, it is good to have challenges, just like Kaplan said, “Taking risks becomes commonplace (Dreams 27).”