Clash of Cultures & the Discovery of Gold      123456

Vast changes in the world political and economic systems since the 1960s have reshaped the state of California in important ways. In the final decades of the 20th century California became increasingly interdependent with other nations. The economy of California, and to a certain extent the United States overall, transformed from one driven by industrial manufacturing to a service economy.

At the same time, the counterculture and the new identity movements of the 1960s flourished in California. Prominent media outlets such as Life magazine and the national nightly news as well as underground newspapers including the Berkeley Barb and the Los Angeles Free Press spread the image of California as a place tolerant of unconventionality. In the years since, California has attracted migrants motivated less by economic need and more by the lure of a new way of life.

From the Rust Belt to the Sun Belt

Nationally, the shift away from manufacturing to a service economy impacted different states in different ways. The forces of economic restructuring created a "Rust Belt" where industries such as automobile manufacturing and steel production had dominated the economy in the first half of the century.

As these industries declined, and, in many instances, moved overseas, unemployment rates skyrocketed in the Rust Belt. Between 1975 and 1985, the unemployment rate in Michigan rarely dipped below 9 percent and even hit an astounding 16.9 percent in November 1982. Many of the already unemployed, or those who feared for their livelihood, left the state in search of work. For a good number of these migrants, the Sun Belt states such as Florida, Arizona, and California seemed like promising destinations as new opportunities arose in industries such as banking, entertainment, real estate, and tourism.