MEXIFORNIA Victor Davis Hanson

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through tumultuous times, but there is no reason to anticipate that
it must become a de facto colony of Mexico. More importantly, I
do not believe all that much in historical determinism—the idea
that broad social, cultural and economic factors make the future
course of events inevitable and render what individuals do in the
here and now more or less irrelevant.

My main argument instead is that the future of the state—

and the nation too, as regards the matter of immigration—is
entirely in the hands of its current residents. California will
become exactly what its people in the present generation choose
to make it. So it is high time for honest discussion, without fear of
recrimination and intimidation. How else are we ever going to sort
out the various choices that will decide our collective fate—espe-
cially at a perilous time when we find ourselves at war with those
who kill us as Americans regardless of accent, skin color or origin?
That many in the business community will consider what follows
naïve or dub me a protectionist/isolationist worries me as little as
the critical voices I am sure to hear from an academic elite whose
capital remains largely separatist identities and self-interest. Both
parties, after all, did their part to get us into this predicament and
have so far escaped accountability for the harm they have done.

I have changed the names of my teachers and associates in my

hometown out of concern for their privacy, and because we live
and work together. In three cases, to protect the identity of close
friends I have made slight changes in the description of where
they live and work. I thank my wife, Cara, and my colleague in
classics at California State University, Fresno, Professor Bruce S.
Thornton, another rural San Joaquin Valley native, for reading the
manuscript and offering criticism and help. Peter Collier first sug-
gested that I write the present book—an expanded version of an
essay that appeared in City Journal. I thank him and also Myron
Magnet, editor of City Journal, for help in editing both the pres-
ent book and the original article. My literary agents, Glen Hartley
and Lynn Chu, as always, have proven valuable representatives and
friends.