Somewhere near Fresno, North Africa, circa the Fall of Rome.

The Sage of Selma observes:

Twice I ran into the barnyard to see the truck, with its two gangbanger youths, peel off in clouds of dust. (And, yes, as a CSU ex-professor, I know the party line: the dominant culture neglects/exploits/oppresses/fill in the blanks the “other” to such a degree that he sometimes must lash out, or, on occasion, to find validation, might just do something illegal like steal buckets of antique nails, or illogical, like in poverty buying a new truck, and thus so disturbs/finally wins the attention of those with privilege and their self-constructed norms. Been there and heard that for thirty years).


The Toyota is always around when theft occurs, and always speeding off when anyone spots it. Rural California is also like North Africa circa 420 AD: the few family farms left are mostly fenced or walled, the dogs large, the owners armed — trying to survive against organized Vandal attacks. All we need are mosaics in the courtyard portraying happier times as a testament to future archeologists. Maybe a “Cave Canem!” on the doorstep.

But what makes the comparison to North Africa most apt is the settlement pattern.

In Roman North Africa, there were Latin-speaking cities surrounded by a population living in the hinterlands and in surrounding hamlets and towns that spoke the native language.  In Central California, we have a similar patterns where the larger population centers - Fresno, Visalia, Madera - are surrounded by smaller towns where the lingua franca is Spanish.

To anyone with a historical turn of mind, that is just a bit disturbing.