[PaulDavisThe1st]

Well, even CA still operates under the basic assumptions of contemporary US capitalism. There's a notable limit to what you can accomplish in terms of social change when you still cannot (or refuse to) directly control housing costs (for example), or control capital flows, or the labor share of (in this case, state) GDP.

While there are some great analyses that point out the flaws and hypocrisy in Democratic governance within CA, I think it's also equally true to say that the state's "left" leaning situation ends up pointing out the inherent contradictions of contemporary US capitalism as well as anything could.