One has to stretch their mind to its breaking point to imagine the level of ego involved in contemplating, not to mention believing that they are the person who should be heading the 4th largest economy in the world. Yet, that is what the 5 people and two Republicans chasing the California Governor’s office believe. They believe they are the one for the job.
As of this writing, it seems that a sleight coalescence is forming around the candidacy of Xavier Becerra. Unfortunately, it also looks as if this election cycle’s Republican asterisk will be Fox News pundit Steve Hilton. If that does come to pass, this primary is the election for governor. California is a blue state, and Becerra will win. This is sad because it precludes the discussion that needs to happen within the Democratic party. Imagine a race between Becerra and Steyer. Ideally, it would be a battle of ideas for the next 5 months. Also, it would scratch my dark and cynical itch, because such a scenario would completely lock out Republicans with their expensive recalls and electoral gimmicks to manipulate themselves into the governor’s mansion. Suck it Reps!
Alas, the status quo future is the future. Perhaps, there is another path to nurture Steyer’s late blooming ideals.
Much has been made of how Tom Steyer made some of his money investing in oil companies and private prisons. The derision and judgement he faces because of this fact is well-deserved. It would be short-sighted, however, to not be open to the possibility of transformation and redemption for Tom Steyer with regards to his early life as a hedge fund manager. As you are well aware, such redemption efforts are not without precedent.
The Pulitzer Prize
The Pulitzer prize is awarded for excellence in journalism, literary achievement and musical composition. The award is viewed as the pinnacle of excellence for journalists and artists. The award was established through Columbia University by an endowment from the late publisher Joseph Pulitzer. Journalistic excellence, however, was the furthest thing from Pulitzer’s mind when he was chasing readers. Forever the sensationalist and fabricator, Pulitzer engaged in cutthroat competition for subscribers with his rival, William Randoph Hearst. In fact, it is believed that the sensationalist and xenophobic coverage leading up to the conflict was one of the contributing factors to the Spanish – American War. It does not take speculative genius to believe the establishment of the Pulitzer prize was an effort to rehabilitate his image and legacy for the ages.
The Rhodes Scholarship
The Rhodes scholarship covers all costs and fees for attending Oxford University for the “purpose of developing public-spirited leaders, and to promote international understanding and peace through an international community of Scholars.” According to the Rhodes House website some very notable Americans have received this scholarship including Bill Clinton, Cory Booker and Ronan Farrow. Unfortunately, during his lifetime Rhodes had very little use for promoting peace and understanding while colonizing southern Africa via the most brutal means imaginable. Rhodes was one of the founders of DeBeers diamonds and had a political role in establishing apartheid in South Africa through the disenfranchisement of the indigenous people of that region’s countries. It is interesting to note that while the scholarship was intended to burnish Rhodes reputation, it was also intended to preserve a white, male aristocracy through exclusion as to who could apply for it. The program has evolved to meet the times. In 1994, Rachel Maddow, an openly gay woman, won the scholarship to study HIV/AIDS political issues while at Oxford. Rhodes must have been spinning in his grave.
The Nobel Peace Prize
Finally, perhaps the most painfully ironic entrant into this contradictory arena is Alfred Nobel. Nobel came from a family of arms manufacturers. In fact, Nobel’s father, a Swedish inventor and business man, built and sold arms to the Russian army during the Crimean War. Unfortunately for the Nobel family, wars eventually end, which led to the family business going bankrupt. Following in his father’s inventive ways, Alfred discovered that if one mixed nitroglycerine with inert ingredients, like diatomaceous earth, the powder was safer and easier to transport.
Dynamite was patented in 1867 and was among the 355 patents that his company established. These patents complimented the armaments his company, Bofors, produced. These armaments included cannons and other artillery weapons. Alfred Nobel became one of the wealthiest men in all of Europe because of the vast quantities of armaments he sold across the continent. The trade in the tools of war brought with it an ominous name for Nobel: the merchant of death. The surprising irony being that Nobel considered himself a pacifist and believed that when people saw the horrors of destruction that his inventions wrought, no one would ever want to go to war again. According to Nobel, he believed that his weapons created “such frightful efficacy for wholesale destruction that it would make wars impossible.” In fact, the opposite was true. Nobel’s business interests grew beyond imagination.
While Nobel was surprised when people did not reject war because of his creations, his family was more surprised than he was. After his death, unbeknownst to them, he chose to bequeath most of his fortune to a trust that would yearly bestow awards in excellence for chemistry, literature, physics, physiology or medicine and yes, peace. His family was left with a fraction of the estate. It is testament to the belief that Alfred Nobel knew the legacy of the explosive technologies he had created and this was the only way he could attempt to mitigate it after his death.
The Steyer
Because the June 2 primary for the California governor’s race is upon us, it seems like a good time to inform Tom Steyer that he will not be the next governor of the state of California. He most likely will not even be one of the top 2 contenders who moves onto the general election in November. It’s just not to be. While Steyer espouses many laudable ideas, he is a billionaire and he is an amateur when it comes to governance. The status of newbie and not ready for primetime appeared through the ripped seams of his campaign in the form of paid political influencers and poor disclosure discipline.
Even though Xavier Borecerra is no one’s firebrand choice for the office and represents a status quo Democratic party that has failed and is held in disregard by the most of the working class of this country, he does have experience. Those derogatories aside, Becerra is not only a politician, he is a bureaucrat. Becerra is the sort of person who knows what bureaucratic levers to pull and buttons to push as we look forward to a potential fissure between the states and the federal government after the 2026 midterms.
So, as a consolation prize for Tom, I submit for your consideration the The Steyer prize for Outstanding Environment Stewardship and Community Building. I am not sure what areas the prizes would align with, but Tom could start with the areas that have given Tom a little difficulty recently: namely, environmental protection from fossil fuels, transformation from a penal incarceration system to a human rehabilitation one and community building that emphasizes local interests and connection of community members as opposed to those of paid influencers. Ironically and in all seriousness, the establishment of such a prize that recognizes and rewards good works, would secure the Steyer legacy for much longer than any term in the governor’s mansion possibly could.
I invite you to return to the beginning of this editorial. It was of the late quotable Maya Angelou, urging us to believe someone when they reveal their true selves to you. For the last 18 months, we’ve had Trump and his Project 2025 administration show the American people exactly who they are. The Trump brand rests upon cheating, corruption and coercion. We’ve all seen it. We should all believe what our eyes and ears are telling us. California will be in the lead of the resistance to and potential conflict with the authoritarian and fascists forces in this country.
And another thing: you ever wonder how people can get in such a twist in how Steyer earned his money and then give the LA Dodgers and its management group, Guggenheim partners, a pass as to their investments in private prisons and Palantir?
We all thought we’d be voting for the person to lead the fourth largest economy in the world; little did we know we would potentially be voting for a war time governor.
