John Milton was an amateur.

The 17th century British intellect that penned the epic 10,000 line poem “Paradise Lost” chronicling man’s fall from grace was a lightweight compared to the California Chorus that makes the Greek Chorus of lore come across as mere mimes.

California, depending upon who is doing the death watch, has been in deep decline now supposedly for close to six decades.

There are tons of problems in the Golden State.

At times it seems the doomsday groupies have won the lottery — high taxes, urban congestion, homeless issues, drought, flooding, mudslides, wildfires and — to mix things up from time-to-time — major earthquakes.

Linger around long enough and one of the state’s eight active volcanoes will erupt.

Media types breathlessly posting away — or doing doomsday dances on cable TV — from their perches high above Manhattan or in the bunker of their adobes in places that give them few reasons to venture out, swoop down like vultures whenever anything is found that can make California look like roadkill.

California has the highest number of homeless people. Queue up the funeral dirge.

California is either burning down, treading water, bone dry, or shaking apart. Better call the undertaker.

Not to dismiss serious issues, but given we are the most populated state by far with 39.3 million people or some 7.6 million more than the closest state, it would stand to reason the number of “bad things” are at the top or near there when compared to the other 49 states that don’t even come close to our diversity of people and landscape.

But if you look closer, a lot of those bad counts aren’t proportional to our size. If they were, we’d have almost 22 percent more of bad things that can be enumerated based on the fact the next closest state in population is Texas with 31.7 million people.

I get it. It takes more than just having a lot of people to make a state great.

However, ask yourself this question: If this is hell and whatever state you want to use as your depiction of heaven, then why do more people call California home than any other state?

People, they say, vote with their feet or their pocketbooks. Yes, it is expensive to live here but there are reasons people pay the price.

And it arguably is just as expensive to live here as it is in the one state everyone may agree is a tropical paradise — Hawaii.

So why hasn’t an exodus of tectonic proportions started?

Perhaps it is the climate. Maybe it’s the unparalleled diversity of people, culture, geography, and nature.

If you judge paradise in terms of an agrarian culture, California is indeed the land of nuts, honey, and fruit. What flows to tables from our orchards, dairies, and other farmland makes states like Nebraska that identify themselves as a farming Mecca come across as wishful thinkers.

Texas might claim things are bigger there but their tallest tree looks like a Charlie Brown Christmas tree compared to redwoods.

Their highest mountain is a mole hill compared to Mt. Whitney.

California tech is still king; Texas has a long way to go.

This is not a knock on Texas or any other state.

It’s just after 60 years or so of California being on the death watch list of pundits and wishful politicians not plying their trade in the Pacific Time Zone, reports of our death have been greatly exaggerated.

By the way, how many literary giants like Mark Twain has Texas inspired?

Once you look around and take in what nature and man has created within the boundaries of California, the high price we pay to live here starts making a bit of sense.

Do not misconstrue the point. Housing prices are insane and always seem to be heading out of control.