Yeah, it was for gold, but its come to stand for so much more, its not just a state, its a state of mind as they say. People have found a lot here besides gold - or gold from other sources like TV, recording industry, high tech. Heck, even the Grateful Dead became millionaires here.
And you can only distract people so much (I hope) when they have real problems like their homes being foreclosed on, and their jobs being shipped overseas.