PDA

View Full Version : As The Cities Fail



Kathianne
06-15-2023, 02:35 PM
Sure, they have been for the middle class for over 50 years, the riots following George Floyd and Covid experiences have accelerated much of what has been wrong.

It used to be that if you could 'reach a certain income level' Chicago was a great place to live. Not so today and it's not just Chicago:

https://hotair.com/david-strom/2023/06/15/public-education-is-collapsing-in-blue-cities-n558233


Public education is collapsing in blue cities

DAVID STROM (https://hotair.com/author/david-strom) 3:31 PM on June 15, 2023

...

When reality clashes with fantasy, the ultimate outcome is inevitable. And the Blue cities and states are living in fantasy land.


The fantasy is pretty appealing for many people, which is why cities like Portland have had enduring appeal as a concept. Portland, San Francisco, Minneapolis, and Chicago had for a long time a visceral appeal to people. A pleasant sort of diversity–lots of good food–a social laissez-faire attitude where you can be you. A vibrancy that is impossible to duplicate in what they portray as “conformist” suburbia.


Who wouldn’t want to live in a city where “young people go to retire?” Even if you don’t want to retire yet, the idea has an appeal.


It is a fantasy. It turns out that civilization requires work, and laissez-faire social norms mean culture clashes that get worse every day. Your desire to groom my kids is completely at odds. And yes, you do indeed need police to ensure that the rapacious among us don’t ruin everything. Utopias turn into hellholes pretty quickly when the people selling the dream get into power, and the utopians themselves turn out to be the worst sort of authoritarians.


That authoritarianism was on full display during the COVID pandemic. The utopians decided that they knew best and that their “let it all hang out philosophy” actually meant that everybody else must submit to their increasingly quixotic whims. Public health simultaneously required draconian lockdowns and rioting. Cop-free zones became crime-permitted zones, inevitably. And the always-welcoming public schools became ideological reeducation camps.


Minneapolis was ground zero for much of the insanity because George Floyd died here and the worst Left-wing zealots run our city. For the first time in our history, the government actually abandoned a police precinct to a mob. Our schools were closed, our playgrounds shut down, and the lockdowns persisted for what seemed like forever.


As with other Blue cities, the results were inevitable: people who could, left. Many more are thinking about doing so if they can scrape up the money to escape. Lawlessness is everywhere and everything is declining fast.


Since 2020–2 1/2 years–the number of children under 5 has declined by 17%.

...

Kathianne
06-15-2023, 02:43 PM
More than a bit related:

https://thehill.com/opinion/criminal-justice/4040948-crime-is-depriving-americans-of-opportunity-with-non-whites-hardest-hit/

It didn't start with Covid, but with Soros DAs and accelerated with riots from George Floyd:


Crime is depriving Americans of opportunity, with non-whites hardest hitBY GABRIEL NADALES, OPINION CONTRIBUTOR - 06/14/23 1:30 PM ET


Crime has increased sharply since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. And along the way, it has disproportionately harmed minority communities and driven businesses from crime-ridden cities, taking away not only jobs but also places to purchase food and medication.

The result is a downward spiral that unfortunately seems to have no end in sight.


Every public official is responsible for safeguarding the well-being of every American, ensuring each individual an equal opportunity to succeed. Instead of fulfilling this duty, many politicians choose to sit on the sidelines or make the problem even worse.


This was evident when local officials in Washington D.C. voted to overhaul the city’s criminal code to loosen penalties for violent crime. Their vote would reduce maximum sentences, eliminate nearly all mandatory minimum sentences, and expand the right to jury trials for those accused of misdemeanors. But these measures do nothing to protect the vulnerable residents of the District who simply want to live in peace and safety.


Rogue district attorneys prioritize their ideology over the safety of their residents. Such is the case of D.C.’s U.S. attorney, who declined to prosecute nearly 70 percent of people arrested in 2022.

...

But it’s a greater tragedy that America’s minority communities, many of whom already face significant barriers to financial success, suffer the most from out-of-control crime. African Americans, for example, make up a mere 14.2 percent of the total population. Yet according to FBI data, they accounted for 58 percent of homicide victims in 2021 — up from less than 50 percent in 2011. Blacks also comprise nearly one third of victims of all violent crimes.


Every city is being affected by the current crime wave, including average-sized cities such as Albuquerque, NM, where the murder rate spiked by 71 percent between 2017 and 2022. The city’s murder rate is now more than three times the national average, higher than that of New York, Los Angeles, and San Francisco.


We can reverse this trend. We need only demand from the local officials that they fully fund law enforcement, so that the police can combat crime on the streets while strengthening penalties against violent and repeat offenders. Unless we take action, every city throughout the country will soon follow Albuquerque’s lead and find itself engulfed in crime and violence.

...