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You Know That Your City Has Become A Hellhole When….
The Economic Collapse ^
| 10/13/2011
| Michael Snyder
Posted on 10/14/2011 9:17:07 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
All across America there are cities and towns that were once prosperous and beautiful that are being transformed into absolute hellholes. The scars left by the long-term economic decline of the United States are getting deeper and more gruesome. The tax base in many areas of the nation has been absolutely devastated as millions of jobs have left this country. Hundreds of cities are drowning in debt and are desperately trying to survive. Last year, city government revenues in the United States fell by another 2.3 percent. That was the fifth year in a row that we have seen a decline. Meanwhile, costs associated with health care, pensions and virtually everything else continue to explode. So what are cities doing to make ends meet? Well, one big trend that we are now witnessing is that many U.S. cities have been getting rid of huge numbers of employees. If you can believe it, 72 percent of all U.S. cities are laying workers off this year. Social services and essential infrastructure programs are also being savagely cut back in many areas of the country. The cold, hard truth is that most of our cities are flat broke and things are going to get even worse in the years ahead.
So how do you know if your own city has become a hellhole?
Well, a few potential "red flags" are posted below....
You know that your city has become a hellhole when most of the street lights get repossessed because of unpaid electric bills.
You know that your city has become a hellhole when it announces that it will no longer prosecute domestic violence cases in order to save money.
You know that your city has become a hellhole when it simply stops sending out pension checks to retired workers.
You know that your city has become a hellhole when it rips up asphalt roads and replaces them with gravel because gravel is cheaper to maintain.
You know that your city has become a hellhole when it eliminates the entire public bus system.
You know that your city has become a hellhole when nearly half of all the people living there can't read.
You know that your city has become a hellhole when one out of every ten homes sells for under $10,000.
You know that your city has become a hellhole when you can literally buy a house for one dollar.
You know that your city has become a hellhole when you have hundreds of people living in the tunnels underneath your streets.
You know that your city has become a hellhole when three of your past five mayors have been sent to prison for corruption.
You know that your city has become a hellhole when nearly half of the public schools in the city get shut down because of a lack of money.
You know that your city has become a hellhole when you have dozens of young people rampaging in the streets that are thirsty for revenge and that are armed with bats, pipes and guns.
You know that your city has become a hellhole when it is considered to be one of the 10 most dangerous cities in the world.
You know that your city has become a hellhole when thieves defecate in the back seat after they have broken into your car and taken your things.
You know that your city has become a hellhole when prostitution and drug dealing are two of the only viable businesses that remain in the city.
You know that your city has become a hellhole when the police chief announces that the police department will no longer respond to calls about burglary and identity theft due to very deep budget cuts.
Many of the examples above may seem humorous at first glance, but the truth is that they reveal just how deeply tragic our economic decline really is.
This is one of the reasons why I write about our trade deficit over and over and over. Every single month, tens of billions of dollars more wealth goes out of the United States than enters it. Every single month, we are getting poorer as a nation. Every single month, we lose more jobs and businesses.
Any politician that tells you that he or she can solve our economic problems without fundamentally addressing our horrific trade imbalance is lying to you. That means that there are a whole lot of liars in both political parties.
If the number of good jobs continues to decline, the plight of the average American family is going to continue to get worse. Home sales will continue to hover around record lows. The American people will continue to become increasingly frustrated with the economy.
The signs of decline are all around us.
Quit listening to the politicians and just open up your eyes and look.
TOPICS: Business/Economy; Society
KEYWORDS: cities; colombia; globalism; hellhole; mexico; panama
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To: Dr. Sivana
That wouldn’t work in DC.
it presumes people could read it.
21
posted on
10/14/2011 9:51:40 AM PDT
by
WOBBLY BOB
(See ya later, debt inflator ! Gone in 4 (2012))
To: ErnBatavia
...the main drag is renamed "Martin Luther King Blvd." That is sadly, sadly true.
22
posted on
10/14/2011 9:55:58 AM PDT
by
andy58-in-nh
(America does not need to be organized: it needs to be liberated.)
To: rsobin
The wife and I considered moving to Asheville about 20 years ago because it was a pretty mountain town with an interesting mix of people and a fairly healthy economy. From what I’ve seen in the past few years, I’m very glad we decided against it.
23
posted on
10/14/2011 10:01:32 AM PDT
by
andy58-in-nh
(America does not need to be organized: it needs to be liberated.)
To: SeekAndFind
"Any politician that tells you that he or she can solve our economic problems without fundamentally addressing our horrific trade imbalance is lying to you. That means that there are a whole lot of liars in both political parties."Good article.
24
posted on
10/14/2011 10:10:39 AM PDT
by
DannyTN
To: SeekAndFind
"You know that your city has become a hellhole when it announces that it will no longer prosecute domestic violence cases in order to save money."
Oh, no! That'll hurt the illegal drug and adultery industries, just when we were needing those products the most.
"You know that your city has become a hellhole when three of your past five mayors have been sent to prison for corruption."
Now look what we've done by cutting back on our personal purchases. Mayors--the poor victims--can no longer defend themselves against their unfavored constituents.
What will we do? Our regime of social pathologies and corruption is in trouble. Please, don't tell us that we'll have to start doing real work!
25
posted on
10/14/2011 10:12:57 AM PDT
by
familyop
("Wanna cigarette? You're never too young to start." --Deacon, "Waterworld")
To: SeekAndFind
Highland Park, Pontiac, and Detroit have been bad as long as I've been alive.
As far as gravel roads go (liked from one of article), I like them. I grew up driving on them. It's country, and it keeps riff raff away.
26
posted on
10/14/2011 10:18:46 AM PDT
by
Darren McCarty
(Perry and Cain I can support, but no Romney)
To: Jeff Chandler
Reading is a skill that is free to learn. Of course, if half your population came from a third world country... That was reference to Detroit. They don't even have that excuse.
27
posted on
10/14/2011 10:21:59 AM PDT
by
Darren McCarty
(Perry and Cain I can support, but no Romney)
To: oh8eleven
We have a chocolate reich in charge of the whole country.
I like the Spinal Tap song “Hellhole”.
28
posted on
10/14/2011 10:25:11 AM PDT
by
MikeSteelBe
(Austrian Hitler was as the Halfrican Hitler does.)
To: rsobin
Asheville feels creepy to me. Way too many lefties doin’ way too much channelin’.
29
posted on
10/14/2011 10:38:51 AM PDT
by
Terry Mross
(I'll only vote for a SECOND party.)
To: Dr. Sivana
That’s sad. Rockford used to be a pretty little city.
30
posted on
10/14/2011 10:40:24 AM PDT
by
Terry Mross
(I'll only vote for a SECOND party.)
To: ErnBatavia
You think that is bad, King County,WA was created 1859, but changed it’s logo to a picture of MLK a few years ago.
To: familyop
“You know that your city has become a hellhole when the mayor goes missing for 28 days and when he resurfaces you learn he’s been to treatment for coke addiction....Memphis.
I drove through there a few weeks ago and did not stop. Grew up close. All the people in Eastern Arkansas who used to shop in Memphis now go to Little Rock.
32
posted on
10/14/2011 10:42:55 AM PDT
by
Terry Mross
(I'll only vote for a SECOND party.)
To: MikeSteelBe
We have a chocolate reich in charge of the whole country.
Actually, we have a semi-chocolate dictator in charge of the WH.
But not for much longer ... "I'm melting, I'm melting ..."
33
posted on
10/14/2011 10:58:41 AM PDT
by
oh8eleven
(RVN '67-'68)
To: SeekAndFind
...when the Federal Government threatens to run your Police Department due to rampant corruption. (Oakland, CA)
34
posted on
10/14/2011 11:01:50 AM PDT
by
GSWarrior
(To activate this tagline please contact the Admin Moderator.)
To: SeekAndFind
Your city is a hell hole when bail bondsmen stop advertising because their target market can’t read the ads
35
posted on
10/14/2011 11:04:39 AM PDT
by
muir_redwoods
(Somewhere in Kenya, a village is missing an idiot)
To: Signalman
I wonder how Chicago and Philly didn’t make the list? Especially Chicago.
To: CPO retired
......... and why isn’t; “you know your city is a hell-hole when the dead people start leaving too” a criteria? I read about people coming into Detroit from the suburbs to exhume and relocate deceased relatives.
To: CPO retired
I wonder how Chicago and Philly didnt make the list? Especially Chicago.
Having upscale enclaves that are pleasant areas relatively untouched by the surrounding hell, is enough to keep the whole city off the list. Although I can say that Hyde Park in Chicago has definitely dropped in QoL since the '80s.
If the Bronx could be its own city, it too would be on the list.
38
posted on
10/14/2011 11:28:25 AM PDT
by
Dr. Sivana
(happ)
To: CPO retired
......... and why isnt; you know your city is a hell-hole when the dead people start leaving too a criteria? I read about people coming into Detroit from the suburbs to exhume and relocate deceased relatives.
Only because the writers didn't think of it. You have contributed an exceptional criterion.
39
posted on
10/14/2011 11:30:00 AM PDT
by
Dr. Sivana
(happ)
To: SeekAndFind
...when sex offenders move there because they know they will get away with it since evidence always seems to disappear. That is if any action on it is even started in the first place. Especially the case with child molesters.
... when the cops are the biggest drug dealers in the area.
40
posted on
10/14/2011 11:31:43 AM PDT
by
CARDINALRULES
(Tough times never last -Tough people do. DK57 -- 6-22-02)
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