Two Tales of Two Cities
Remember the old adage,
"As goes Detroit, so goes the nation."
Interesting read. Thanks. I might add that its a good analysis, but it isn’t “news”. The U.S. city scape has been in decline since the 1960’s.
This article clearly states the problem but fails to arrive at a solution to the problem, and that’s because there is no solution. Please allow me to explain:
Charles Darwin’s Theory of Evolution (often referred to as The Theory of Survival of the Fittest) describes the positive effects resulting from any “pressure” on an animal species that removes the least fit among the species and allows only the most fit of the species to reproduce. Most of us are well aware of this “Survival of the Fittest” theory, but few are aware that Darwin also makes mention of the negative effects resulting from unlimited reproduction of a species’ least fit when the weak, the lazy, and the stupid are left unchecked.
We like to think otherwise, but our species, Homo sapiens, isn’t that long out of the trees and the same laws of nature that affect all of God’s creatures apply equally to us. If we were to observe any other species that had been allowed to reproduce without limitations, we would know immediately what the consequences will be.
Whenever the weak; lazy; and stupid of a species is allowed to reproduce unimpeded by predators that feed off the weak; lazy; and stupid, they soon outnumber the strong, productive, and intelligent. When the weak/lazy/stupid dominate the gene pool, the entire population becomes weak/ lazy/stupid, and then the population collapses.
In the past, when these collapses occurred within human populations, they have been referred to as a “Malthusian Collapse.” Thomas Malthus, a Nineteenth Century Economist, thought these collapses were caused simply because past civilizations had reached a point where human populations could no longer produce sufficient food supplies to feed themselves, but he never pinned down the exact reason for these food shortages.
It is now thought by some that these collapses of past human civilizations have occurred whenever the unproductive weak/lazy/stupid greatly outnumber the strong/productive/intelligent of the population. In other words, the majority of the population becomes too lazy to perform the work necessary to provide for themselves and what’s left of the strong/productive/intelligent refuses to continue to do it for them.
These collapses have occurred at frequent intervals throughout human history, and Western Civilization is, in my humble opinion, currently on the cusp of one of these collapses.
Not true, the issue of urban vs. rural is not really the issue. Let's be honest, the reality of gun violence is primarily a racial divide.
So if Obama is going to suspend civil rights for the purpose of ensuring safety, why not address the statistical heart of the issue and suspend the civil rights of those "male urban youths" between the ages of 12 and 35?
Why would that violation of rights be more unpalatable than the suspension of a specific civil right for everyone, when Obama himself is conceding that its not really a problem outside of the identified demographic?
For any knuckle-headed opus writer who mistakenly reads this as a racist post, the point is to demonstrate the unacceptable restriction of any civil rights, and that cutting off every innocent citizen's right hand is not a fair alternative to cutting off just a few innocent right hands. Better that we observe the Constitution and personal liberties in ALL situations, and leave innocent free citizens alone altogether.
Thomas Jefferson
The perspective is not long enough. The view is still too close. The assumption is the cities, the great cities, are ongoing forever.
It can be argued the cities are obsolete. The reasons compelling businesses gathering in close proximity are gone. The need to have people very close to the jobs gathered in close proximity is gone. The skids greased over and over to make the system continue have become worn and rough.
The grease no longer reduces the friction like it did for so long. There is no new rational thought. There is only extrapolation of existing dogma.
There is an obvious biological component. The nature of the city residents has changed. The new residents lack the native ability to conduct business in a non corrupt manner. They lack the ability to innovate successfully. They can only stagnate. They are innately harmful to the collective freedom necessary for the city to function.
There is no solution but to let the coming conflagration occur.
“The American City Is Dying-And why the country will inevitable follow”
RATS!!!
good read
We all know wht is wrong in America’s large cities. We all know who is killing each other robbing, selling and using dope.
We just cannot say it. It isn’t politically correct.
I live in the suburbs of a medium size city in the Northeast. The new tact in the city to clean the downtown of the city is to park new social service recipients in motels at or near the city line, in effect to spread the problems all around. This puts vagrants, bums, druggies, and aggressive panhandlers in ever closer proximity to what where relatively nice neighborhoods. And now, the city wants to merge with the County, which will allow the City to push an ever increasing number of dirtbags out into motels on the suburbs.
I can’t wait to retire and get out of the Northeast.
There are ways to return cities to vitality and efficiency, but it takes a lot of planning, and it varies somewhat, based on the city. Here are some highlights.
1) Of all places, Detroit had a good idea. A city in an advanced state of decay, with large areas of abandoned buildings, they got the simple notion of bulldozing huge tracts of decay, and planting forest-like parks in their place. Positively brilliant, if not for the best reasons.
Why? To start with, the curve for redevelopment strongly increases with available area. That is, you can only put so much on the lot of a single building, with existing infrastructure. But if you have an entire square block to develop, you can do a lot more, from below the ground up.
And, if you have several square blocks, you can have almost completely new everything. Good water and sewer, good electrical and communications, even better transportation and your own residential neighborhood and retailers. Together it is worth far more than its individual parts.
But while you are waiting, planting a forest there is the fastest and cheapest way to clean the ground of toxins and poisons. Just periodically cut everything down and haul it off for waste disposal, then plant anew.
2) “Rolling gentrification and maintenance”. Subdivide the city into districts, and intensively gentrify and maintain each district in turn. This means doing little work in quality areas, and most work in the areas that need it the most. It creates a cycle that prevents parts of the city from becoming run down and staying that way.
Remember the old adage,
"As goes Detroit, so goes the nation."
The social reformers who used to be the band aids on the city’s growth have become its entire reason for being.
For me the money quote and one of the main fallacies of socialism/communism/progressivism call it what you want.
What once “worked” when it was an insignificant fraction of the whole can no longer work when it starts to subsume the whole. In other words extrapolating to infinity is never a good idea in the real world.
Did the taxpayers who are their employers, treat them badly? Did the taxpayers not provide safe work environments, did the taxpayers deny them a good salary and benefits, so that they needed to organize against the taxpayers for equal rights in the workplace?
I am serious, why do the workers of the various government entities need a union for protection against a raging, mean corporation..ah taxpayer?
It used to be that "getting a job with a large, city-based factory" would set someone up for life. They could raise a family, and enjoy a middle-class lifestyle. If they worked hard, maybe got a little more education than their peers, they could be promoted to manager, or shift foreman. Unions saw the potential to raise money by "protecting the workers," and they inserted themselves into those cities as well.
Soon, the unholy alliance of government AND unions merged, and they've been feeding off this smorgasbord ever since. Cities are now struggling to keep their tax base, because many companies moved outside the city, along with those taxpayers. All that's left in many cities now, is a hollow shell...un-educated, and under-educated people working in minimum wage jobs. The "successful" ones might have government jobs, paying a little more, but bleeding what little tax base that's left. Just parasites, feeding of the remnants of the carcass.
As more and more city inmates find they are living in prison, they stop caring about either jobs or preserving a common culture. Obama and his minions are simply accelerating the collapse into an angry mob that wants revenge on those of us outside the limits of their hellholes. Even cities like Boston, which have vibrant high-tech businesses, colleges, and lots of private money, are failing. Scam artists like Menino have been able to hide the collapse with the help of a drooling lap-dog press and lots of money from billionaire Leftists, but the truth is there for any visitor to see.
The culture shift from Boston Leftist to country conservative is like a brick wall just 40 miles outside of Boston.
“When you’re alone and life is making you lonely you can always go...downtown.
When you’ve got worries all the noise and the hurries seem to help I know...downtown.”
Petula Clark, Futurist