[Publius]

For those who have read Atlas Shrugged or participated in our FReeper Book Club on this book last year, the full article will remind readers of Starnesville, Wisconsin, the former home of the Twentieth Century Motor Company.

[Niuhuru]

I wonder if idiot Obama nad his Hollywood buddies understand that if there is a Communist revolution, it’ll be US dragging THEM out of their mansions and in front of an enraged firing squad! THEY are the ones who are the idle rich! Not us! THEM!

[Publius]

Although this article isn’t about Rand, it’s about Starnesville coming to America and the devolution of the modern state. Rand would have understood the import.

[lapsus calami]

 

 

Read the whole article at the link. What stood out to me was opportunity - the broad opportunity of yet another angle of "taking back" our government and nation, by citizens stepping up and taking up the slack that they have been content to let someone else (mis)handle up to now. There are a lot of things citizens can handle without requiring multi-million dollar budgets, contracts, grants, unions and so forth. I can even think of a few examples off the top of my head, like where a city was headed towards closing or abandoning a pool and some parks. Folk in the neighborhoods said that 'We'll take care of them', and so they did, by keeping the grass mowed, trash picked up, things fixed, painted and maintained, all at their own time and expense. When people get that involved at such a base level, they have a true and tangible investment in their communities - something very valuable that we have been slipping away from for decades. It's all about more than political parties, national elections and larger-than-life public figures - the ties that bind are actually how we are involved and what we are prepared to do for the well-being of our local communities where our families, friends and neighbors dwell.

 

 

[pnh102]

Funny how the county isn’t cutting any social services. It is just cutting the important stuff. Must be their way of punishing the voters for not agreeing to more tax hikes.

[familyop]

"'People are getting property stolen, their houses broken into, and there is no one investigating. We are basically just writing up a report for the insurance company.'"

Well, there's still an insurance racket there, so they haven't defaulted back to honesty, yet. Until then...no real conservatism anywhere.

[familyop]

BTW, speaking of “Third World America,” a hotel in a small western town is flying, from left to right, the flags for New York, Canada, Britain, the UN, Colorado, the EU, California and Texas. That’s all, and no one seems to care. So let the depression rip. Enjoy the ride, anti-American, bipartisan, liberaltarian globalists.

[sergeantdave]

First off, if you read about 19th century America, communities provided security for citizens via watchmen, constables, town marshals and sheriffs. If that failed, vigilance committees formed.

Before cutting budgets for security, you first get rid of deadweight, like city managers, assistant city managers, bureaucrats of every shape, manner and form and legislative assistants for fat-ass politicians.

Of course this would cut into the voter base of the Marxists. But we don’t care. Or if General Sherman were brought up to speed about the situation in the 21st century, he might say: The only good Marxist is a dead Marxist.

[definitelynotaliberal]

That is a scary portrait.

[Iron Munro]

Generally, the first thing local governments do when faced with falling tax revenue or a voter refusal to approve of new taxes is to threaten reductions in police, fire, library, road maintenance, and other services that will be immediately felt by the voters.

If voters do not approve of more and higher taxes, the second thing they do is to carry through on some of their threats.

One thing they rarely do at the start is to to cut back on politicians’ staffs, cut back on the myriad offices and empires they have built in grand buildings, and they never propose cuts on the freebies and handouts.

Oh, they might cut back on summer programs in the parks or activities at rec centers but that is because the loss of those programs is something that will get the message through to taxpayers:

“Pony up more taxes or the cuts that affect you will continue.”

When is the last time your local government made any kind of a concentrated effort to clean up the welfare roles? When is the last time you heard the local government/school board propose to stop spending money on gay studies or gay and race issues?

Instead of working to reduce births among teens in the ghetto they build child care centers in junior high schools.
God forbid they offend anyone by suggesting it might not be a good thing to have a forth or fifth generation of unmarried teenagers start another single parent “family” supported by taxpayer funded handouts.

[EBH]

I believe somewhere here on FR is an article about the authorities telling the folks of Ashtabula to arm themselves. They were on their own.

[Jabba the Nutt]

Here's what you do as Sheriff in this county. Encouraged all citizens to arm themselves. Organize call trees to contact and call out citizens in the case of an emergency. Start citizen training yesterday. Encourage businesses and stores to arm themselves, along with teachers an employees at other institutions to arm themselves. And publicize these measures.

Crime will drop.