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“Only in certain Democratic hell holes.”

Actually the signs of the increasing criminal and anti social behavior accompanying the decline of our culture and a decaying civilization are everywhere, even in the most conservative states. Drug addiction and homelessness and rising, often unreported crime, touch towns and cities in red states as well as rural communities. Public and private infrastructure are decaying at an increasing rate. The quality of health care has declined rapidly since Obamacare. The caring independent local doctor has been replaced by assembly line health management administered by impersonal employees.

Potholes in my southern town were once filled with days of appearing. Now it takes months and the repairs seem to fail within weeks. The concept of true customer service has disappeared in many businesses and government organizations. It can take 5 minutes to work one’s way through the series of questions the computer answering a phone throws at the human trying to get help. Millions are unemployed yet can take weeks to get help from a plumber or electrician. Air travel has become unbearable.

My representative in Congress (Republican) once held town hall meetings with citizens. No more. There are fewer businesses flying flags. Men use public Women’s restrooms. The pews in my church have fewer people every year. The wealthy have relocated from beautiful tree lined streets, with well tended mansions, to guarded gated communities.

I remember going to the downtown shopping district with my grandmother on Saturday. She would park the car on the street unlocked with the keys in it with no concern it would be stolen. My grandparents home was never locked. Today the retail stores are in ugly strip shopping centers. Daily there are news reports of purse snatching, car hijackings and assaults in the strip center parking lots.

Today I see fewer people smiling or making eye contact in public. Few men open a door for a woman. Rarely does a store employee great a customer, much less say “thank you”. Unwritten social norms of politeness are fading away. While civil society may have collapsed in Democrat hell holes the thin veneer of civilization is showing many cracks even in my once safe and peaceful southern town.

It isn’t just the middle class and wealthy fleeing the blue states for the red states. The gangs and drug cartels are here and the home invasions and petty crime of the addicted seeking to fund their habits are here too. Homeless people are more visible and the public libraries have become daytime hangouts for homeless men. If you live in a red state look carefully around you at the cracks appearing in the thin veneer of civilization. How bad is the rot underneath? How far is your community from being another hell hole?