Posted on 04/08/2023 9:00:25 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
I recently reviewed the results of the mayoral election in Chicago, which appear to have sounded the death knell for America’s third-largest city. The buildings will remain and the people without the means to escape will still huddle in their homes (at least those who have homes), hoping to avoid being the next statistic in a crime wave that shows no signs of abating. Commerce has slowed to a crawl and its once-famous entertainment district is now too dangerous for most to risk an evening out on the town. At the Washington Examiner, Stephen Moore takes a similarly dim view of Chicago’s prospects, but he notes that the Windy City is not alone in its downward slide. Many cities across the United States are simply becoming unlivable. And the real tragedy in all of this is that the decline was completely avoidable. But an epidemic of suicidally dangerous liberal policies has opened the gates for the barbarians that were always waiting outside.
It’s not just Chicago that has become a war zone. Portland, Seattle, and San Francisco were not so long ago the crown jewels of the West Coast. They were said to be progressive cities that worked. No more. Now, they are unlivable. San Francisco is overrun with homeless people on seemingly every downtown street corner, feces on the sidewalks, and trash everywhere.
In Portland, major businesses are pulling out in the aftermath of the takeover of the radical anarchists during COVID-19. Crime is so rampant that Walmart recently said “adios,” shutting down its last store. Rains PDX, a clothing store in Portland, shut down last November after a string of break-ins made it impossible to stay open. This printed sign pasted on the door says it all:
“Small businesses (and large) cannot sustain doing business in our city’s current state. We have no protection, or recourse, against criminal behavior that goes unpunished. Do not be fooled into thinking that insurance companies cover losses. We have sustained 15 break-ins. … We have not received any financial reimbursement since the 3rd.”
For all of recorded history, large portions of humanity have tended to cluster together in centralized strongholds, while others have lived in less populated areas where agricultural activity was more common. Having cities simply made sense. Larger numbers of people could better defend themselves from aggressors while trade and economic activity were more convenient when centralized. But city life also required an unspoken agreement that everyone would have to play by the rules and establish methods of maintaining order. More people can accomplish great works but when a significant portion of a large population turns into a mob, the destruction it can wreak is similarly exaggerated.
Sadly, that is what we are clearly observing in America today. Moore describes the “cults of economic and political quackery” that have hypnotized metropolitan residents, leading to calls to defund the police, empty the jails, and the turning of a blind eye to crime in the name of “social justice.” Those bothering to seek solutions inevitably attempt to “tax the rich” to the point where the most productive flee for safer havens.
These cults have not impacted the entire country evenly. It’s true that all communities experience drug overdoses or deaths and inflation puts pressure on all households while the dollar weakens and prices rise. But particularly when it comes to crime, America’s cities have taken a far more radical downward turn than the suburban and rural areas such as the one my wife and I are blessed to live in. The county where we live recorded only one murder in all of 2022. You would be hard-pressed to find a single day last year when nobody was killed in Baltimore or Chicago.
The current situation in America’s urban centers is not sustainable. And for some reason, nearly all of the larger cities are controlled by liberal Democrats who impose the insane policies that allow this mayhem to flourish. Even Austin, in the heart of the red state of Texas, has a municipal government that is hiring wolves to guard the henhouse. And the recent election in Chicago suggests that there is no path back from the brink for many of our formerly-great cities. You simply cannot help those who refuse to help themselves.
I disagree
White cash carries them quite well
It helps if the minority population are an actual minority
I've ventured back to a large-ish city twice since the move - both times to acquire more emergency provisions in preparation for the inevitable collapse. On my return home - always during daylight - I feel stress abating with each mile of distance I put between myself and the city.
Over this past year I've made some wonderful new friends, and renewed some old friendships as well (I grew up in this part of the state). I've particularly enjoyed making the acquaintance of the talented Mennonite workmen who are helping me to restore this old place.
And, with each day that passes, I prepare myself for whatever next steps may become necessary to further distance myself from the Democrat horde. I don't want to fight these people. I'll get all the "revenge" I need by simply departing their presence - leaving them to live among their own.
Under the premise of continued death to America obamanite agenda. The coalition of the Marxist muslim forces have the upper hand. They took control of the education system seeding their shit years ago
Liberalism: Where you can’t fix STUPID!
In the Dawn of the Dead movies the Rural folks have little problem with the Zombies. They happily shoot them as needed. When you think about it liberals and the Zombie apocalypse have a lot in common.
I’ve been saying to Freepers trapped behind enemy lines in places like Commiefornia, Illnoise, New Yaaak, Joisssey....get out. Get out now.
Yes, I understand it may well be inconvenient and difficult. Still, get out and get your property out if you POSSIBLY can. Move your business. Sell your house. Get your relatives to move too - well, so long as they’re not flaming Leftists who will bring that mind virus with them. Just leave. Do it before the inevitable collapse.
You’ll be thankful you did. Have you seen Detroit lately? That used to be the 3rd largest city in America and had one of the highest incomes per capita anywhere. Look at it right at the end of WWII and look at it now.
Poster boy for hate whitie
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Build a gigantic wall around those cities and don’t let anyone out. That, or burn it all down to cinders.
I think Escape from New York had the right idea in 1985
I think Escape from New York had the right idea in 1985
you are assuming they are reporting all the crime
Thanks to the democrat party’s insanity America’a major cities have already descended into “Soylent Green” territory.
Thousands live, poop and die in the city streets while democrats work hard to destroy what’s left of middle America.
With the election of Brandon, the defunding of the Police, will make the streets of Chi much safer.
When you don't have to find a buyer for your home, and you don't have a job so you don't have to worry about the commute, and you have relatives that already live in another Section 8 haven, it's a lot easier to pack up and go.
Pushback will begin when some municipality like DeKalb Illinois backs out of Section 8 housing rules and laws. I don't know if anybody has done that yet, but eventually it will be the only way to save smaller cities and towns as the refugees move in from places like Chicago.
This.
The idiots who think Rome can be sacked while the provincials will live as before are ignorant of history and human nature.
Yeah, that's realistic.
I would adopt these young men if I could, but at least I've been able to provide them with some good work and a little updated advice on their future education and career options.
The Sooner China controlled Joe can drown Chicago in printed money. That is what will happen. You’re watching the end of America.
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