I’m sure that a lot of you remember the Paul Simon song, “Fifty Ways to Leave Your Lover.”
The chorus goes like this:
You just slip out the back, Jack
Make a new plan, Stan
You don’t need to be coy, Roy
Just get yourself free
Hop on the bus, Gus
You don’t need to discuss much
Just drop off the key, Lee
And get yourself free
When I heard this song the other day, I thought … I wonder if there are fifty ways that Democrats can ruin their cities. So I thought about that for a bit as I hummed along with Paul Simon:
“it’s really not my habit to intrude
Furthermore, I hope my meaning won’t be lost or misconstrued
But I’ll repeat myself at the risk of being crude
There must be fifty ways to … ruin your Democrat controlled city
Like I wrote about the other day, a Democratic mayor can just refuse to admit there is a problem. Lori Lightfoot, mayor of Chicago, recently said that crime and violence were not out of control in her city … tell that to the scores of people shot there over the Independence Day weekend.
But there are other ways to ruin a city … perhaps fifty ways!
For instance a Democrat run city council can vote to defund the police. Perhaps we should ask Seattle how that is working out.
Or in Minneapolis … letting BLM rioters run free, destroying multiple businesses of those minorities who had been struggling to make it. Just another way to destroy a city.
What about in New York and St. Louis where apparently district attorneys think it’s a good idea to let a significant number of those arrested to just let go free, so that they can commit more crime.
As I continued to sing along with Paul Simon, I decided that in the “how to ruin your city” sweepstakes, the title should go to San Francisco:
“The answer is easy if you take it logically
I’d like to help you in your struggle to be free
There must be fifty ways to …ruin your city.
For in San Francisco everyone is allowed to be free … free to do whatever they want, whenever they want, wherever they want.
The reason for San Francisco’s claim to this egregious title is twofold. First off, it is in California, where a theft of up to $950 in merchandise is considered a misdemeanor because of Proposition 47. (Proposition 47, a referendum passed years ago that critics say effectively gives shoplifters and addicts the green light to commit crimes as long as the merchandise they steal or the drugs they take are less than $950 in value.)
From the National Review:
This May, Walgreens announced that it had closed, to date, 17 stores over the last five years, citing the substantial losses it has suffered from shoplifting in the city. CVS, a competitor, has labeled San Francisco “one of the epicenters of organized retail crime” in the country and closed a number of stores as well.
The consequences of closures and shortened hours are many; both obvious and more downstream. Not only do they result in job losses and make it more difficult for residents, and especially lower-income residents, to purchase needed goods, but they also send an ominous message to other businesses that specific neighborhoods — and even the city writ large — are risky areas to invest or plant roots in.
FYI for those that live outside of California – Proposition 47 was passed by the California voters in 2014, and it just solidifies what I have said many times in the past … Namely, that California voters are just plain ‘dumb’ and this is just another example.
The second reason that “off the scale leftist Democrat San Francisco” wins the nefarious first place title of how to best ruin a city can be summed up in the following letter from one friend to another:
Alex,
We’ve moved and the SF government is to blame. They have a policy that only gives out traffic tickets to people who steal under a certain number. Example, steal $800 worth the goods and no repercussions. Isn’t this insane? Why haven’t they fixed this law? I feel sorry for the folks that I know who live in the City or those that visit.
We used to love to spend a night by Union Square, walk around then go for a nice dinner later that night. The last time Mary and I did this, we had to step over people shooting up drugs, urinating & defecating on the sidewalk just to walk to the restaurant. We decided we’d never go back and didn’t.
George
After speaking to someone who lives in the Bay Area, I think that two other Paul Simon songs might better describe the future of San Francisco, namely:
Slip Slidin’ Away
and
The Sound of Silence
And for those who moved to the “Golden City” many years ago, their Paul Simon apropos song may well be“Homeward Bound.”
7/9/21
www.californiacontrarian.com