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This is more about two sides yelling past each other and playing team sports instead of being credible parties trying to improve society. And given how weaponiz

This is more about two sides yelling past each other and playing team sports instead of being credible parties trying to improve society. And given how weaponized especially the right has become recently, I'm not sure how you can even attempt to make an argument in good faith anymore given how you will be treated, so I'm not pretending like I have the answers to any of this. Obviously the right is super exaggerating the state of "blue" cities to justify political grandstanding, shows of power, and increased authoritarian control. But it's also true that a lot of these cities have major, major problems in specific areas and are a sad representation of America in 2025 (the richest country in the history of the world). And these problems are not getting effectively addressed at scale, despite many efforts and resources spent by many different groups. This is why these attacks work - you can say "PORTLAND IS NOT BURNING" (it's not!) but you can't argue with the average tourist that they visit the core tourist parts of these cities, they see horrible things that they've never seen before in their suburban lives. Many areas don't feel safe. That's why these attacks are so effective. The saddest part is we can't talk about this seriously in the current media. You have to be on a "side". Any attempt to have a real discussion is either ignored or lambasted from one side or the other. Both sides have elements of truth which they can use to push their view. Cities are dynamic and constantly changing. Different people have different experiences living in different neighborhoods. My experiences might not match yours. But I can say some of the most visibly terrible places for human misery in the Western world that I have seen in the last 10 years have been: - The obvious places in San Francisco, but also anywhere at any time in the financial district - Downtown Seattle in various areas (between 4th and Pikes Place, around various 7-11s). You want walk from the water front back to your hotel, take the public elevator, it shows up and opens, and a couple is just fully living in it. What do you do with that? - Many parts of downtown Los Angeles - The eastern side of downtown San Diego, around the new library and baseball stadium - Any MacDonalds in the southern part of downtown Chicago - The area in and around the Taco Bell on the main tourist strip in Denver - Many parts of Manhattan - Almost any form of public transit in any city in the US that has one, from a bus in St. Loius to the BART in SF You probably don't live in these neighborhoods. You'll think "yeah, don't live in the bad parts - my neighborhood is delighful". But I don't think any rational person can pretend like the policies in any of these cities are working effectively, at scale.

locopati 1y ago
If this current federal government legitimately cared about these problems, they'd be sending teams of social workers and medics in, instead of militarized police and national guard. Like with immigration, they are creating scapegoats and people are falling for it. These are people who can be helped better than they have been, but the solutions being used gives the game away.
atmavatar 1y ago
Many areas don't feel safe. What's interesting is that of your list of dangerous places, only St. Louis cracks the top 10 list of counties in the US with the highest per capita homicide rate or even general crime. Aside from that and DC, the remaining counties are mostly rural. That isn't to say things aren't bad in some cities, homelessness in particular, to a degree which should be considered extremely shameful for those living in "the richest country in the history of the world". However, the fact that the focus of reporting crime and specifically violence is nearly exclusively limited to cities is strong evidence that the goal isn't to solve the problem: it's merely to continue stoking red vs. blue division. The underlying cause of most of the crime and violence in this country is ultimately poverty, which is why no one with political power is interested in taking steps to fix it.
- ageitgey 1y ago
  I don't disagree with anything you said. I guess there's also factor where the worst of Seattle is right beside a tech conference, but the worst of, say, Baltimore just never gets seen by the wider world.
queenkjuul 1y ago
Never for a second found "the southern part of downtown Chicago" to feel unsafe, nor most of the areas south of there either. I also think you're overestimating the effort put in to help historically disinvested neighborhoods. There are policies in Chicago that are working, but they're not being done at scale, and nobody here is pretending they are.
- 1y ago

locopati 1y ago

If this current federal government legitimately cared about these problems, they'd be sending teams of social workers and medics in, instead of militarized police and national guard. Like with immigration, they are creating scapegoats and people are falling for it. These are people who can be helped better than they have been, but the solutions being used gives the game away.

atmavatar 1y ago

Many areas don't feel safe. What's interesting is that of your list of dangerous places, only St. Louis cracks the top 10 list of counties in the US with the highest per capita homicide rate or even general crime. Aside from that and DC, the remaining counties are mostly rural. That isn't to say things aren't bad in some cities, homelessness in particular, to a degree which should be considered extremely shameful for those living in "the richest country in the history of the world". However, the fact that the focus of reporting crime and specifically violence is nearly exclusively limited to cities is strong evidence that the goal isn't to solve the problem: it's merely to continue stoking red vs. blue division. The underlying cause of most of the crime and violence in this country is ultimately poverty, which is why no one with political power is interested in taking steps to fix it.

ageitgey 1y ago
I don't disagree with anything you said. I guess there's also factor where the worst of Seattle is right beside a tech conference, but the worst of, say, Baltimore just never gets seen by the wider world.

queenkjuul 1y ago

Never for a second found "the southern part of downtown Chicago" to feel unsafe, nor most of the areas south of there either. I also think you're overestimating the effort put in to help historically disinvested neighborhoods. There are policies in Chicago that are working, but they're not being done at scale, and nobody here is pretending they are.

1y ago