the skunks of los feliz
2.06.2005
Police station fired on by gunmen: ho-hum, another day in Iraq.
Except that this attack occurred in LA, at the 77th Street station. Parts of the city are becoming free-fire zones, burglars loot the Westside at their leisure (though the LAPD sez "don't worry, things are worse in Encino"), and we're probably not too far removed from the kind of kidnappings for ransom that plague Mexico City.
City officials shrug their shoulders and say, "Hey, it's not our fault", and to an extent they're right. Bush's war on government (starve it by cutting taxes, running up huge deficits, then slashing government programs in the name of "deficit reduction") have left cities with empty pockets and overwhelmed bureaucracies.
That said, public safety should never be sacrificed to cost-cutting measures. Lawlessness kills cities (Detroit, anyone?). People who can, will leave. Those who can't leave will be stuck behind, forced to endure ever-worsening social conditions, as LA spirals into ungovernable chaos.
I know, I know, it all sounds terribly Mike Davis. But when police stations are attacked with impunity, you can be sure that the rotten underpinnings of our city are starting to give way.
Except that this attack occurred in LA, at the 77th Street station. Parts of the city are becoming free-fire zones, burglars loot the Westside at their leisure (though the LAPD sez "don't worry, things are worse in Encino"), and we're probably not too far removed from the kind of kidnappings for ransom that plague Mexico City.
City officials shrug their shoulders and say, "Hey, it's not our fault", and to an extent they're right. Bush's war on government (starve it by cutting taxes, running up huge deficits, then slashing government programs in the name of "deficit reduction") have left cities with empty pockets and overwhelmed bureaucracies.
That said, public safety should never be sacrificed to cost-cutting measures. Lawlessness kills cities (Detroit, anyone?). People who can, will leave. Those who can't leave will be stuck behind, forced to endure ever-worsening social conditions, as LA spirals into ungovernable chaos.
I know, I know, it all sounds terribly Mike Davis. But when police stations are attacked with impunity, you can be sure that the rotten underpinnings of our city are starting to give way.
Comments:
LA's money troubles starteed logn before Bush took office. YOu can't blame the city's lack of adequate police protection on Bush, but nice try. We've absorbed a few million people from all points south while the city dithers about a cross on the seal or organic neighborhood gardens. It's so difficult to run a business in LA--that's why businesses left for AZ and Los Vegas. The city's red tape is choking new business development.
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