Western Civilization Was Nice While It Lasted

Civilization is built on a bedrock of safety. Stopping criminals. Punishing them after the fact, if that is all we can do. Punishing them in a way that convinces others not to follow a life of crime. All of that is gone. TUCKER CARLSON: We're looking at a war on the population | Fox News

In New Orleans, the median police response time to 911 calls is over 2 hours

But this article is not about New Orleans. Or not only about NOLA.

Bucktown is a one of the 77 neighborhoods in Chicago. It is just west of Lincoln Park, and not that long ago was an up-and-coming "hip" part of the city.

One incident: Ryan King walks out of a Bucktown gym headed home. Armed robbers stick a gun in his face in the middle of the afternoon.

So, what happened next? Well, according to reporting by CWB Chicago, just minutes after Ryan King was threatened with death for daring to walk outside in his own neighborhood, Chicago police spotted the gunman's vehicle, but there was nothing they could do about it. Their supervisor ordered them not to pursue it, so the criminals just drove off and, of course, they committed more violent crimes.

Chicago cops need special permission to start and continue a car chase. The need special permission to start a foot pursuit. They almost never get it.

In the hours after Ryan King was attacked, 16 more armed robberies were reported in the area. Police believe at least two organized armed gangs are operating with impunity around Bucktown, which means the gangs are in charge now. That's what the collapse of civilization looks like. But it's now normal in Chicago. According to data from the Chicago Sun-Times newspaper last year, police made arrests in just 12% of reported crimes. That's the lowest level recorded in Chicago history and that is what it means when politicians hand control of a city to criminals. "Here. you run it."

Calling 911 in New Orleans is approaching being a joke.

At this point, New Orleans is essentially out of police officers. The median police response time in New Orleans to 911 calls is over two hours. Imagine armed people in your home. You call the police, two hours. A lot can happen in two hours. That's the total collapse of civilization.

A two hour response time, basically means that you are on your own.

That is Hobbes' State of War^‡. The ONLY security you have, is what you can furnish yourself.

If you can't rely on the City of New Orleans to provide safety, why are you paying taxes to the City of New Orleans? If Chicago is letting crime explode by letting criminals run free, why are you paying taxes to the city of Chicago?

‡ The reference to Hobbes' State of War, which exists after the breakdown of law and order. In which the system of Justice has failed. There is nothing to keep the bad guys in check, or punish them after the fact. Civilization is only built by people who believe that they can enjoy the fruits of their labor. Without that certainty, there are "no arts, no letters, no society, and, which is worst of all, continual fear and danger of violent death, and the life of man solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short."

It is hard to think about Hobbes' State of War, and not consider "The Second Coming" by W. B. Yeats. Here is part of the first stanza:

Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity.

What I can never seem to understand, is why the Progressives believe that unleashing anarchy upon the world is a good thing.