THE BIG CITIES DEFUND THE POLICE ONLY FOR THE POORS.

Here's an observation that has Friday short take written all over it, but for us taking Hallowe'en off.  “San Francisco [is] a sort of market-segmented scheme [extracting] the basic comforts of civilization and licensing them back as upgrades.”

It wasn't always that way.  Eleven years ago, the fretting among the sort of people who fret was about how the superstar cities were inequitable, in that only high income owners could make the rents.  "I remain skeptical of cities going after Creative Class amenities as a way of attracting Creative Class employers who will hire Creative Class workers. Countervailing forces, including congestion and bid-rent curves remain at work."  That post predates the notorious poop maps, but closer to Cold Spring Shops headquarters, the ominous signs were there.  "We've seen that at work in Chicago, with the accompanying stratification into a lake-side quasi-gated community with gangland war-zones south and west."  We saw further deterioration in Chicago even before the corona tyranny.  "[A]t what point will the city no longer be able to maintain what is effectively a gated community surrounded by increasing despair and increasing frustration with Democrats?"  That frustration might be present, and yet Rahm Emanuel gave way to Lori Lightfoot gave way to Brandon Johnson.

The observation that opened this post led to the following.

I am not a filthy poor, and therefore conditions on the street level in Portland do not matter to me.

I drive my Jaguar to nice restaurants, give it to the valet to park, then go inside and order a fancy treat. So long as the valet parks my car, and the waiter brings my fancy treat for me to consoome in peace, I am utterly unaffected by conditions ten blocks away.

While I am technically forced to acknowledge that other humans exist — otherwise who would park my car or prepare my fancy treat? — I am not actually forced to consider what their lives are like.

And if you try to force me to confront this, I will simply point out that you are a filthy poor, who is unable to live a lifestyle that insulates you from this sort of unpleasantness.

At which point I don’t have to pay attention to you, loser.

That prompted the proprietor of Quotulatiousness to respond with the essence of the Tragic Vision.

It probably costs slightly less than that to have zero drugged-out and/or schizophrenic bums urinating on your porch, but again, in Tennessee, this is a free service that comes with the “Western Civilization” package.

Also, it doesn’t cost anything go to a drugstore where nothing is locked behind glass, and be told “have a nice day” by someone at the register who actually means it.

And I’m told there is some sort of mythical beast called “graffiti”, but I have to go online to find out what it looks like.

In short, the argument that “civilization is just fine because I can still buy my way out of trouble” doesn’t hold any water, because it ignores the fact that you have to buy your way out of trouble, because civilization is shrinking.

You can’t have civilization without ass-kickings.

And if you forget that, you start having to buy your way into ever more and more exclusive clubs where the uncivilized can’t afford to go.

Until they figure out that they don’t have to pay, they can just push their way past the doorman. At which point you must be prepared to kick ass again.

All civilization rests on pillars made of violence. You are in danger until the moment you understand this.

Arguably, living in suburban or rural Tennessee where the drug stores and Wal-Mart supercenters don't keep everything under lock and key is a way of buying your way out of trouble, and that might include less access to the artsy places and frou-frou food.  Certainly that exchange does nothing to disabuse me of my fear that the "pillars made of violence" include suburbs or small towns one flash mob away from going sundown.