Culture crash; thank the liberals

Remember when America’s great cities were great? San Francisco, New York, Chicago and other major cities were centers of art, culture, wealth, sophistication, and shopping.

Now, the cities are overrun with vagrants. Liberal judges decided that people have a Constitutional right (see, Martin v. Boise) to camp on the sidewalks and poop in the gutter, because stopping them from doing so constitutes cruel and unusual punishment for violating the laws that prohibit them from doing so.

Crimes such as shoplifting have been de-criminalized. The outcomes are predictable to anyone but a liberal: This new retail mode where payment is optional has produced more cases where people choose not to; Store owners, from small family-owned hardware stores to Walmart, are leaving the cities because they can’t make money if they can’t charge for their goods; liberals are shrieking “racists!”

Laws against dangerous drugs have been relaxed. The result is more dangerous drugs and drug addicts. Duh.

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I was an engineer for Boeing – before they got woke

Back in your correspondent’s Version 2.3 or thereabouts, he was an engineer for Boeing. This was back in 1978-79.

My starting salary was $15,400. When I left Boeing to start my personal Version 3.0, my salary was still less than $17,000. My parents thought I was crazy to give that up and take on debt to go to law school.

Boeing was booming. Airlines were being de-regulated, airline travel was becoming less expensive while still being slightly sexy, and everyone wanted to go to Europe for the first time.

Several things about Boeing stick out in my mind. First, they didn’t compromise on quality. The airline customers could specify whatever bells and whistles they were willing to pay for — I worked on a few custom planes for Saudi princes that included frivolities like solid gold ashtrays — but the airworthiness of the plane was non-negotiable.

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