CommentsONE MAN’S OPINION-The LAPD has gone super high tech and now uses Germ Zappers to rid its stations of biblical type diseases. Also, they’ve got some contraption that the officers step on to kill all the deadly uglies that cling to their shoes.
Of course, Angelenos are supposed to don their “No Thoughts” helmets so they don’t stop to ponder, “If the cops’ shoes are covered with disease, what protects me?” Since the answer is, “nothing,” City Hall and Pravda West (LA Times) do not want you to ask this question.
As the rats, fleas and their diseases continue their march to Brentwood, Bel Air, and the Valleys, following the same route Angelenos used in the 1950s to spread out to the suburbs. And now the same ills that which plague DTLA police stations, City Hall, and the City Attorney’s Office are arriving in our neighborhoods. Of course, they say, “Don’t worry. The rats from the homeless encampments near the freeway could never travel over to your yard and make it into your house.” Besides, Prince Garcetti is promising to hide the homeless by sweeping them off the streets of DTLA.
Where Do the Homeless Go When Garcetti Pushes Them out of DTLA?
Do I really have to explain that Garcetti’s new round of “Hide the Homeless” will only accelerate their relocating to the leafy underbrush around the freeways and hillsides in ritzy areas?
The Most Important Feature of Garcetti’s Attack on the Homeless Situation is “Do Not Question!”
For the thieves in charge of our lives, much worse than rats and disease invading City Hall and police stations is the danger that We the People might ask, “What caused this nightmare?” While the chances of Angelenos finding the moral gumption to ask significant questions are slim, it might happen. We might ask, “Who caused LA to sink to the level of a Third World Country?”
No, it Was Not an Invasion of Illegals
We the People did this to ourselves or, more accurately, we are allowing predators to loot us of our wealth under the guise of making us great. Gee, where have we heard that claim before? MAGA was not Trump’s idea, but he intuitively grasped that Americans are suckers for this psychological ploy. Just tell the “sheeple” that whatever you are doing is making America or Los Angeles “great,” and you can rob them people blind. “Look at this great high rise that world famous Frank Gehry designed for us?” Even kindergartners know that Snow White should not have eaten the poisoned red apple from the Evil Queen (or Prince).
The Myth of a City Core
Five thousand years ago, human beings needed to physically get together in one place. For thousands of years, the fastest modes of travel were walking or a horse. Fast forward to the Manhattan Brownstones where urban elite live.
As technology has made the dense city core not only unnecessary but harmful to humans, mankind has clung to the myth that city cores are a good thing. The 1%, who own the land in the cores, perpetuate this myth. Today, virtually everyone thinks that sprawl is evil without realizing that sprawl is essential to spreading the wealth among the people who produce the wealth.
As sprawl sent us to the suburbs, the average American became increasingly wealthy. Now, as the 1% have regained control and have concentrated development in the cores, the average American has become increasingly poor. Garcetti and his thieving buddies do not want Angelenos to recognize how sprawl makes the average person wealthier and how densification make us poorer.
The Transfer of Wealth from the Valleys to the Basin
The value of a piece of land increases based on how much income it generates. Thus, a 200 x 200-foot lot is worth significantly more with a 25-story office high rise than with a two-story garden office complex. The 1% love to repeat the absurd myth of “The highest and best use.” This perversion of common sense is constantly pushed on us to justify density citing the idiotic idea that whatever generates the most income is the best use. No, it is not!
There comes a point where allowing a parcel of land to generate more income becomes its worst use. Sure, the owner may become a billionaire. The owners of Bunker Hill are a testament to criminal land use policy. Bunker Hill epitomizes the theft of billions of dollars from thousands of landowners out in the Valleys. Anyone who thinks that cheaters never prosper has not been paying attention to LA City Hall.
Offices Should Be Located near Where People Live
Just because we had to walk everywhere in order to interact effectively with other people in the 1700s, and even the 1800s, does not mean we still need to crowd together. Cars, telephones, faxes, email, Telepresence, Virtual Presence, Portal, etc. have made density obsolete. Except for stupid people like Judge Doofus Mitchie Beckloff, most people grasp the idea of telecommuting and the telecommunication revolution that’s unfolded in the last 30 years.
The only reason we have Bunker Hill, DTLA, Century City, etc. is to make the 1% wealthier by placing office towers on their land and then forcing everyone else to come their high rises. The concentration of density in the Basin transfers to the 1% the land value which should be spread throughout the Valleys among innumerable families. Dispersal of land values to the Valleys would end traffic congestion since people would not be rushing toward dense cores in The Basin.
The Revolution Has Begun
- Family millennials see that cost of housing makes staying in Los Angeles foolish. Thus, they leave.
- LA has the worse GINI Coefficient of any major U.S. urban area. Duh. We’ve been systematically transferring land value to the 1%.
- The Recall of Prince Eric is the first step to dismantle our criminogenic society which funnels our wealth to the 1%.
- Transit ridership continues to decline. Now we encounter the Mass Transportation Myths. The reality is, subways and fixed rail lines are mathematically disastrous for Los Angeles. People move to cars whenever feasible. When undocumented people could get driver licenses, mass transit use fell. A corollary myth of the greatness of mass transit is that it helps poor people reach jobs. This myth rates a chant of “Liar, Liar Pants Fire.” The mode of transportation which actually helps poor people get a better job is a car.
- Uber and Lyft: This new way of financing taxis highlights the myth of mass transit. People want individual transit which takes them where they want to go when they want to go.
Who Benefits from Subways and Light Rail?
The 1%! They build these horrendously expensive systems and here we have another myth -- once we construct it, it’s done. No. Fixed rail systems last about 30 years and then they need to be redone. The international construction companies that specialize in these projects, costing us hundreds of billions of dollars, know that long before they finish any subway system, the older sections will need to be re-constructed. Look at NYC. Manhattan has not finished building its subways, which it started in the 1800s. Its operating costs run an $8 billion per year deficit. NYC faces a $42 billion deficit by 2022 and it is the nation’s most efficient. That is where Garcettism is taking us – crushing debt which will bankrupt us -- but only after the 1% have looted hundreds of billions of dollars.
Deaf, Dumb and Blind
Remember this: We the People pay for everything and the 1% pockets the loot. For how long will Angelenos remain deaf, dumb and blind to the fact that we are all being ripped off by a criminogenic City Hall whose sole objective is to funnel wealth to the 1% and screw the rest of us?
(Richard Lee Abrams is a Los Angeles attorney and a CityWatch contributor. He can be reached at: [email protected]. Abrams’ views are his own and do not necessarily reflect the views of CityWatch.) Edited for CityWatch by Linda Abrams.
