A Dystopian Vision of the Present

[Spock]

Dystopian novels and movies are commonly read here. However, here is a Dystopian vision of the present.

Victor Davis Hanson (VDH) is located in the Central Valley of California. This area is ground zero for wave after wave of Mexican immigration (Legal and Illegal). It is basically a 3rd World hellhole with a rapidly thinning 1st World veneer.

For those that essentially favor unlimited immigration, how do you keep what is going on there from metastisizing further? It would be nice to talk about how to re-institute the rule of law there-but I think we all know that that won't happen.

I think I may have posted some of the following before -but with no context.

Below is one of VDH's greatest hits regarding the 3rd world hellhole that his formerly middle class world has become thanks to unlimited immigration from Mexico-picked out from the following link.

http://pjmedia.com/victordavishanson/th ... pocalypto/

>>>>I recently came home from an out-of-state trip. Something was wrong: I noticed off in the distance a strange geyser at the top of the hill. Vandals had apparently earlier taken sledgehammers to the pump’s four-inch plastic fittings — all to scavenge two brass valves (recycle value of about $20).

The fools did not know the pump was even on. When they smashed open the plastic pipes the spurting water apparently drenched them, and so they left their self-created mess. (No, criminals here do not know how to turn off a pump.) The ensuing deluge of several hours had ripped a three-foot-deep gully for about 20 yards.

I’ve lost count of how many pumps have been vandalized over the last decade. Some people play golf after work and weekends, but out here the pastime is to drive out to the countryside to wreck things for a few dollars of copper and bronze. It reminds me of the Ottomans in Greece, who pried off the lead seals over the iron clamps that had held together the marble blocks of ancient Greek temples and walls. The Turks, who could make little but scavenge a lot, got their few ounces of lead for bullets. In the exchange, the exposed iron marble clamps rusted and fell apart, ruining the antiquities that had theretofore survived 2,000 years of natural wear and tear. One civilization builds and invests, quite a different one destroys and consumes.
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Here is a link to another column with other examples.
http://pjmedia.com/victordavishanson/go ... alifornia/

[silverscreenselect]

Vandals had apparently earlier taken sledgehammers to the pump’s four-inch plastic fittings — all to scavenge two brass valves (recycle value of about $20).

Sounds like Hansen's neck of the woods is way behind the times. People have been looting buildings in big cities for copper for resale for years now. And I highly doubt it's all (or even mostly) due to immigrants, legal or illegal.

But keep your eyes open Spock. You never know when you'll wake up and there'll be a Mexican living next door.

[BackInTex]

Vandals had apparently earlier taken sledgehammers to the pump’s four-inch plastic fittings — all to scavenge two brass valves (recycle value of about $20).

Sounds like Hansen's neck of the woods is way behind the times. People have been looting buildings in big cities for copper for resale for years now. And I highly doubt it's all (or even mostly) due to immigrants, legal or illegal.

But keep your eyes open Spock. You never know when you'll wake up and there'll be a Mexican living next door.

We took my daughter to the airport yesterday. While we were on the elevator the speakers said "Going up...." then the Spanish version of that phrase. Almost every automated voice system in Texas does the same thing. Sometimes you get a third translation, usually Vietnamese here in Houston.

My wife commented that on her recent trip to Atalanta, she heard no such dual translations, even at Six Flags.

My guess is Atlanta is fairly insulated from the immigration problems plaguing most of the southwestern US, as they are either insulted from Hispanic immigrants or they don't care about them. Either way, it does provide some probable cause of SSS's ignorance of and apathy for the issue.

[silverscreenselect]

My guess is Atlanta is fairly insulated from the immigration problems plaguing most of the southwestern US, as they are either insulted from Hispanic immigrants or they don't care about them. Either way, it does provide some probable cause of SSS's ignorance of and apathy for the issue.

As usual, your guess is completely wrong. The Atlanta area has a large Hispanic population as well as substantial numbers of Asian immigrants as well. I live in the city of Sandy Springs in a condo complex. Our building has four units, two upstairs (including ours) and two downstairs. Both downstairs units are occupied by Hispanic families and have been occupied by Hispanic families for several years. Our complex is probably about 50% Hispanic now (mostly renters, although a few have bought units), along with some other Eastern European immigrants. The surrounding apartment complexes are largely Hispanic.

According to this article in Atlanta Magazine (dated 2013), metropolitan Atlanta ranks 19th in the nation in terms of Hispanic population, and the State of Georgia as a whole ranks tenth. Atlanta ranks ahead of Austin, Albuquerque, and Tucson among others in Hispanic population.

Admittedly, we don't have as large a Hispanic population as cities like New York, Los Angeles, Dallas, or Houston, but we're not isolated either. And I interact with my neighbors every single day, so my opinions are largely shaped by first hand information and experience instead of right wing rabble rousers or observations made after an occasional visit to a Mexican restaurant. I am concerned about getting accidentally shot on New Year's Eve or July 4, but I'm not really worried about getting robbed or mugged the other 363 days of the year. When I was robbed, the ethnic background of the neighborhood was much different. I actually feel a lot safer now than then.

http://www.atlantamagazine.com/news-cul ... opulation/

[BackInTex]

As usual, your guess is completely wrong. The Atlanta area has a large Hispanic population as well as substantial numbers of Asian immigrants as well. I live in the city of Sandy Springs in a condo complex. Our building has four units, two upstairs (including ours) and two downstairs. Both downstairs units are occupied by Hispanic families and have been occupied by Hispanic families for several years. Our complex is probably about 50% Hispanic now (mostly renters, although a few have bought units), along with some other Eastern European immigrants. The surrounding apartment complexes are largely Hispanic.

According to this article in Atlanta Magazine (dated 2013), metropolitan Atlanta ranks 19th in the nation in terms of Hispanic population, and the State of Georgia as a whole ranks tenth. Atlanta ranks ahead of Austin, Albuquerque, and Tucson among others in Hispanic population.

Admittedly, we don't have as large a Hispanic population as cities like New York, Los Angeles, Dallas, or Houston, but we're not isolated either. And I interact with my neighbors every single day, so my opinions are largely shaped by first hand information and experience instead of right wing rabble rousers or observations made after an occasional visit to a Mexican restaurant. I am concerned about getting accidentally shot on New Year's Eve or July 4, but I'm not really worried about getting robbed or mugged the other 363 days of the year. When I was robbed, the ethnic background of the neighborhood was much different. I actually feel a lot safer now than then.

http://www.atlantamagazine.com/news-cul ... opulation/

You failed to include the "or they don't care about them" part.

[jarnon]

You failed to include the "or they don't care about them" part.

SSS also left out the "they are ... insulted from Hispanic immigrants" part. My guess is that most Atlantans don't understand Spanish, so even if they're being insulted, they wouldn't realize it.

[silverscreenselect]

You failed to include the "or they don't care about them" part.

I'm not an expert on Six Flags, but I do a lot of shopping around town where real people go to buy clothes and gas and groceries and the day to day necessiteis. Just about every business I go to locally has someone on staff who speaks Spanish, and a lot of them have bilingual signage. I don't think there are any businesses around who are ignorant of the Hispanic population, and in parts of town there are large segments of various Asian populations as well.

Hispanics are my neighbors. I shop in the same places they do and eat at the same fast food restaurants and buy gas at the same gas stations. I don't know of anyone around here who is ignorant of their existence and few (other than our General Assembly) who are actively hostile.

But as long as you keep getting your information from Victor Hansen and Sean Hannity, you'll feel so much better about your understanding of the world.

[silverscreenselect]

[You failed to include the "or they don't care about them" part.

SSS also left out the "they are ... insulted from Hispanic immigrants" part. My guess is that most Atlantans don't understand Spanish, so even if they're being insulted, they wouldn't realize it.

A lot of people's conceptions of Georgia is an urban ghetto surrounded by a combination of Gone with the WInd and the Dukes of Hazzard. If you actually spent time here, you'd be surprised.

Judging Atlanta or Georgia by the airport or Six Flags is very short sighted.