American Hellholes
By Nicholas Stix

Is Oakland Poised to Become America’s Crime Leader?

The author of “American Hellholes” writes,

“Today, Oakland is considered the 5th most violent city in the United States.

“Will it soon become the most violent?”

I find that question underwhelming. The competition for the title of “Most Violent City in America” is incredibly fierce. Ya gotta represent. No one is standing in place. Does the writer conceive of the sort of concerted, collective effort required to climb four rungs on the ladder? The poor felons would have to work double and triple shifts wreaking havoc.

If anything, Oakland is more likely to drop in the rankings. All over America for approximately 20 years, the “best-managed” police departments have been those which perfected the method of “disappearing” urban crime. Oakland is due, under the circumstances, to become the national leader in the field. We may soon start hearing of how the city about which, in its Golden Age, Gertrude Stein wrote, “There isn't any ‘there’ there,” has become surprisingly “livable.”

If it ain’t recorded, it didn’t happen.

See my report, “‘Disappearing’ Urban Crime.”

The writer also has his causality backwards. He claims that in cities like Detroit and Camden, industry left, and “the void” was filled by gangs. In virtually any once prosperous American diversitopia, you will find that criminal blacks and/or Hispanics moved in, took over, and violently chased the whites and businesses out. As The Color of Crime (2005) shows, crime causes poverty.

I do agree, however, with the author’s judgment that the claims by politicians that things are getting better are transparent lies, and America’s economy is actually in a death spiral.

A tip ‘o the 9 mm to Conservative Heritage Times.