In America We No Longer Trust?

 

Our currency says "In God We Trust", but what about America? Do we still have confidence in our country? Americans, it seems, do have a serious trust issue, especially when it comes to the government and authority figures. That distrust is part of the American character stemming from those who first settled and explored this land. Many were viewed as being social, political, and religious outcasts.

The economics and social structure of the Pre-19th Century hamstrung the lower class merchants, craftsmen and subsistence farmer who toiled away on land they rarely owned while idle rich reaped the profits through rents and taxes. The social system often locked them into their social class of their birth with little or no hope of rising above it. Life for the majority was a grueling battle just to survive while the ruling elite were all but oblivious to their plight. To the elites, it was all due to "divine" ordination.

This "New World" offered a chance to change that. It was a risk, often requiring them to sell their selves into servitude for as much as a 1/3 of their anticipated lifespan just for this one rare opportunity to step up on the next rung of the social ladder. In the Jamestown of the early 1600's, approximately 75% of the population was indentured.

Upwards to 50% would die before ever seeing their freedom due to disease, exhaustion, or being undernourished.  Even for those who survived to reach the end of their servitude, many would find the land they received for their decades of bondage was infertile land or too small to sustain them. But they came anyway.

America was settled primarily by social, religious, and economic outcasts who built a new life of their own. No lords. No masters. It's helped create the image of the "rugged individual" and sense of independence which we still value to this day (and something others in foreign countries struggle to understand).  

Our alleged "insolence" and "rebelliousness" as England's King George III referred to us was even written into the Declaration of Independence while our belief in the dignity of the individual was expressed in the Bill of Rights.  So, it's no wonder that we distrust authority, which is borne out by a recent Pew Poll.

As an aside, this poll is not about "approval ratings" which often fluctuates weekly based on a variety of issues like the popularity of a party, legislation, or person as presented by the establishment media. Instead, this poll examined our "trust" or "confidence" in government, which more long term.  It also delved a bit deeper to look at other national institutions.   

Polling about the government has long been interesting, if for nothing else than from a perverse perspective to see just how low it will go. Americans have long disliked and distrusted Congress no matter which party is in control, and for the matter, the presidency. However, we have still held the Supreme Court in (relatively) high esteem, but all that's changed and we'll explain how. 

 According to the poll results, taken in July 2022, the amount of "trust" or "confidence" we had  for Congress in 2021 was a meager 12%. But as of July that figure had dropped to a pathetic 7%! As for the presidency (not the President), that "trust factor" dropped from 38% in 2021 to just 23% in 2022. When it came to the U.S. Supreme Court, they were not so "supreme".

Historically, the Supreme Court has been the one branch of government which somehow managed to sidestep the wrath of the public. Perhaps it's because it's rarely in the news or deals with issues many of us have only a passing interest in. Besides, there's always been some kind of mystique about the highest court. It's members, appointed for life, were seen as close to infallible as we mere mortals could get. They were each highly qualified for their position. The court, as a whole, was also seen as being impartial and above or outside the slimy dealings of politics.

However, the Pew Poll showed something different. In 2022, the confidence factor of Supreme Court was only 25%, which was down 11% from the 2021 results of 36%, which was still shocking. What would cause the results typically associated with Congress (on a good day) or the President? One key factor was Citizens United, a ruling that has had devastating consequences for the average American.

Citizens United, which was upheld by the Supreme Court in 2010, all but removed ordinary voters from politics and gave it to Big Business. Corporations were now seen as having the same rights as the average person, with one major exception (more on that shortly). Corporations are a legal construct. They are soulless artificial legal entities. They do not speak or act for their employees (it's often also pointed out that corporations are not democratic. They act as feudalistic kingdoms). 

Corporations function based on the collective voice of their board of directors with limited input from their shareholders. They exist solely to make a profit for those invested in its performance. Thanks to Citizens United, corporations now give virtually unlimited amounts of money to whomever they want, essentially buying the officeholder or political party.

The Supreme Court (and certain members of Congress) justify this by saying that "money equates with free speech" (of course, you and I are limited by the amount of "free speech" we donate by both legislation and practicality). That's the major exception I alluded to earlier. Even unions, which act more on behalf of the corporations they're suppose to protect workers from than the workers, can't compete. Unions are only able to donate one dollar for every ten corporations donate.

Citizens United was the final screw in creating the "Frankenstein" which transformed our Constitutional Republic into a neo-fascist Corporatocracy; our representative democracy is now run by a corporate like board of directors; an oligarchy of unbelievably rich individuals on behalf of equally rich shareholders. 12 years later and still 75% of Americans regardless of party oppose Citizens United.

The court's recent decision reversing Roe v. Wade also deeply affected the public's trust. 62% of American surveyed said the court made the wrong decision, adding that abortion should be legal in every state.

Related to the Supreme Court is the criminal justice system. As many know, we have the highest percentage of individuals behind bars, 0.7%, than any other country on the planet, be they "democratic" or authoritarian (including monarchies). That's nearly 700 individuals per 100,000. That's more than France, Russia, China, Turkey, Mexico, or Brazil. Not surprisingly, confidence in the criminal justice system is just 14%, down from 20% in 2021.

When it comes to other institutions which comprise the foundation of our nation, they've done just as poorly. In fact, 11 of the 16 institutions mentioned in the survey had declined between 2021 and 2022, and of those remaining five, their trust factor remained the same. Let's look at business first.

"Big Business" which includes companies like Walmart, General Electric, and Kroger have a current trust factor of 14% thus far in 2022%. which is down from 18% in 2021.  Large technology companies, such as Google and Apple, went from 26% to 23%. Banks and other financial companies "to big to fail" dropped from 33% to 27%.

Meanwhile, small business (or what's left of them post Covid-19), remained strong 68%, having fallen just 2% from 2021 until now. It seems we still prefer the "mom and pop" businesses that reflect our appreciation of the individual and entrepreneur, as well as the everyday familiarity which comes from the smaller local businesses and the knowledge that we are also helping our community by buying local.

Organized labor was one of the very few groups included in the survey which didn't show a decline, however, it didn't increase either. In fact, trust in unions remained at a 28% low. It's likely due to the low number of workers represented by unions as well as the corrupt reputations many unions suffer from because of the actions of a few.

The medical system took a hit from the Covid pandemic, "mandatory" vaccinations, masks, and the prolonged quarantines which hurt small businesses (which were forced to close) while helping big corporations (which were allowed to remain open). Unanswered questions regarding the vaccinates and the seemly endless "boosters" didn't do them any favors either. 

Many people nowadays question whether doctors, pharmacies, and hospitals serve the interests of insurance companies and medical research companies over the health of their patients. This lack of confidence is reflected in the poll  with just 38% trusting the medical industry compared to 44% in 2021 (we can even link the technology companies mentioned above back into this too).

While the Covid crisis was raging, so was more civil violence resulting from the recent deaths of individuals at the hands of the police. Whether the police were at fault is a matter of opinion, but it certainly affected the public's confidence in law enforcement.

The poll backed that up by showing a decline from 51% in 2021 to 45% in 2022; a 6% drop. Along with the loss in confidence, police departments across the country are losing  law enforcement officers as hundreds continue to retire or resign each month as we reported earlier.  

Trust in the military was another one of the very few which, while dropping slightly, still remained strong with 64%. In 2022, that number had been 68%. No doubt the chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan after 20 years of fighting and perception of a second military defeat played a big factor in 4% decline. Still, we cherish our men and women in uniform.

Turning from the military to religion, organized religion continues to decline as we reported in our last article. Overall, trust in religion is 31%, which represents a 6% drop from the previous year. While there are several factors, certainly some must include the Vatican's continuing refusal to deal with its pedophilic priests  (a issue which has spilled over to other religions), not to mention corrupt televangelists, along with issues concerning  married priests, ordaining women, birth control and abortion, gays in the church, and the centuries old conflict with science. 

Not surprising is the fact that even our school system isn't safe. Confidence in our schools and even our teachers have been on the decline for decades, starting with forced bussing and the decline of discipline in the schools in the 1970's.

Schools are now largely thought of as either public babysitters or pre-incarceration centers. Schools were once seen as safe havens, but not anymore. Respect for teachers have dropped, as has the desire to learn (for some minorities, academic achievement is often seen as "acting white" and typically results in being bullied and/or ostracized).

Today, the emphasis is on appeasement, especially if it has a racial or sexual orientation slant to it. They "graduate" individuals who can't read at grade level, can barely write, have little or no knowledge of literature, English grammar, science, or history and no appreciation of the arts.

They don't understand civics or what it means to be a citizen or to have respect for others. They have no critical thinking skills, but they sure know their sports!  They're taught that college and debt is their only option rather than the trades which are more in demand, cheaper and quicker to obtain, and pay better than average. Is it any wonder confidence in the school system is just 28%, down from 32% the year before?

Last on our list is the mainstream media. 96% of all media, including videos, movies, TV and radio programming, newspapers, books, and magazines, and even internet content are owned by just five companies. They literally control what we see and hear. They influence what we think on every topic. Most Americans nowadays no longer trust the media, which is labeled as "fake news". I find no surprise that television news has a trust factor of only 11% while newspapers (and print media) is a just 16%.  

It's not uncommon for the approval rating of this or that individual or group (such as Congress) to be in the dumpster, depending on the popularity of their party, their personality, or how they're portrayed by the media, but this poll goes further than that. It's a snapshot of our confidence in the very foundations of our society. It's also a warning.

If you want to know more, please take a look at the links below. If you enjoyed the article, please consider passing it along to others and don't forget to subscribe. It's free! Lastly please be sure to "like" us on whatever platform you use to read A/O. It helps with the algorithms and keeps our articles in circulation. Thank you! 

 

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Millions of Small Businesses Closed in 2020: The LongRecovery Ahead

The pandemic may have caused 200,000 business closures---fewer than expected

 

 

 

Religion, Freedom, and Americans

According to a Gallup Poll from December 2021, 75% of Americans identify with some form of religion. Of that, 69% named Christianity as their religion of choice.  When asked for specifics, 35% said Protestantism while 22% said they were Catholic. However, 12% said declined to say.

 Meanwhile, 7% of those surveyed said they weren't Christian. Of those, 2% professed to being Jewish, while 1% each identified as Muslim or Buddhist. 3% declined to answer. But it's worth noting that 22% of those interviewed said they had no religious preference.

The significance of this survey comes into focus when you look at a similar survey conducted in 1971 when 90% of those interviewed identified as Christian, a 15% drop over 50 years, or about two generations. Further highlighting the shift was that in 1971, just 6% said they weren't Christian and a mere 4% had no religious preference.

The 2021 Gallup Poll said that 49% of those who adhere to a religion felt said that it was important to them.  Another 27% said it was "fair" important, while 25% felt it was of little or no particular importance.  But back in 1965, it was quite different. Then 70% of those survey said religion was "very important" to them. That dropped to 52% in 1978 before rising to 60% in 1990 where it remained consistent until 1996 before dropping to its present level of below 50%.

Church membership and attendance are two other key factors affecting religion in America. In 2000, Gallup asked participants if they attended a religious service in person or online, 44% said they did. Compare that to 49% in 1958 who attended services. By 2021, that number had dropped to just 29%.

When it came to membership, the numbers are just as bad. When Gallup first asked respondents if they formally belonged to a church back in 1937, 73% said yes. In 1999, that number was still pretty high with 70% saying they were. However, in 2021, that figure had dropped off to 47%.

The decline was primarily among those under 30 years of age, while it remained fairly stable among seniors.  For those born before 1946, those belonging to a organized religion dropped from 77% to 66%. From Babyboomers (1946 - 1964), that number went from 67% to 59%. Gen X (1965 - 1980), the figure declined by 12%, 62% to 50%. Finally, Millennials (1981 - 1996). Just 36% are belong to some religious denomination. As for Gen Z, 34% were unaffiliated with any religion.

When we break those numbers down further in order to get a clearer picture things get really interesting. First, the largest drop in membership was among Catholics who've dropped from 73% in 1998 to 58% as of 2020. For Protestants, it went from 73% to 64%, with mainstream churches (Lutheran, Baptist, Methodists, Presbyterian, United Church of Christ, etc) being hit the hardest. Even Evangelical churches, which had the largest growth just a few years ago, are seeing record number declines.

Women, once the staple of church membership, has dropped by 20% over the last 20 years, down to 53%. 18% for men or 46%. Among whites, 59% attend, a decline of 16%. For blacks it's was slightly worse--- a 19% decline to 59%. For Hispanics, however, the numbers were worse. Since 2011, church membership among Hispanics has dropped off to just 37%.

As an aside, a 2018 Pew study showed that for the first time ever, the majority of Hispanics in America are no longer Catholic (something I'm sure certain Catholic service organizations were expecting when encouraging Latinos to illegally enter America). In 2009, the number of Hispanics who considered themselves Catholic was 57%. By 2019, that number had dropped to 47%.

Hispanics who considered themselves Protestant rose from 23% to 26%. Of those, the majority self-identified as Evangelical. 3% said they were no longer Christian, while an impressive 23% said they were agnostic, atheist, or nothing in particular.

There's a great line from the novel "Dune", written by Frank Herbert that says "When religion and politics ride in the same cart a whirlwind follows". Although there's nothing in the Constitution about separation of church and state, America has done a great deal to keep religion and politics as separated as possible. It's not that the Founding Fathers disapproved of religion, far from it.  They were just fearful of a state created religion like what had forced others from Europe.

Under a state religion, others exist at the discretion and magnanimity of those in power; to be granted or withdrawn at a whim. In addition, the state church imposed a tax on the citizens as well as on the non-state churches. In addition, the members of these non-approved churches were required to support their minister and church which represented another tax burden many couldn't afford.

The decline of religious membership and participation among Liberals went from 56% to 35% over the last 20 years, a 21% drop. Among moderates, they experienced a 21% as well, going from 66% to 45%. Perhaps not unexpectedly, Conservatives fared the best, falling 14% from 78% to 64%, which still represents a majority.

When we break it down along partisan lines, Independents, who are the nation's largest political demographic, fell from 59% to 41%; a 18% drop.  Democrats saw the largest drop, going from 71% down to 46%, which represents a falloff of 25%.   Again, as expected, Republicans had the least drop. Over the last 20 years, they've gone from 77% to 65%, which once again still leaves them with a majority of participants.

It's ironic that the Left it portrayed by the media as being morally superior, while accusing Conservatives and Republicans of corrupting Christianity; of advocating a form of "neo-fascism" Christian Theocracy the way the Taliban has corrupted Islam. After all, wasn't it said that if fascism ever came to America it would be wrapped in the flag and carrying a bible?

 They cite the Right's push for mandatory prayer in school while ignoring other faiths and the non-religious, while also encouraging pray at social functions, not to mention limiting or prohibiting diversity and cultural inclusivity (aka "multiculturalism").

The Right, on the other hand, cite the need to recreate a "melting pot" where no one group is better than the other. At the same time, for a society to prosper, they argue that a society must share a set of common values and a common language. "You have to stand for something or you'll fall for anything", isn't that the promise of a "anything goes" society? 

They also point out that the religious Right was behind the move by the Supreme Court to reverse Roe v. Wade, and thus making abortion illegal. The Left sees abortion as a "pro-choice" issue, whether anyone else agrees with it or not. It's their position that a woman has the right to do with her body as she pleases while the religious oriented Right hold that that option ended the moment she became pregnant. 

Even what constitutes a "unborn child" is disputed! The Right says that at the moment of conception, life has begun and all future decisions must be based on that. Meanwhile, the Left believes the process of life (cell division) may technically begin at conception, but you don't have a "life" until there's a heartbeat and brain activity (the absence of which is near uniformly acknowledged as death by the medical community). 

There are some on the Right who believe that the pregnancy must come to term no matter the circumstances of the pregnancy (ie: rape or accidental) or possible medical disabilities that might bring up to and including those affecting the mother's wellbeing, and will cite cherry picked passages from the scripture of their choice to support their claims. But what if the individual isn't of their faith or culture? What then? 

Other issues which separate the Left and Right along religious lines include the acceptance of homosexuality, the admission of female clergy (or gay clergy), the role of women in church and at home just to name a few. None of these even touch on groups like the Amish, Mennonites, Quakers, Mormons, and other non-traditional religions which have either in part or in totality rejected aspects of modern society.

As an aside, the Mormons are one of the few Christian sects which has actually maintained their numbers. While the Utah based church hasn't grown, it's numbers haven't dropped off like other Protestant denominations have (in 2020, the growth rate was 0.6%. In 2021 it was 0.85%). It's primary areas of growth has been in Africa despite a significant drop in missionaries (thanks mainly to Covid-19).

So, what religious based groups are doing well?  In the U.S., the fastest growing organized religion is Islam, albeit the numbers themselves are extremely small. Islam makes up less than 1% in the U.S. and it's growth rate has been 0.6% to 1.5% over the past few years. Nothing to write Mecca about! However, Islam is expected to surpass Judaism in the very near future with Islam reaching eventually about 2.8% of the population compared to 1.8% for Jews. Non-organized religions such as pantheism, paganism, Wiccan, Native American, and African faith systems are also growing rapidly as is the more secular Humanism.  

It's also worth noting that since the collapse in the 1980's of Communism in Eastern Europe, churches have made a comeback in a big way. Under Communism, atheism was the defacto "state religion". Nevertheless, efforts to suppress or even outlaw religion under Communism was largely unsuccessful. Growth mainly among Eastern Orthodox, Catholicism, and Lutheranism has rapid and sustained.

Even in the former center of Communism, Moscow, President Vladimir Putin is a semi-regular attendee at religious services where 71% openly identify as Orthodox, 10% Muslims and 15% who remain "unaffiliated".  87% of Poland are Catholic. 95% of Romania and Moldavia adhere to some religion. 84% for Croatia, and so the story goes.

Religious freedom was denied the people of Eastern Europe for nearly 50 years. Now it's back with a vengeance. Perhaps you have to lose something to realize its value, which for the people under Communism not only included freedom of religion, but by extension, freedom of expression and speech, association, movement, ownership of property, equality of justice, and control over our own persons.

Religion is not mandatory in the West. Those days of autocracy and official religions have thankfully long passed. Today we have the option to accept or reject it. In other parts of the world the people don't have that choice. The state has made the decision for them as to what's acceptable or not, and the penalty for rejecting that decision can be brutal, if not fatal. Migrants to Europe, who claim to be seeking economic and social freedom, are trying to impose their repressive religious and social values on the very citizens whose nations accepted them.

The Founding Fathers intended to create a new society where we had the freedom of religion (which by definition also includes freedom from religion). This freedom meant you could freely practice your religion but you couldn't impose it on others. It also meant the state was prohibited adopting any religion or from imposing any religious beliefs or penalties in its citizens. For its time, this was huge.

Our Founders bequeath to us a freedom of choice, which implied, among other things, the right to believe as we were so inclined too, as well as freedom of speech and expression, association, the right to a fair trial, and the right to defend ourselves from those who would seek to deprive us of these and other rights, which goes to the Founder's belief in the natural and preeminent rights of the individual.

 

If you want to know more, please take a look at the links below. If you enjoyed the article, please consider passing it along to others and don't forget to subscribe. It's free! Lastly please be sure to "like" us on whatever platform you use to read A/O. It helps with the algorithms and keeps our articles in circulation. Thank you!  

 

U.S. Church Membership Falls Below Majority For First Time

How Religious Are Americans?

 

Mainstream Protestants Make Up Shrinking Number of U.S.Adults

"Seven Sisters" of Mainline Protestantism Still Bleed Members

Majority of Hispanics in the U.S. no longer Catholic newstudy finds

The Unlikely Rebound of Mainline Protestantism

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Thinning Blue Line: The Growing Exodus of Police Officers

The Louisville Metro Police Department (LMPD) is down by 300 officers. With an authorized force of 1,328, it now has just 1,038. At the end of July this year, another 95 officers---sergeants, lieutenants, and administrative staff have the option to hang it up.  Why are so many experienced  police officers leaving?

The Louisville Metro Police Department has faced decades of mistrust from officers and the community going back to the city/county merger 2002 when dozens of county officers decided to leave rather than to be part of the newly created metro police department (which was, in fact, merely an expanded city police department). In many ways, the seeds of public distrust were planted in 1975/76 when officers were required to maintain order during the deeply opposed court ordered forced school busing.

However, it was the deaths of Breonna Taylor and David McAtee which ignited the exodus. Breonna Taylor was shot in May 2020 and killed in a botched police drug raid while Mr. McAtte, the owner of a popular BBQ restaurant in Louisville's predominately black West End, was killed in June by the Kentucky National Guard amid protests following Taylor's death (then police chief Robert White was fired shortly thereafter over the shootings, allegations of a cover-up, and concerns relating to unapproved overtime).        

To offset the shortages of officers, the city's Democrat mayor, Greg Fischer, and the Democrat dominated Metro Council authorized $218 million for the 2023 LMPD budget; $25 million more than it currently receives. This represents nearly 1/3 of the city's general fund. Nevertheless, shortages continue amid a complete distrust of top management, including the newly appointed Police Chief Erika Shields (she was the police chief, albeit an unpopular one, from Atlanta Georgia).

As an aside, the distrust and distain also extends to the current mayor, Greg Fischer as well. Fischer has been mayor since 2010 and has continued to earn poor marks in the city's low and middle class areas such as Okolona, Fern Creek, Valley Station, and Pleasure Ridge Park. His popularity among minorities as well as the police department and Metro Council (which has its own popularity problems) remain low.

LMPD has been looking for minority candidates to fill its depleted roll. It has dropped height, education, and test score requirements to make that happen, but with the shortages, almost anyone without a criminal record and in decent health will do (and even that's kinda sketchy). A new requirement say you can't "have used, possessed or sold a narcotic in the last six years"!  Like other police departments, the LMPD is trying to steal replacements wherever it can by offering lateral transfers higher salaries and improved benefit packages (fully funded pensions remain a ongoing problem)

June of 2022 had its largest new police class in three years---31 applicants, but that's far short of its previous class sizes of 48. Recently that number has been around 18 to 19 seats filled, making the 31 recruits appear increasingly more like an aberration rather than a correction.

The department remains predominately white and male (current recruitment is 71% white and male).  Females make up just under 14% of the force while men are over 86%. Whites in general (men and women) are almost 81% of the force. Blacks of both genders comprise 13.87% while 3.32% are Hispanic. Asians comprise 1.46% and Native Americans are just 0.20%.  The largest age "bubble" is between 26 and 45 years old.  

As stated above,  the money situation has improved.  The average salary after two years is now $71k plus benefits, which is a significant improvement, but the long hours, lousy shifts, and high stress environment of police life remain. LMPD Union President Ryan Nichols calls the retention situation  "dire" and added that at the present rate, the matter could become catastrophic in short order.

Minneapolis was the epicenter of the police protests. It's where George Floyd was killed in May 2020 by Officer Derek Chauvin, one of four officers called to investigate a possible counterfeit $20 dollar bill by a store clerk.  Floyd was subsequently detained (Chauvin knelt on Floyd's neck for 9 minutes and 29 seconds) and died shortly afterwards (an autopsy found drugs in his system which were likely strong contributing factors to his death). Since the incident which captured the world's attention. Minneapolis has lost well over 300 of its officers.

Police retirements have jumped by 45% and resignations have increased 18%. The western Minneapolis community of Morris will disband its police force after 140 years of service by the end of the year. The reason? Not enough officers. The 5,200 strong community will use the Stevens County Police Department for its law enforcement needs.

With the decline in officers, amid demands to "defund the police" and "community monitoring", crime has skyrocketed across Minneapolis. Last year there was a record number of murders---62.  As of this March, there were 55. Carjackings for 2021 totaled 2,423. In the first third of 2022 there had already been over 3,000! 4,969 assaults were reported in 2021. By the end of the first quarter, there were already 5,573 with no relief in sight.

Back in Louisville, the situation isn't any better.  Louisville is ranked as one of the most dangerous cities in the country (in one report where "100" was the safest and "0" was basically a Dodge City, Louisville was ranked "5"). Another national site rated Louisville an "F" when it came to crime (along with its school system). Louisville's murder rate is more than double the national average and exceeds much larger cities like Chicago, Philadelphia, and Atlanta.

Violent assaults in Metro Louisville are also double the national average as are carjackings. Rapes, thankfully, are well below the national average while armed robberies, burglaries and thefts are all about 25% higher than average.

In Asheville North Carolina, more than 1/3 of the police force has quit, resigned, or retired. In New York City, one of the largest police departments in the nation, 2,600 officers called it quits in 2020. In Seattle, resignations and retirements more than tripled, 219 compared to 77. In Philadelphia, which has been racked by an increase in crime, has seen over 79 officers take early retirement thus far this year.

Chicago, a city notorious  for its crime and corruption, has been hemorrhaging police officers and civilian staff. As of April 2022, 300 officers had left. In March there were 11,669 men and women in blue. In 2021 there were 12,739, down 560 from the year before, which was further down 749 from 2019!  For 30 years, the city has never had less than 12,000 officers on duty. Chicago Police Superintendent David Brown called the exodus "generational", meaning it wasn't just the rookies leaving or the "old timers". It's across the board with newbies and experienced officers turning in their badges, along with staffers.

The reason for the mass departure of officers stems from several factors, but most notably from Mayor Lori Lightfoot's edict that everyone had to be vaccinated against Covid-19 whether they wanted to be or not. In addition, the department has seen its budget repeatedly sliced amid calls to "defund" the police (in 2020 the budget was cut by $59 million), along with an increase of assaults, mandatory overtime and a reduction in compensation.

San Francisco is facing a massive exit of police officers. San Francisco Police Chief Bill Scott said that he's worry that nearly a quarter of the departments staff will walk out as their early retirement dates near.  Thus far, the city is already down by 600 officers with more expected to leave, and it gets worse.

According to Chief Scott, for every 50 officers leaving, only about eight to ten recruits are taking their place (on average, about 25 apply with roughly half being cut for one reason or another before graduating). Like most other cities, San Francisco is trying to lure officers from elsewhere with offers of more money and benefits thanks to an increased budget.

However, as Chief Scott admits, he's competing with nearly every other police department in the nation. He's also faced with the fact that San Francisco is one of the most expensive place in the country to live, especially if you're coming from out of state. As an aside, in a recent poll, 65% of residents in the Bay Area said that fear of crime was what kept them from coming to downtown San Francisco

According to the Police Executive Research Forum, a Washington DC based policy institute, a study of 200 departments nationwide showed retirements (regular and early) were up 45% while resignations rose by 18% over the period from April 2020 to April 2021. In departments with more than 500 officers, the retirement rate was over 30% while new recruitments were under 5%. Those are unsustainable numbers.

Cities like Louisville and Minneapolis weren't the only ones with out of control crime in the face of fewer officers. According to the Police Executive Research Forum, most communities were experiencing a sudden increase in violent crimes like murder, shootings, and carjackings, as well as thefts after the mandatory Covid quarantines were lifted. Large cities have had a 24% increase in killings thus far in 2022, which followed a 30% increase in 2021. By the way, don't think for a moment that criminals aren't paying attention to and targeting these areas where officer shortages are occurring. 

Yes, it's true that the police are increasingly militarized, but they face criminals and gangs with the firepower of professional militias.  According to the FBI, in 2021 129 officers died. Of those, 73 were killed in the line of duty (23 of those were unprovoked attacks while 8 were ambushed). 56 died in accidents (17 of those were pursuits or  were responding to a crime in progress). This total represents 27 more deaths in the line of duty than in 2021.

In today's two tier judicial system, too often the testimony of someone is devalued or their guilt is determined based on the perceived income level, origin, or color of their skin while an officer, politician, or judge walks despite evidence of their guilt. Meanwhile, the wealthy and powerful don't even come close to facing the same "justice" ordinary citizens deal with and even fewer face the true consequences of their actions. 

Unfortunately, there are no easy solutions. The deaths of Breonna Taylor, George Floyd, David McAtee, Eric Garner, Michael Brown, or Tamir Rice and others are more than regrettable. They are a national tragedy, as is every lost life due to a crime. Many were, for the most part, avoidable.  However, not all the blame belongs on the shoulders of the police. 

First and foremost is restoring discipline and respect for authority at home and in the schools. There's a direct correlation between doing what a teacher tells you and what a police officer tells you. However, the repercussions can be much worse.  When a cop tells you to do something, stop what you're doing, don't mouth off, and do what you're told. You keep your hands where they can be clearly seen. Don't make sudden moves, and you sure as heck don't run! I can guarantee that you're not faster than a 9mm and you're sure as hell not bulletproof. This isn't about race, gender, religion, or anything else. It's about keeping everyone safe.

 In most cases you'll get a warning or ticket and sent on your way. Get cocky, you may get a free ride downtown. If you do something stupid, you may get a trip to the hospital or morgue. If there's a problem with the stop, go see a lawyer as soon as you can and let them handle it. Otherwise chalk it up to experience. It's better to be a live plaintiff than a dead victim.

Yes, police officers and first responders need more diverse hires along with diversity training. In fact, I think everyone needs diversity training. Perhaps it should be a mandatory class in high school alongside ethics and civics. Everyone is deserving of respect and even some empathy, but not due to some misplaced sense of entitlement or self importance. But because it's the right thing to do as a human being. However, respect and empathy are a two way street. If you want it, you have to give it.

Police officers are resigning or retiring enmasse because to significant degree the public has turned against them, thanks in large part to the media. They have lost the public's respect.  Calls to defund the police force has resulted in a decrease in their ability to do their job, which is to keep the public safe and maintain order. They also must deal every day with people under the worse of circumstances. That's where the empathy comes in.

 

If you want to know more, please take a look at the links below. If you enjoyed the article, please consider passing it along to others and don't forget to subscribe. It's free! Lastly please be sure to "like" us on whatever platform you use to read A/O. It helps with the algorithms and keeps our articles in circulation. Thank you!  

 

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A Train Wreak On Greased Tracks: Congress's Dismal Performance

Following my recent article on Senator Mitch McConnell's and Speaker Nancy Pelosi's approval ratings, I thought it would interesting to briefly examine the approval rating of Congress (I can't help it. It's like watching a train wreak on greased tracks). Regardless of which of the two corporate owned parties are in control, Congress has been on a downward slump for...well...it seems forever.

Did you know that Congress's approval rating hasn't been above 39% since 2009?  That was the 111th Congress. The Democrats held both chambers and Barack Obama was President, and dropped from there (Obama's high water mark was 68% at the end of his first 100 days in office).  

Congress reached 31% in 2020 under President Trump (his approval rating was then 41%). In other countries with similar ratings, government leaders would have already sacked the treasury and booked flights to some non-extradition island nation somewhere for an extended vacation (I wouldn't be too surprised to learn that the looting has been already begun).  

According to a July 19th survey by Ballotpedia, the approval rating for Congress is down to around 19%. It should be pointed out that it doesn't matter who is surveyed. It can be the majority Independents, the Democrats or the Republicans. The results are the same. Americans overwhelmingly don't like the job Congress is doing (or rather, isn't doing), and still, 98% of Congress is re-elected each and every  election. How is that even possible?

First, here's a little piece of historical trivia for you to ponder. During the Cold War, the U.S. and its allies waged a constant campaign about the ills of the Soviet (or Stalinist) political system. The old Soviet era system was government by the Politburo, which was its version of Congress or Parliament. It had an average turnover rate of close to 60% of its members, who were elected by the populace. Here in the United States, Congress has a turnover rate of just 2%, despite a persistent disapproval rating in the 80% range.  Wonder what that says about us. What do you think?

It's no secret to many Americans (and especially to the readers of Another Opinion), that we're no longer a Constitutional Republic. Sometime around 1980, we began the transition from the democratic Republic bequeathed to us by our Founding Fathers 245 year ago into something they would have not just loathed, but would have been deeply ashamed of. We've allowed ourselves to devolve into a neo-fascist Corporatocracy led by a super wealthy ruling Oligarchy.

Our so-called "democracy" is little more than an illusion, kept alive the propaganda arm of the political class---the establishment media which controls 90%+ of everything we read, hear, or watch. Everything from the "news" to video games, newspapers, radio and internet content. Even much of the content of the TV shows and movies we watch are scripted to present a particular political slant.  And nearly all of this has happened under the not-so-watchful eye of Congress, which now believes it has a "right" to rule, not govern. Rule.

 In doing so, Congress has helped to create a political class comprised of not just politicians, but of bureaucrats and lobbyists for that sole purpose. Those who are nominally elected to serve our interests in truth serves the interests of the obscenely rich, who, through their hired guns, the lobbyists, even brazenly write the laws which are intended to serve their interests.

They shepherd these bills through a intentionally confusing maze of committees and subcommittees where they have been to be signed off on before being allowed to advance. Of course, invariably, committee chairs and vice chairs (as well as powerful members of these committees) tack on their own pet project designed to put money in their pocket, or that of a large contributor, and to make them look good at home (so-called "pork" or "earmarks"). 

In the 2022 2,700 page long Omnibus Spending Bill, there was lots of political grease to keep the corrupt machinery of government going (never mind the fact  that "earmarks" were officially banned in 2011 following the outrageous Alaskan "bridge to nowhere" which cost taxpayers $398 million dollars. For Congress, it's business as usual).

The list of notable earmarks alone total some 367 pages and includes thousands of pet projects! For instance, Ohio Senator Sherrod Brown (D) got $500,000 for a Underground Railroad Freedom Center and Museum for downtown Cincinnati, Ohio. 

On the surface, that may seem like a great idea. After all, knowing about the history of slavery is important, especially for the youth. However, the Center would be allowed to engage in lobbying efforts from, let's call it a "Democratic perspective", which, as an aside, is interesting since during the era of slavery, the Democrats were hardcore supporters of slavery while the newly created Republicans were largely  abolitionists opposed to slavery. Nevertheless, should a publically funded historical center be engaged in politically oriented lobbying? 

What about $1.5 million dollars to built a playground in House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's home district of San Francisco? How does $800,000 sound for "artist lofts" in California? There's $500,000 for a ski resort in New Hampshire. In Rhode Island, Roger Williams University is getting $1.6 million of your dollars for a "equitable growth of shellfish agriculture" program.

In New York, Senate Majority Leader, Chuck Schumer managed to get 142 pet projects added to the 2022 Omnibus Spending Bill. Some of these include $3 million on a museum in Brooklyn, $1.5 million on theater for "capital improvements" just to name two, and don't think this is all Democrat spending habit. Republicans have been and remain just as addicted to spending your money.

Senator Roy Blunt (R-MO) got 52 projects into the 2022 Omnibus Spending Bill, including a $13 million dollars bridge between Perryville and Chester, Illinois, and $9 million dollars for the Waynesville airport. A number of other projects were added by other members of Congress who are facing tough upcoming elections this November. Nothing quite like bribing voters with their own money to win hearts and elections.

All told, the 2022 Omnibus Spending Bill totaled some $1.5 billion dollars. The pork projects added on by Congress amounted to approximately $9.6 billion dollars. While perhaps in the big scheme of things, $9.6 billion dollars may not seem like a lot, it's still your tax dollars. It's money which could have been used to fix highways, gone into national parks, improved waterways, or helped veterans, and no doubt some of it did. But the majority of it went into paying back corporate donors and ensuring reelection.

As an aside, it's worth noting that Republican Senator Mike Braun of Indiana tracked the pork added to the spending bill, and in a effort to contain the runaway spending, introduced an amendment to remove much of the earmarks. Not unexpectedly, his fellow representatives disagreed. The amendment failed in a vote of 64 to 35. I guess they know where the pork grease for the palms comes from.

So, with sustained disapproval ratings in the 80% range, a reelection rate of 98%, all thanks to unlimited corporate money, partisan gerrymandering of districts, an absence of term limits, restricted choices at the ballot box, Americans are essentially forced into electing people they don't want, paying taxes they didn't agree to, forking over money for bills and projects which benefit the super rich. All we get is the trickdown effect of a "golden shower". 

Our Founding Fathers would have called that "taxation without representation" or worse. We are forced into propping up a political class and supporting two corrupt corporate political parties, which they would have abhorred while depriving us of choices; of our natural rights. Not signs of a free people. What do you suppose they would say to us if they could see what became of the government they left us? What do you suppose they'd encourage us to do? 

 

If you want to know more, please take a look at the links below. If you enjoyed the article, please consider passing it along to others and don't forget to subscribe. It's free! Lastly please be sure to "like" us on whatever platform you use to read A/O. It helps with the algorithms and keeps our articles in circulation. Thank you!  

 

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