QUESTION: Is Your Life Better Today Than It Was 47 Years Ago?

On January 5, 1973 Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. was first sworn in as a U.S. Senator. Biden was 30-years old at the time. This was forty-seven years ago. At that time I was a young officer in the United States Army serving in Germany. I was born and grew up in St. Louis, Missouri.

I recently returned to St. Louis, my place of birth, for a family gathering. As I was there I began reflecting on the question:

Was life better in 1973 than it is in 2020?

Why did I ask this question?

Because St. Louis has dramatically changed, like most other inner cities, since I entered the U.S. Army and subsequently retired to Florida. That change has been for the worse, not the better. St. Louis, like many other inner cities, have become breeding grounds for hate, violence and murder. Inner cities have become the home of the homeless populated by those who “vote for a living” rather than work for a living. St. Louis is a prime example of a lawless enclave controlled by the mob. In 2019 St. Louis was the murder capital of the United States with a rate of 64.6 murders per 100,000 residents (click here for the murder rates of U.S. cities).

I began to ask myself why have the fond memories I had of  St. Louis gone away and been replaced by what I saw during my recent visit? St. Louis is now a ghost town, due to the public policies of its Democrat leaders. You see my wife and I were warned by our family not to go to the City of St. Louis because it was too dangerous. I couldn’t even go to visit the graves of my mother and father because the cemetery in which they are buried is in a very dangerous City of St. Louis neighborhood.

WHY IS ST. LOUIS SO DANGEROUS TODAY?

One possible reason is that the City of St. Louis has not had a Republican mayor since 1949. Wikipedia has this chart of mayors of the City of St. Louis. Here are the political parties of those mayors of St. Louis elected since 1943:

THE DOUBLE WAMMY OF BLACK LIVES MATTER AND COVID-19 [a.k.a THE CHINA FLU]

When we arrived at our Hilton Airport hotel we found it to be a ghost town. The lobby was eerily empty, there was a City induced requirement to wear a face mask, the staff had been cut dramatically due to the St. Louis mandated “lock-down.” If we wanted to have our room cleaned we had to call the front desk before 9:00 and ask for this service, which normally was done automatically. Why? Because the Hilton Airport hotel has dramatically cut its custodial staff, putting many out of a job and on government welfare. We found the same is true of restaurants, small businesses and even public schools.

The China Flu has become the perfect vehicle to shut down, not only the economy of the City of St. Louis, but the entire world. Can you think of any better way to seize control of the individual than implementing mandates under the idea that we are “doing this for your and the public’s safety?” Instant control. Instant tyranny. Instant police state. You are an enemy of the state if you don’t wear a face mask! Obey!

Another reason is how St. Louis treats its citizens like enemies of the state is the rise of Black Lives Matter movement. According to Wikipedia:

In July 2013, the movement began with the use of the hashtag #BlackLivesMatter on social media after the acquittal of George Zimmerman in the shooting death of African-American teen Trayvon Martin 17 months earlier in February 2012. The movement became nationally recognized for street demonstrations following the 2014 deaths of two African Americans, that of Michael Brown—resulting in protests and unrest in Ferguson, Missouri, a city near St. Louis. [Emphasis added]

WHY ARE WHITE RIOTERS LABLED CRIMINALS BUT BLACK RIOTERS LABLED PEACFUL PROTESTERS?

In April 2015, well before the current George Floyd riots, I published a column with a video titled “A Black Woman Explains Why Ferguson Rioters Are Worse Than The KKK.” Chloe Valdary, a black student at the University of New Orleans, explains,

When whites riot, the public rightly labels them as criminals. When blacks riot, the public considers them to be protestors with legitimate grievances. Is this different standard fair? Or is it an example of a new form of racism cloaked in low expectations?

WATCH CHLOE VALDARY’S “DON’T JUDGE BLACKS DIFFERENTLY” COMMENTARY BY CLICKING HERE.

CONCLUSION

Life in any large city is determined by the public policies of those who hold elective office. As the former Speaker of the United States House of Representatives Tip O’Neill (D) said, “all politics is local.” This is now truer than ever before. Just look around you and see the truth.

Today for cities like St. Louis, MO, New York, NY, Portland, OR, Chicago, IL, Detroit, MI, Atlanta, GA, Minneapolis, WI, Baltimore, MD, Los Angeles, CA, San Francisco, CA and many others the policies of the local leaders drives everything. These policies since 1973 have become more onerous and damaging to the lives and lively hoods of the citizens of these cities.

Life has become more dangerous, taxes more onerous, regulations more intrusive and violence more prevalent.

The U.S. Constitution states very person has “equal protection under the law”, unless you live in a city that is controlled by the Democrat Party. In Democrat controlled cities, like St. Louis, some people have more protection than other people.

Dr. Martin Luther King said, “I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.”

Today, Democrats, and the WOKE culture, demand that you and I judge people by the color of their skin, not the content of their characters.

©Dr. Rich Swier, Ed.D. All rights reserved.

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