The Atlantic on SF: is DC too a failed city or about to be one?

[Anonymous]

Thought provoking article in the Atlantic just dropped on San Francisco. Sobering on why it has failed; helpful on how to recover.

I felt like you could substitute DC (sans the breathtaking beauty of SF and the environs). Especially in this following paragraph-thoughts?

Because yesterday, San Francisco voters decided to turn their district attorney, Chesa Boudin, out of office. They did it because he didn’t seem to care that he was making the citizens of our city miserable in service of an ideology that made sense everywhere but in reality. It’s not just about Boudin, though. There is a sense that, on everything from housing to schools, San Francisco has lost the plot—that progressive leaders here have been LARPing left-wing values instead of working to create a livable city. And many San Franciscans have had enough.

[Anonymous]

https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2022/06/how-san-francisco-became-failed-city/661199/

[Anonymous]

“I didn’t even shout for help. I was embarrassed—what was I, a tourist? Living in a failing city does weird things to you. The normal thing to do then was to yell, to try to get help—even, dare I say it, from a police officer—but this felt somehow lame and maybe racist.”

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Thought provoking article in the Atlantic just dropped on San Francisco. Sobering on why it has failed; helpful on how to recover.

I felt like you could substitute DC (sans the breathtaking beauty of SF and the environs). Especially in this following paragraph-thoughts?

Because yesterday, San Francisco voters decided to turn their district attorney, Chesa Boudin, out of office. They did it because he didn’t seem to care that he was making the citizens of our city miserable in service of an ideology that made sense everywhere but in reality. It’s not just about Boudin, though. There is a sense that, on everything from housing to schools, San Francisco has lost the plot—that progressive leaders here have been LARPing left-wing values instead of working to create a livable city. And many San Franciscans have had enough.

What are the politics of the newly elected DA? Are they a law and order type?

[Anonymous]

“I used to tell myself that San Francisco’s politics were wacky but the city was trying—really trying—to be good. But the reality is that with the smartest minds and so much money and the very best of intentions, San Francisco became a cruel city. It became so dogmatically progressive that maintaining the purity of the politics required accepting—or at least ignoring—devastating results.

But this dogmatism may be buckling under pressure from reality. Earlier this year, in a landslide, San Francisco voters recalled the head of the school board and two of her most progressive colleagues. These are the people who also turned out Boudin; early results showed m that about 60 percent of voters chose to recall him.

Residents had hoped Boudin would reform the criminal-justice system and treat low-level offenders more humanely. Instead, critics argued that his policies victimized victims, allowed criminals to go free to reoffend, and did nothing to help the city’s most vulnerable. To understand just how noteworthy Boudin’s defenestration is, please keep in mind that San Francisco has only a tiny number of Republicans. This fight is about leftists versus liberals. It’s about idealists who think a perfect world is within reach—it’ll only take a little more time, a little more commitment, a little more funding, forever—and those who are fed up.“

[Anonymous]

It was a recall vote. It’s not about the DA. It’s about the underlying ideological battle, and that people are FED UP

[Anonymous]

DC is nothing like SF

[Anonymous]

I would pay for an interview with Chessa’s parents. Curious if these SDS folk would also be fed up with SF today.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DC is nothing like SF

Hard disagree. It doesn’t have as much to recommend it. So it’s in a greater danger.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DC is nothing like SF

It doesn’t have as much to recommend it.

Life in the District has been plummeting down hill since The Big Hunt closed.

[Anonymous]

DC certainly seems to be pursuing similar policies as SF.

[Anonymous]

“During his campaign, Boudin said he wouldn’t prosecute quality-of-life crimes. He wanted to “break the cycle of recidivism” by addressing the social causes of crime—poverty, addiction, mental-health issues. Boudin was selling revolution, and San Francisco was ready. In theory.

But not in fact. Because it turns out that people on the left also own property, and generally believe stores should be paid for the goods they sell.”

I mean substitute the nouns. I’m fed up

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:“I used to tell myself that San Francisco’s politics were wacky but the city was trying—really trying—to be good. But the reality is that with the smartest minds and so much money and the very best of intentions, San Francisco became a cruel city. It became so dogmatically progressive that maintaining the purity of the politics required accepting—or at least ignoring—devastating results.

But this dogmatism may be buckling under pressure from reality. Earlier this year, in a landslide, San Francisco voters recalled the head of the school board and two of her most progressive colleagues. These are the people who also turned out Boudin; early results showed m that about 60 percent of voters chose to recall him.

Residents had hoped Boudin would reform the criminal-justice system and treat low-level offenders more humanely. Instead, critics argued that his policies victimized victims, allowed criminals to go free to reoffend, and did nothing to help the city’s most vulnerable. To understand just how noteworthy Boudin’s defenestration is, please keep in mind that San Francisco has only a tiny number of Republicans. This fight is about leftists versus liberals. It’s about idealists who think a perfect world is within reach—it’ll only take a little more time, a little more commitment, a little more funding, forever—and those who are fed up.“

I feel like San Francisco has always been a dark and cruel place, it’s just that somehow people over the last few decades have tried to pretend that it wasn’t.

Like go watch the Maltese Falcon or any other film noir set in the city. Those stories use SF as a backdrop for a reason. Go read again Call of the Wild (starts with Buck getting stolen in Santa Clara) or Kerouc’s On the Road, where he basically is a sociopath exploiting people for hundreds of pages.

I lived in the Bay Area during the early dotcom boom, the aggressive Darwinistic brutality of the place was never lost on me. Not for a moment.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DC is nothing like SF

Hard disagree. It doesn’t have as much to recommend it. So it’s in a greater danger.

You either have a political agenda or just don't know what you are talking about. I'm guessing the former.

[Anonymous]

Maybe. Beats DC on a foggy day.