Great essay, as usual, Anand. I tuned into morning Joe this morning and Joe is pontificating, with full throat, on the extent to which DC is a crime ridden cesspool. Makes me crazy that some in the corporate media allow themselves to be dragged into Trump’s trap. Embarrassing. If you are on there soon can you make the point in an equally full throated way that THIS IS NOT THE POINT. IT IS A FASCIST TRAP AND A RUSE. (That was me screaming at my radio before I tuned the dial. 😏)
Same! I turned the TV off when I heard Joe’s rant. I only tuned back in later for Anand. During the segment Joe went through the list of cities with most crime per capita and then Simone pointed out wraparound services were what helped the one blue state city on the list (Baltimore) and NOT deploying The National Guard !
Halal and Chinese. But we have taxidermy and cheese… I have heard that crime is way up in Palm Beach. Billionaires are fiercely fighting over the few remaining laborers who will make their beds and serve them lunch. Call in the national guard, I say!
In West St. Paul there is (was?) a great Lebanese/Mexican grocery and deli, courtesy of the two people who married. I haven't been in that city for awhile.
Rural areas can be multiracial, too. I appreciate your essay and appreciate many points, but I want to lessen the gap between urban and rural. Thank you, as always, for your excellent, compelling writing.
Fabulous piece, Anand. I was born in 1954 and raised in Brooklyn and Manhattan so I experienced all the changes over the decades. I love the City for all the reasons you expound upon. And, we New Yorkers always knew the Trump family as a racist and criminal enterprise.
Only 1 in 5 Americans live in rural areas. Given that his father perpetuated horrible living conditions in the DC region (perhaps a reason for his hatred) and that cities are where he made what money he claims to have, it is perplexing that those who live where a 20-mile drive for groceries is not uncommon would be all in on him. I think we should make a vow to not repeat DJT's false statistics and rhetoric, but to lead with facts. Why be the echo chamber? Heather Cox Richardson is right-- this is all a set up so that the ground work is laid for any president can be commander at whim and operate without constraint.
I would agree that cities are needed for all the reasons your beautiful essay expressed. What I don’t understand is why the police and military are willing to follow his orders. Trump is so rich, at the expense of America. I can only imagine how he is paying off individual s who are the leaders.
Fear is often a driver of hate, and Trump is a great hater. He clearly does distrust and abhor cities, and yet he comes from the city. It is a type of self hate, he projects all his inadequacies, of which there are many, onto cities. Unfortunately, this does affirm what many people believe, that cities harbor criminals and are dens of iniquity. It is easy for Trump to underscore people’s fears and to manipulate them into hating along side him. However, cities are where civilization resides, thrives, and evolves and Trump is not civilized.
It’s worth noting that rural America is driving away a lot of their children economically as well. The attempt of rural status quo to freeze their towns in amber leaves little opportunity for the children growing up there and so off to the cities with them.
Trump isn’t gaining power as someone argued. He is assuming power and getting away with it. I suppose he has fired everyone who would say “No, Donny”. Eventually we all are going to tell him no, rein him in, lock him the hell up. The clock is ticking. And he is getting crazier.
Great essay, as usual, Anand. I tuned into morning Joe this morning and Joe is pontificating, with full throat, on the extent to which DC is a crime ridden cesspool. Makes me crazy that some in the corporate media allow themselves to be dragged into Trump’s trap. Embarrassing. If you are on there soon can you make the point in an equally full throated way that THIS IS NOT THE POINT. IT IS A FASCIST TRAP AND A RUSE. (That was me screaming at my radio before I tuned the dial. 😏)
Same this morning ! Joe often goes to far to appear he’s fair … he should stop this feels fake ….same as how he feels about DC.
Same! I turned the TV off when I heard Joe’s rant. I only tuned back in later for Anand. During the segment Joe went through the list of cities with most crime per capita and then Simone pointed out wraparound services were what helped the one blue state city on the list (Baltimore) and NOT deploying The National Guard !
Halal and Chinese. But we have taxidermy and cheese… I have heard that crime is way up in Palm Beach. Billionaires are fiercely fighting over the few remaining laborers who will make their beds and serve them lunch. Call in the national guard, I say!
In West St. Paul there is (was?) a great Lebanese/Mexican grocery and deli, courtesy of the two people who married. I haven't been in that city for awhile.
Morgan’s Mexican and Lebanese Foods. Still there! I knew one of the Morgan kids. Small world!
Joy! Thank you for letting me know!! Diversity rocks!
Yes! He can leave!! Tell him to leave the house he is renting without paying for rent to leave it as it is…
An addendum to my earlier post: And Trump is characterizing as the enemy the most vulnerable of us—the homeless. Shameful.
Rural areas can be multiracial, too. I appreciate your essay and appreciate many points, but I want to lessen the gap between urban and rural. Thank you, as always, for your excellent, compelling writing.
Fabulous piece, Anand. I was born in 1954 and raised in Brooklyn and Manhattan so I experienced all the changes over the decades. I love the City for all the reasons you expound upon. And, we New Yorkers always knew the Trump family as a racist and criminal enterprise.
Your writing is powerfully factual and yet calming…you have a gift!
Only 1 in 5 Americans live in rural areas. Given that his father perpetuated horrible living conditions in the DC region (perhaps a reason for his hatred) and that cities are where he made what money he claims to have, it is perplexing that those who live where a 20-mile drive for groceries is not uncommon would be all in on him. I think we should make a vow to not repeat DJT's false statistics and rhetoric, but to lead with facts. Why be the echo chamber? Heather Cox Richardson is right-- this is all a set up so that the ground work is laid for any president can be commander at whim and operate without constraint.
I would agree that cities are needed for all the reasons your beautiful essay expressed. What I don’t understand is why the police and military are willing to follow his orders. Trump is so rich, at the expense of America. I can only imagine how he is paying off individual s who are the leaders.
Fear is often a driver of hate, and Trump is a great hater. He clearly does distrust and abhor cities, and yet he comes from the city. It is a type of self hate, he projects all his inadequacies, of which there are many, onto cities. Unfortunately, this does affirm what many people believe, that cities harbor criminals and are dens of iniquity. It is easy for Trump to underscore people’s fears and to manipulate them into hating along side him. However, cities are where civilization resides, thrives, and evolves and Trump is not civilized.
Excellent!
Thank you, Anand, for connecting the dots, for seeing and fighting for humanity, and speaking up for the us that is complicated, fragile and amazing.
Beautifully written. Thank you for looking at the big picture.
It’s worth noting that rural America is driving away a lot of their children economically as well. The attempt of rural status quo to freeze their towns in amber leaves little opportunity for the children growing up there and so off to the cities with them.
Trump isn’t gaining power as someone argued. He is assuming power and getting away with it. I suppose he has fired everyone who would say “No, Donny”. Eventually we all are going to tell him no, rein him in, lock him the hell up. The clock is ticking. And he is getting crazier.
I feel this so much! Thank you for standing up for us who live, grew up and thrive in our beloved cities.