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A quote: “If you are not prepared to use force to defend civilization, then be prepared to accept barbarism.” ~~ Thomas Sowell
I’ll start with a story …
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No drug could rival the adrenaline rush of a broken window. The night was theirs, his crew breaking and taking at will. Cops? A joke. He smirked at their times arrested and never charged.
They had allies in high places. In low places, they ruled.
Tonight felt especially fine. One small grocery still open, an island of light in a street of shuttered and shattered dreams.
Crowbars raised they stopped at the voice from the surrounding dark “Freeze”.
He relaxed, laughing “Really, officer? This game again?”
The sound of multiple guns being racked froze him. “Who said we were cops?”
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Now, it’s your turn.
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. featured image, cropped, Adobe Stock standard license.
Navig8r says: Our little farm can only support one family. My brother and his wife needed a place in town to live and open a bodega.
“This barrio looks good so far.”
“Really, Papa? Not many choices, only one Se Vende* sign and two Se Alquila** signs in three blocks. They’re all over that other neighborhood. And why come at night?”
“There’s probably a reason people want out of there. I want my grandkids to be safe. Look around. Paint is fresh, lights work, streets clean, no broken windows, and the owner of that cart feels safe leaving it out at night.”
*Se Vende – For Sale
** Se Alquila – For Rent
Dupin says: I smile, for it’s another midnight saunter. It’s been a while since I’ve been here. Town’s locked up, so it’s a quiet wandering. Insomnia, don’t you know. My business is worldwide, and meetings happen day or night, primarily online. Naps are my godsend.
I prefer these smaller burgs. Less chance of disturbances by the misguided. Less worry about how I grant survivors a glint of wisdom. Less potential bothers from the local constabulary.
My stroll is guided, though. Shortly I’ll meet my regional manager, finally in person again. She’s a night-owl, too. After the meeting, we’ll see. She enjoys dallying.
Lloyd says: Methinks this little piece is prophetic !!
Cameron says: “It’s an odd bit of architecture,” he said as we took our coffees to our table.
“That’s part of the charm. Look around you. What do you see here?”
He shrugged. “People shopping, kids running around.”
“What do you not see?”
“Panhandlers, litter, gang tags…” his voice drifted off and I smiled.
“Yep. This place is underneath the main strip and access is limited to trusted people. We protect this and let the scumbags stay upstairs.”
“And if the scumbags show up here?”
I grinned. “We have an efficient garbage collection system. So about the store you want to open…”
Reggie Waite banked his Hornet wide over the smoking crater that only hours ago had been a city, giving the observers back on the Nimitz the best view he could. Even a decade ago, he would’ve been carrying film cameras that would’ve required developing before the analysts could evaluate anything. Now they could watch in realtime and request adjustments to his flight path as needed.
But they were satisfied and told him to go ahead and make the low pass. Reggie might not have done as much flat-hatting as his ur-brother, but Alan Shepard’s reputation for taking flying to new lows had to have been part of the reason he’d been chosen for this mission. And truth be told, all that time spent flying just above the wavetops had been good practice for what he was about to do.
Or it had been good practice for the aviation. Nothing could have possibly prepared him for what he saw as he flew just above the half-melted stumps of buildings, the streetlights slumped over like candy left out in the sun too long. And then the crater where the fireball had burned right down to the bedrock, erasing all evidence of human habitation.
During the Cold War, both the US and the Soviet Union had played “let’s you and him fight,” arming the ally of the moment without caring or even noticing that the enemy of one’s current enemy often had no real common interests, no common values. Now that the Soviet Union had come crashing down in fire and lightning, both the new Russian Empire and the US were discovering that giving advanced weapons to barbarians didn’t make them into civilized people.
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