We Already Have Chicago-Style Dystopia

I see that the editors of the Chicago Tribune (via Yahoo) have reacted to the news that the Trump Administration plans to send the National Guard to Chicago in a way not dissimilar to the way I did:

Speaking Wednesday to reporters flanked by National Guard troops and Washington, D.C., police that had been commandeered by the Trump administration, Vice President JD Vance, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller had a clear message for Chicago and other major cities.

Prepare yourselves for the kind of “protection” the nation’s capital has been provided over the past 10 days or so.

Continuing:

The last thing needed in Chicago, which isn’t as economically healthy as Washington was prior to Trump’s strongman maneuvers, is discouraging more people from patronizing bars, clubs and restaurants, as well as other attractions.

Downtown Chicago continues to be distressingly light on foot traffic, explained less by worries about crime than the paucity of workers returning to the office compared with other major U.S. cities.

A bit farther on they come to the meat of the editorial:

While all would agree there remains too much violent crime in Chicago, the latest numbers show that crimes against public safety are being prosecuted far more aggressively and most of what’s now occurring is related to street gangs that have been a scourge in this city for generations. In terms of federal action, a revitalized U.S. attorney’s office — Boutros is actively recruiting dozens of new prosecutors as we write — could and likely will do far more to improve the progress being made here than any destabilizing influx of outside federal forces.

I think the editors and President Trump as well are underestimating the role of gangs in Washington, DC’s lawlessness. For example, I question that DC could have as many carjackings per year as Chicago does without some level of organization to it. And that returns to what I’ve been saying. Where we really need resources is in dealing with criminal street gangs. I don’t have any knowledge of the situation in DC but Chicago’s problem with criminal gangs has been exacerbated by city government being in bed with the gangs. Sure, the NGOs have different names but they’re just the gangs operating under different names. Sort of like the difference between the Irish Republican Army and Sinn Féin. They’re the same organization—they just wear different hats.

The caption on the piece is “The last thing Chicago needs is Washington-style dystopia”. Hence my title. I see no way an impartial observer could look at the declining population, the rates of violence and crime in the city, our exorbitant taxes (the highest sales tax in the nation; the highest property taxes in the nation and the number of our elected officials incarcerated for corruption without the word “dystopia” coming to mind. However, it’s Chicago-style dystopia not the imported DC kind.