Now, call me old fashioned, but this seems like a very bad idea.

Evidently, it’s all the rage in progressive circles. The idea goes something like ‘law enforcement disproportionately affects minorities therefore it is racist so we should end this racism by defunding and blaming the police.’ I’m not even trying to be funny; this really is pretty much the way it is described.

Needless to say, this hasn’t done any favors to the communities that have tried it. Police have quit some departments in droves as they realized that they were not going to be supported by their leadership. Defunding did the rest with many police departments in progressive cities reduced to shadows of their former selves.

Oh, but you know how it is – progressives don’t want to be ‘out progressived’. So the one ups man ship began. Cities legalized petty theft by declaring that property crimes worth less than $900 would not be investigated. Forget just legalizing marijuana, let’s legalize hard drugs like heroin.

Anything to prove you’re fighting racism, right?

Gutting criminal laws and no enforcement for what laws remain. Gee, what could go wrong?

Turns out, petty crime, drug offenses and violent crime are all strongly linked. Who’da guessed? I mean besides literally anyone with functional braincells. Oh, but legalization of drugs eliminates the crime, right? Nope, makes it worse. A LOT worse.

That whole fentanyl epidemic you’ve heard so much about? Comes directly on the heels of marijuana legalization. Now, there are complicating factors (Hi, China!) but legalization normalizes drug usage. Turns out, marijuana really is a gateway drug. Golly, who’da thunk? Instead of reducing drug crime and drug related crime, legalization has exacerbated it.

No, they won’t tell you that on CNN.

Look, if you’re using drugs to self medicate – in other words, beginning or in full force addiction – your ability to hold down meaningful employment decreases. Drug dealers don’t offer coupons and their prices don’t come down. Petty crime is often associated with heavy marijuana usage and it only gets worse as you move up the scale.

But that’s only a part of the picture. Strangely, store owners don’t like it when they are losing money, especially when they start losing so much money that they can’t stay in business. When City Hall ignores them, they simply pack up and move on, often moving to another city or even state entirely. The corner Mom and Pop that hired five cashiers and three stock clerks closing puts eight people out of work. That would be fine if a new store was opening up but instead all the stores start closing.

All that job loss lends to the next kind of theft – for profit. Can’t get a job, so steal a bunch of stuff and sell it on eBay. As long as you stay under the enforcement limit for a given store you can haul tens of thousands of dollars in merchandise to resale. You wont get as much but you will make more than working as a cashier.

And it’s safer than dealing drugs. There’s a reason so many young men turned to this sort of petty crime as soon as they knew they wouldn’t be arrested.

Until there are no stores in the area to rob from any longer. Even Walmart and Target can’t take constant losses like that. Eventually, they too, move out, and all their employees become unemployed.

If this sounds like the beginning of a disaster novel, it is.

Now, I will be the first to tell you that the bail system needs reform. Jailing people without trial should be reserved only for the violent and dangerous criminals, but there are times when the court should demand assurances that the person will return for trial or that they be held until trial. Which is why simply eliminating cash bail altogether is a very bad plan. Guess what our progressive friends have been doing?

No jobs, no money, no stores, drugs everywhere and now the violent criminals are all cut loose.

Seriously, do progressives secretly hate minorities or something? These guys don’t live in Beverly Hills. They are going to what passes for home in crime, poverty and drug ridden neighborhoods. It doesn’t take a genius to figure out what happens next.

As city governments realize they are in trouble, they turn to the cops. The same cops they ran off a couple years ago. In a all too predictable turn of events, the good cops have moved on with their lives and work somewhere else. A few bad eggs might still be available but even they no longer want to work for the city that turned on them. I hear the recruitment bonuses are pretty good and mostly being ignored.

A big bonus isn’t going to be worth being a rookie cop in a city where the criminals run the streets.

In reality, the cops aren’t where the cities have to start: government is. In cities large enough to still have a functional citizenry, it’s past time to clean house – throw ALL the bums out. In smaller cities stupid enough to have done any of this, it’s most likely too late. Everyone with a brain has moved out. Only the criminals and the addicts remain to vote and they aren’t likely to vote for law and order.

Where you can, first get rid of the politicians – all of them – that got you into this mess. Cities need to hire experienced police as well as reinstating the repealed laws. They can’t do that if the police realize the same idiot that fired the last bunch is still in office.

The next thing is to hire more judges. There will be massive backlogs as it is but no stores are coming into a town where the crooks know they won’t see the inside of a courtroom for a year or more, if ever.

If your city legalized any drugs, repeal those laws. It sends the message that your city isn’t playing games anymore. If you want to help addicts – and you should – find proven treatment programs and work with the courts to establish programs that stand a chance of working. This also sends the message that your town is open for business, which brings back the jobs these people need.

You’ll notice there isn’t a quick fix. Sorry, but many of these neighborhoods and cities will never recover. The damage has been immense. It takes time to fix broken systems. Some can’t be fixed and will need to be replaced entirely.

The presumably well intentioned leadership in these cities have instead created massive societal destruction. If you want more destruction, more failure, more violent crime, more desperation, more unemployed, more homeless, KEEP VOTING FOR PROGRESSIVE DEMOCRATS.

Otherwise, smarten up and vote the bums out. The city you save will be your own.

Or just move to Texas.