All across America there are cities and towns that were once prosperous and beautiful that are being transformed into absolute hellholes. The scars left by the long-term economic decline of the United States are getting deeper and more gruesome. The tax base in many areas of the nation has been absolutely devastated as millions of jobs have left this country. Hundreds of cities are drowning in debt and are desperately trying to survive. Last year, city government revenues in the United States fell by another 2.3 percent. That was the fifth year in a row that we have seen a decline. Meanwhile, costs associated with health care, pensions and virtually everything else continue to explode. So what are cities doing to make ends meet? Well, one big trend that we are now witnessing is that many U.S. cities have been getting rid of huge numbers of employees. If you can believe it, 72 percent of all U.S. cities are laying workers off this year. Social services and essential infrastructure programs are also being savagely cut back in many areas of the country. The cold, hard truth is that most of our cities are flat broke and things are going to get even worse in the years ahead.
So how do you know if your own city has become a hellhole?
Well, a few potential "red flags" are posted below....
- You know that your city has become a hellhole when most of the street lights get repossessed because of unpaid electric bills.
- You know that your city has become a hellhole when it announces that it will no longer prosecute domestic violence cases in order to save money.
- You know that your city has become a hellhole when it simply stops sending out pension checks to retired workers.
- You know that your city has become a hellhole when it rips up asphalt roads and replaces them with gravel because gravel is cheaper to maintain.
- You know that your city has become a hellhole when it eliminates the entire public bus system.
- You know that your city has become a hellhole when nearly half of all the people living there can't read.
- You know that your city has become a hellhole when one out of every ten homes sells for under $10,000.
- You know that your city has become a hellhole when you can literally buy a house for one dollar.
- You know that your city has become a hellhole when you have hundreds of people living in the tunnels underneath your streets.
