Send Up A Flare

TRIGGER WARNINGS:  This blog post will suggest that the Blue Model for running cities doesn't seem to work.

For John, BLUF:  This brings up the perennial question of if the People can govern themselves, or if they need a "Leader" to tell them what to do.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Mr Perry de Havilland, writing from London, picked the following as the Samizdata "quote of the day":

I wish you all the luck in the world Baltimore.  And I truly wish you had the courage to change.  If you ever do, send up a flare. Until then, there is nothing anyone can do for you.  You are victims of your own choices, and no one can make choices for you but you.

The source is Breitbart, which doesn't make it wrong.

The other possible view is that the People of Baltimore are incapable of governing themselves and need to be shepherded by some higher political entity.  There are options, such as former mayor Thomas L J D'Alesandro, III, or the Daughter of another former mayor, now deceased, Thomas D'Alesandro, Jr.  The Daughter now lives out in San Francisco, but still….

I sure hope that is not the truth.  If it is we should kiss democracy goodbye.

On the hopeful side, the City of Lowell seems to have done a pretty good job—not perfect—of moving forward from economic and social problems by the dint of its own efforts and the use of democratic tools.

Regards  —  Cliff