Suppose we were to have a civil war in L.A. Suppose the breakaway provinces north of Mulholland Drive declared a sovereign city. Suppose the armies assembled in the Sepulveda Basin for the first pitched battle, Blackwater vs. the Valley Militia. Suppose after sustaining heavy losses to sniper fire Mayor Garcetti called in a napalm strike from the air to give his Hessians cover to retreat.
My question is: would the result look different than what the homeless army has done to the Basin this summer?
If I want to camp in a state park, I have to purchase a space and obey a long list of prudential diktats. Squatting in dry brush with a gas grill and a crack pipe would be at the top of the NO list.
The line between civilization and a state of nature is drawn with butane.
And unlimited EBT cards.
And the right to shit on the pavement forever.
And loot store shelves.
And break windows.
And step off a bus from Ohio with a heroin habit, a bedroll, and an incontestable claim to residency.
All this is de facto legal now.
In fact, it’s a billion-dollar-a-year business.
Want to guess the budget for the Valley Audubon Society?
Enough gloom. Let’s take a peek on the other side of the dam. Something seems to be happening on the spillway. Some kind of roller skating party. A clandestine meetup of photographers and models and dance troupes. That’s not allowed! No one is supposed to be there.
Breaking the rules, all of them. Until the park police chase them away, it’s all spinning girls and illicit smiles and the possibility of the city reclaimed from those who stole it from us.
“ Breaking the rules, all of them. Until the park police chase them away, it’s all spinning girls and illicit smiles and the possibility of the city reclaimed from those who stole it from us.”
Did they really come and patrol this impromptu party? How sad.
Heartbreaking.
Yes, epires rise, and empires fall.
But this is a cowardly, slow motion fall.
It didn’t have to end this way.
…..and one egret, sitting atop a charred steel-pipe handrail, asking……”WTF just happened here????”.
Those fires burned a lot of habitat and croaked many a croaking frog. Where are the environmental activists? Usually they are screaming at the top of their lungs about “polluters”, and are usually the same types screaming in support of “the homeless”. But when those two are in conflict? What then?
From Do Lung Bridge……
Hey Sergeant….. do you know who is in charge here?
Yeah…..
Great quote. But now we can’t even name the war we are fighting anymore. Because we are not actually fighting it. We are servicing it.
True dat! Chomsky points out all the ways we are complicit.
With a watchful eye and a lot of heart you carry Guernica’s olive branch through your art.
Everyday we can anchor ourselves to a little humanity.
Today it’s Fela turned up to 11.
https://youtu.be/Y–5IlljO7
Another slap in the face was the Parks Department letting all the cherry trees die. The hundreds of trees were a gift from Japan and were an annual magnet for photographers and picnickers. It was one of the few bright spots in the greater VN area.
I remember just a few years ago there was a promoter considering the Woodley Park area for what seemed like a very well-organized festival concert. The answer from many residents was a resounding NO due to the potential for impact on the wildlife.
SMH