On October 20, I wrote an article about the decline of the state of California as a representation of the general slide of the nation into stagnation and impoverishment by way of rotting infrastructure that will never be fully repaired, something that is a consistent feature of highly impoverished, war ravaged, or generally miserable nations throughout the world.
For the last several days, I was occupied with a personal matter that I had to attend to, and as a part of this I spoke with several people who I know very well and have been close to for many years. These people live in a very wealthy and technologically advanced part of the nation that is not California, and while many trends start in California, they also appear in this area as well in so far as it concerns society at large.
One of these people, a woman in her early 60s, told me an interesting story about the streetlights in her particular area, and how she spoke with her various neighbors and contacts where she is, and how she was able to confirm the details of her story. I trust this person because I have known her for a long time and where she is from.
Keep in mind also that the area which I speak of is a town of significantly less that 100,000 people, and yet her annual budget, if compared by country, would place her approximately ahead of three dozen other nations including Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, and French Guyana, and on a per capita GDP basis her revenue collected in taxes is so high that as an individual entity, she has a higher GDP than many nations such as Algeria, Indonesia, Morocco, Egypt, Ukraine, and India.
According to the story, the streetlights in her area have become dimmer, and apparently it is not because of just electrical power usage, but because of income-related issues in the town.
For many years, the town was known for having very bright street lights. They were so bright that people complained for a long time that they would cause them pain at night if the window was left open and a streetlight was nearby. However, what one could say is that the lights kept the streets very well lit, which is a measure of prosperity and safety because the better illuminated the streets are the less likely there is for criminal activity to happen, since criminals have always used the cover of darkness to do evil.
I have witnessed this particular area, as wealthy as it is, start to decline over the years. She still makes a tremendous amount of money, but there are many more vacant businesses, areas are overbuilt, and the only “local” businesses there, if truly local, are just restaurants and bars. According to recent news from the area, more houses in a particular neighborhood were being turned into “Section 8” type housing, and there has already been much concern about crime in the area, as other Section 8 buildings nearby are routinely patrolled by police because of the dysfunction that builds up with them.
Another topic I tend to talk a lot about is Russia, and because she is so significant but also having so many genuine troubles, and yet there is a tremendous amount of misinformation about her to the point that between objective Russian and American propaganda, it is very difficult to tell the truth about what is happening. However, I have said that based on hard statistics that are difficult to force and can be evidenced by visual observation, ground reports, and direct changes in social policy, Russia is going through a serious decline to the point where she could break up.
One of the points that has been notice, albeit less discussed, is the rates of electrical usage in Russia. Now it is not fair to Russia to say that because there are not significant “lights” on- as in the visible “light pollution” that can be seen by satellite from space -means a decline because Russia is a giant mass of land with large-to-medium sized urban centers scattered throughout with sparse populations or just devoid of people between each individual location. It is similar to how things function in the US once one is outside the Northeast corridor (Boston to Washington D.C.), the California Coast, or the Florida coasts and to a lesser extent the “metro” area north and east of Chicago, but with a lot more empty space and a lot less people since the Russian population and fertility rates are well below those of the US in all demographics except for Muslims and Pagans from Siberia.
If one was to look at a map of electrical usage throughout Russia, in spite of all of the massive projects that Russia has been working on, such as their heavily promoted “Power of Siberia” pipeline and other modifications to the existing railroad structures, the electrical usage at the main points along the railway and pipeline transit routes continues to dim as seen from space. It is not a significant dimming (i.e. from brightness to very dim), but there is a slow decline that has been happening for a long time.
Electricity costs money to generate, harness, and transmit. It also requires people who are able to use the electricity for the benefit of others. If the usage declines, it usually tends to indicate poverty increasing, a declining population and infrastructure, or both.
Going back to the US, there were more details to this particular story in this town regarding general decline of her infrastructure. Yet it was the story about the lights that made me think the most because while this town certainly is not “poor”, the fact that even she was changing her lights to a dimmer bulb that now, as it has been noted, provides a considerably smaller amount of illumination than before is not about listening to decades of complaints about people’s eyes, but because costs are rising, revenues are stagnating for the town, meaning that revenues are stagnating or declining for the residents who pay the town which uses the monies to operate her infrastructure, meaning that poverty is slowly and quietly increasing as people have less either by choice or forced decision.
I am not saying that “America is going to disappear,” as no country truly disappears, but they do change, sometimes for the better or worse. It is now that, as the lights are going out across the nation, regardless of the justifications given, is not because of only “natural” or “incidental” things that happen, but because of the slow impoverishment and decline of the people.
Work as you can now and prepare, for once the lights are dim enough or go out is when, just as in any city, the criminals will come out until the lights come back on once again.
.