Ugly Portents

     I’ve recently encountered a few harbingers of unpleasantness that have reminded me of one of life’s less pleasant rules:

Preferences Cannot Be Absolutes

     What do I mean by that? Only this: if you’d prefer some condition of existence, and circumstances change to render that condition unavailable, you have no alternative: you must cope. Perhaps you must move, or spend heavily, or abandon a longstanding pastime. You might even need to (ulp) tell your wife that she must give up something she loves. What you prefer must give way under the pressures of things that are beyond your personal ability to control.

     Recently I explained why I deem my district of residence relatively safe. And yes: at my age, safety is important. It’s near the top of my priorities. I’d like to be able to go to the supermarket in safety, visit my various doctors and dentists in safety, walk my dogs and mow my lawn in safety, sleep through the night in safety, and so forth. But that preference soon clash with another: my and the C.S.O.’s desire to remain where we are.

     Two new developments are calling into question whether any part of New York State will remain at all safe, especially for us old farts. The first is the state’s determination to strip New Yorkers of their right to keep and bear arms, in defiance of U.S. Supreme Court decisions. Consider the following brief video, and ask yourself whether the cited bills could possibly be interpreted otherwise:

     Bad enough, eh? Especially considering that New York is in many respects a hunter’s paradise. But when combined with this initiative, it grows geometrically worse:

     Hochul’s biggest proposal, the Housing Compact, is another misguided attack on local control and single-family zoning. It would compel each town and village in the New York City metro area to increase its housing stock to meet a uniform, state-imposed target and rezone for high-density housing — apartment buildings — within a half-mile of every Metropolitan Transportation Authority train stop.
     Say goodbye to quaint downtowns lined with two-story buildings and older houses.
     If a town fails to meet state targets, the compact will allow developers to build big in defiance of local zoning boards in almost all cases.
     Hochul is seeking legislative approval for her plan by April. Suburban homeowners are battling a powerful alliance of real-estate developers in it for the money and social-justice warriors determined to end single-family zoning.

     I would quibble with Maura Dowling on only one point: the Housing Compact is not a “misguided” attempt. It is a deliberate move against the measures New Yorkers outside the Democrats’ strongholds – New York’s cities – have used to protect themselves and their families from the social maladies that have made the cities hostile to life.

     New York City’s suburbs, most emphatically including Long Island, are opposed to Hochul and her cronies by a large margin. Therefore, we must be compelled to bend the knee. The Housing Compact and the state’s attempt to destroy the right to keep and bear arms are aimed at precisely that.

     With single family zoning abolished, large multi-unit dwellings would swiftly follow. With those would come greatly increased traffic, pressure on local infrastructure, and crime. Predators would inevitably multiply, for Long Island’s residents are far more affluent per capita than those of the City. We would suffer an explosion of crimes against persons and property, for New Yorkers are already deprived by law of most of the means of self-defense. It’s close to absolutely illegal for a private New Yorker to acquire a handgun, and the state is moving against previously legal rifles and shotguns as well.

     I’ve written on this subject before. My opinions have not changed since then. Neither have the statistics about the frequency of crime in population-dense regions, where multi-family housing is prevalent. But today they’re “coming home” for me in a most unpleasant fashion. My desire to live out my life untroubled might be cross-cut by New York’s vampiric ruling class.

     Preferences cannot be absolutes. My preference for remaining where I am might have to give way to the more imperative need for physical security. But whence to flee? The C.S.O. and I are in our seventies. Is there anywhere in this ever more troubled nation where we could expect a couple of decades of safety and peace?

9 comments

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    • SteveF on February 20, 2023 at 7:00 AM

    What you prefer must give way under the pressures of things that are beyond your personal ability to control.

    You’re invalidating the worldview of the entirety of the lunatic left. You’re saying that shrieking louder and attacking the haters won’t always work. That’s hate speech!

    1. I know it’s heresy, Steve. But it’s a fun kind of heresy! 😁

    • jwm on February 20, 2023 at 10:11 AM

    Here in So Cal, the high density housing has metastasized  into an insufferable plague. They’ve run out of new land to destroy, and CA has a welcome mat out for every derelict, and third world “Immigrant” who shows up looking for a freebie. So now, for example, the nursery less than a block from my hone has been razed, and we’re getting about ninety new households dropped in the neighborhood. Each one will need electricity, gas, and water. Each household will drop at lest two cars into the neighborhood.  I won’t even go into the, uh… ethnic, and demographic  matters.

    We got off lucky. There are literally thousands of these tenements going up within  bicycling distance, and hundreds of thousands of these monstrosities going up every place a shopping mall has failed. They won’t stop until So Cal has achieved Hong Kong density.

     

    JWM

    • Butch DuCote on February 20, 2023 at 11:50 AM

    Fran, while no place is completely safe, there places to live safer than others. At 75 the wife and I packed up 35 + tons of stuff and moved to the Missouri Ozarks last year. Best move of my life. Land and housing were cheap in comparison to other places but the real jewel of the place is the folks who reside here. Its 1950’s America. The people here feel they were brought here for a reason and also feel a strong sense of community. Most hold out a helping hand to their neighbors and the churches are filled on Sundays. Be prepared to see every man armed and many openly. My neighbors and I meet weekly at the local café for breakfast and fellowship. Neighborhood groups are people helping people and lending a hand to folks in need. Big prepper community here. Very independent and resilient people here from all walks of life with many skills. Many like me are new arrivals fleeing the less free parts of the country. We all know what is coming and will band together to ensure we all make it through.

    No place is perfect. I have to drive an hour for some services and doctor visits. I don’t see it as a downside though; a drive through the beautiful Qzarks is a joy to me. You are not too old to move to a place that brings joy to your remaining years. As a Master Gunnery Sergeant of Marines I say to you, “Quit whining and getter it done. You are burning daylight.” As a side serving, we do have some great wineries in Missouri.

    • crankyoldcoot on February 20, 2023 at 3:49 PM

    Fran, I understand your reluctance to pack up and move.  Moving is one of the least fun things I can think of which I did a few years ago, especially after 50 plus years of accumulated “stuff”.   Plus, where would you go?  What aspects of civilization can you get along without?  At our similar ages having a hospital within a reasonable time is very high on the must have list.

    I moved.

    I had my new house built on some acreage the family had owned since the 60s.  It’s rural, 95% White population, mostly upper middle class, one store, one post office and one gas station with no stoplights.   The downside is a LOT of Californians have also settled here bringing their Teslas and leftist politics with them.  Another downside is the county commission decides the zoning rules and along with their landowning developer buddies are pushing for “higher density” housing even here.  Which would completely ruin the rural flavor and lifestyle of people who have been there their entire lives.

    All I can do at this point is wait and see how bad they make it here.  I could sell out and move again with a bucket of money in hand and maybe by then I’ll be ready for assisted living.   One of my 90 year-old neighbors and his wife sold out and moved to a condo in the suburbs.   He was very active, what with his large forested acreage to take care of which he did.   Now he’s not far from the crime, low-life and everything else that comes with proximity to a city.

    Good luck.

    • gl on February 20, 2023 at 4:55 PM

    Moved at 58 to a town in western Ky. We might have 2/3 murder’s a year. Drug and spousal abuse mostly. Sold my home to downsize and moved about 11 miles from there to a 1300 sq ft 2/2 for $650. Like you my biggest problem was books. I did donate 15 boxes of books. Hubby wrote poetry and there was a author group but I do not think that’s it is still active. But the Ozarks are really nice also. We had been looking for over 2 years when we happened across our home and hubby fell in love. It was his dream home. But he died 10 years ago and at almost 400o sq ft and 1/3 acre it became to much. But all in all nice town and I’ve made some close friends.

    • Chris A Barnett on February 20, 2023 at 6:11 PM

    I don’t know where to go either. I’m behind enemy lines in the Peoples Republic of New York and have had family here since the 1680’s. Now I’m going to be forced to leave because of this shrill harpy and the left’s “we hate White America” grievance/vengeance campaign” (I mean let’s be honest, what else is it really?)

    Anyway. The wifey and I are split on where to go, one of the problems is that our kids are still relatively young and they definitely do not want to leave. The area we live in is safe – for the moment. The other is, is that I’m at the point in my life, I am not really a people person anymore. I will not move into a retirement community and that is going to pose a problem with the wife because she’s very sociable. I was strongly thinking of going out west, but then I heard that the cancer of Californians was now infected previously sane areas. I too thought about the Ozarks, but then I read more about the area and it seems inviting, but I also spoke with my Old Sgt. Major who has a ranch right on the Arkansas/Texas border and he told me that if you have health issues – which unfortunately I do – this is not the area of the country for you. What to do, what to do? Any suggestions would be welcome.

    • Unknownsailor on February 21, 2023 at 4:42 AM

    I am bailing out to 95% white North Dakota. I had looked at Maine, which is even whiter, but it is too close to heavily populated areas. ND is cold, yes, but weather is now secondary to living among my own kind, both racially and politically.

    • Raymond R Brooks on February 21, 2023 at 9:57 PM

    Try southwest Oklahoma, say around Altus.  Good folks.  Land was fairly inexpensive when I was forced to move (by my wife), to another not so nice part of the country.

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