Maggie's Farm

New York City isn't the only metropolitan area that will struggle to come back. Any city that prides itself on its cultural base and urbanity is watching that base be eroded away like a sand castle.

First, the pandemic has decimated foot traffic for cultural events and commerce. Second, the fomented violence over the past 2½ months, while mostly limited geographically, has residents terrified and potential visitors avoiding entire city destinations. Good job, media. Third, city officials, mayors and city councils, are doing their very best to pander-promise to a non-voting violent minority, and to squander the very treasures they took an oath to protect. But the oath is to other people, the constituents - they're being told to shut up and wear their mask, under force of law.

No sane person would put up with it, as the Great Egress numbers show. The cities are starting to look eerily like William Gibsons' Jackpot. Except that instead of climate change as the driver, the destruction is brought about by a different human dynamic: a pandemic-by-COVID, and then a pandemic of social pandering, a liquidation of the civilization trust. There's just no reason to stay, and every living reason to leave.

"What's the cause of the blackouts?"

The answer is getting obvious now, but by 2045 - when 100% of California's electricity is slated to be provided by renewables - by then, the answer will be unavoidable. The cause of the blackouts is that it's nighttime, and the wind isn't blowing.

I get that too, but it's innocuous, there's no virus. Don't know why it's triggering my Antivirus, which up to now I thought was politically neutral.