On June 23rd 08, it was reported by the Chicago Sun-Times that more than 2500 people lined up at a county office for food vouchers in Milwaukee at around 5 a.m. When it was rumored that some were being helped and others being turned away, fights broke out requiring local law enforcement being called to restore order. According to the story, about 7 a.m. pushing and shoving began as people actually took the doors off the county doorway hinges.
The reported reason most of the people were there was because they were trying to get food assistance for the losses they suffered as a result of the floods. But many were there because they simply had no food, flood or no flood. According to one worker at the facility, “The food crisis in Milwaukee and throughout the United States is worse than many of us realized”. That worker went on to say, “We expect long lines for free food in Third World countries; we don’t a line of 2500 people waiting for food vouchers at the Marcia P. Coggs Center.
USA Today reported last week, that skyrocketing food and gasoline prices were straining budgets to the extent that many Americans were no longer able to pay their energy bills. Electricity and natural gas shutoffs are up at least 15%. Totals for some utilities have more than doubled.
On Thursday of last week, the stock market fell significantly again with a follow up performance on Friday as the dollar struggled against more record-breaking crude oil prices. With the Federal Reserve doing all it can to restrain inflation and the housing market in a steady decline, dragging all major financial institutions with it, it is a reality that this country is headed for an unavoidable depression.
This perfect economic storm, coupled with a horrendous year of calamitous weather the middle of the nation is suffering through, we can see why the Supreme Court finally broke down and reversed the draconian gun laws in Washington D.C. We have always been advocates of gun control, save for some common sense allowances, but with things as bad as they appear to be getting maybe the folks at the NRA has a legitimate argument.
Crimes of certain types that are leading indicators that economic problems are escalating. More and more we are hearing of fuel storage thefts, gas siphoning and outright gas tank-puncturing, home invasions, along with your usual garden-variety purse snatching, mugging and scam artist. We are going to keep an eye on our local law enforcement crime statistics to monitor quantitatively if what we think is happening can be supported by the raw numbers. We suggest you do the same.
If we are only partially correct in our assessment, we will be forced to rethink our stance on gun control to adjust to the New World we are trying to survive in. If this economy continues to crumble those lucky enough to have a home to leave to head to a job they are even luckier still to have, they will eventually need some form of protection from those that are not so lucky.
