The Price Of Admission

California is so screwed.

I have no idea what it is like where you are, but if you've been something of an ostrich or just too busy to pay attention to your local goings on; it might be time to sit up, pay attention, and do some real hard thinking about just how far you're willing to go when it all comes apart.

Most of us have already come to the realization that we're on our own. Sure, there are cops out there writing tickets in a mad frenzy to generate enough revenue to justify them having a job, but they're essentially bailing out a life-boat using tea spoons.

San Jose California Lays Off 106 Police Officers. Another 155 On The Chopping Block

Hey SJPD, how's that whole ticket quota thing working out? Not as many Americans driving, but there's still a truckload of illegals whom you can't or won't cite. No money there, except for maybe selling that POS they were driving for scrap.

I wonder how many people, whom you made guests in the "Graybar Hotel", will be next to you in the unemployment and welfare lines. Maybe they won't recognize you out of uniform. Maybe. Once an overseer for the plantation, now just another slave. Hope you have a nice day.

I lived in San Jose for 10 years, and worked there for nearly 20. It was a miserable place to live. A large mall there worked actively to keep stories of rapes, robberies, and stabbings out of the news. All the random crime every day. Just numbing.

In some places here in California, there are Walmarts less than 8 miles apart. I spend quite a bit of time fixing stuff inside Walmarts. The type of people shopping there has changed. There used to be cars typically owned by the lower to middle class in the parking lot.

Not anymore.

The store in Pleasanton frequently has a Bentley Continental GT in the parking lot.

Walmart: Our Shoppers Are Running Out Of Money

Gee, ya think? If some guy with a Bentley has to shop there, what does that say about the rest of your clientele?

How about the wealthy walking away from their mansions?

Wealthy Leaving Las Vegas Mansions As Foreclosure Spreads

Hey, at least they still have a Bentley to drive to Walmart.

So what does this all have to do with the "price of admission"? "What am I paying for?", you ask?

The future.

Are you willing to pay the price to enter the future?

If the well heeled are shopping at Walmart and walking away from their mortgages, and cops are becoming about as effective as a cigar store Indian at preventing crime, just how bad are things?

How about this?

11 Year Old Caught With Stolen TV

Were you paying attention? The kid was already under house arrest! He's under arrest and he's out stealing TVs? WTF? What 11 year old is out walking around at 11 PM? One of his henchmen is a 14 year old with a NO BAIL WARRANT!?

Uh, yeah. Watch the Royal Wedding. Nothing for you to be concerned about.

Most of us have contemplated having to deal with armed thugs after a collapse. Most of us are willing to put a few holes in the ill mannered, uninvited guests who may show up.

That's a good thing. The bad guy doesn't make it to the future, but you do. But it costs you something each time you put someone in a hole. I don't know this personally, but from talking to people who have, this is what they tell me.

What if the ill mannered guest is a kid?

Are you willing to pay the price of admission to the future?