Welmer

I’ve spoken with a few cops recently, and for the most part they are nice, normal guys. They’re just like any other blue-collar guys, with similar interests, problems and outlooks. However, what really sets them apart is how much they get paid. Cops make a lot of money. In Seattle, a rookie cop will make nearly $70,000 if hired in 2010. A twelve-year veteran will make over $90,000 by that time. The perks are truly impressive: 95% of health care expenses paid, hiring bonuses that approach $20,000, and $2,500 for equipment.

The irony of all this is how much the hipsters of America’s blue cities pretend to dislike authority even as they quietly acquiesce to increased expenditures on security. It would appear that deep in their hearts, they really want people armed with automatic weapons to be ready at a moment’s notice to eliminate any threats to their lifestyle.

Contrast this with the streets of small town America, where cops cruise with somewhat less shiny cars, spend their days ticketing speeders and their evenings arresting drunks, and hardly ever have to shoot suspects. Police salaries in these areas are markedly lower, as perhaps they should be, given that their jobs are not as difficult. Nevertheless, it is worth noting that where crime is lower cops get paid less. The reasons for this are obvious, but it raises questions about sustainability.

The general trend in Blue America is one of increasing stratification, which in itself breeds crime out of desperation and necessity. A guy making $9 an hour in an expensive American city can’t be expected to get by, so a lot of guys who have no other options will turn to crime of one sort or another. Property crime and drug dealing are a couple options for the indigent, and for the most desperate robbery may seem to be a good idea. Hence the need for more cops.

This won’t end all that well. As businesses are taxed more and more to pay for the increased security and social work needed to keep things running in blue cities, working class wages will remain frozen at a low level and the situation will simply continue deteriorating until we see more and more Detroit-style collapses across the country.

George Bush’s economic schemes turned out to be a disaster, but Obama’s blue-city politics could well push a number of cities over the edge. There is no way cops and teachers will accept anything less than what they get today to deal with the problems they are charged with solving, so it looks like we will see more and more local and even state governments go bankrupt. And then what?