The Merchants of Venice Beach
By now, almost everyone but the cardio-hemophilic liberal is aware that California is crashing and burning. Businesses are closing, families leaving and tourists abstaining. A sanctuary state for some and a failed state for others—the net population loss certainly suggests more of the latter. Now for the first time, crime and destitution are on the doorstep of previously untouchable parts of the Californian riviera, which would at least deliver some poetic justice for the liberal elite.
Fox News and CBS report that Venice Beach is the latest casualty of the state’s Third-Worldization, thanks to a permanent tent-city of homeless people bringing a different sort of vibe to the surfing Shangri-la. Open drug use, nudity and public defecation aren’t included in any of the reality TV productions still filmed in the area, though the Mail Online assures us that these are part of the daily motion.
At last count, a record 41,290 people were homeless in the city of Los Angeles. The bureau tasked with tabulating this figure cited the “legacy of systemic racism” as a key reason why homelessness is getting worse, and even has a special “Committee on Black People Experiencing Homelessness.” Their report, however, did not explain why Asians and Hispanics were significantly underrepresented among homeless persons, while (putatively privileged) Whites were not.
The tent-city at Venice Beach is but a splinter colony of the long-established Skid Row of downtown LA, itself now bleeding onto freeway ramp areas and Long Beach. Dan Fleming of the Economic Roundtable forecasts that the problem is going to get even worse: as much as 86% more homelessness over the next four years. It’s a dire outlook, but, not to worry, in just seven years’ time Los Angeles will host the Summer Olympics to immense counterpropaganda fanfare. Venice Beach has been assigned to host the ancient Hellenic disciplines of skateboarding and 3×3 basketball. At least Venice’s public nudity won’t be out of place.
City council and the government of California have already thrown billions of dollars at the homelessness problem, and now Governor Newsom is plunging another $12 billion down the golden drain of liberal bureaucracy. Much of the funneled money goes to administrative soft costs like consultants and contractors that make up the homeless-industrial complex. But fiscal carpet-bombing is all that’s left to do when the underlying causes of a malaise are politically incorrect. America’s failing schools, the huge spike in urban crime, and crumbling inner cities have been honored with the same tribute for decades.
Some observers consider the homelessness crisis to be a function of the substance abuse and mental health crises. While this may be partly true, such proximate antecedents obscure the cultural and moral rot coming from upstream.
The non-profit organization Invisible People offers some fascinating insight into the caliber of people currently homeless. What may surprise many is the number of homeless people who previously led completely normal lives. Well-spoken, sober and emotionally stable—some have tertiary degrees, others used to be bankers and even millionaires. There are those who work full-time and still can’t afford housing. In many cases, the catalyst for their descent into homelessness leavened with financial volatility not exactly of their own doing: market crashes, exorbitant medical costs, or their financial institution went bankrupt overnight. Then, add to the mix the slow grind of unscrupulous economic policy that has been squeezing the working class: massive job losses due to outsourcing, unbridled inflation and the dearth of affordable housing.
To make matters worse, a good chunk of the homeless are being evicted by way of legal technicalities and lawfare, which swoop on the vulnerable at the right moment rather than restructuring and reforming salvageable agreements with the customers from whom they profited for years. American enterprise may have developed out of the Western libertarian tradition, but the country was also once a high-trust society from the top down. Far too many Whites appear hopelessly naïve to the Svengalis of their modern surrounds, perhaps because they evolved for a society where if you worked hard and stayed in your lane, you would be looked after by the community. Socioeconomic justice anchored in common sense and fairness has been assailed by a kind of Talmudic economism in which the Shylocks will come for their pound of flesh and more if they have legal recourse to do it.
The situation in the social sphere is almost concentric with that of the economic. Individual culpability remains a staple of the Western social contract on the one hand, but on the other hand, elites and social engineers conspire to tip the scales in favor of more social and moral decay. Drug addiction is the biggest gateway to homelessness and yet its recent passage through the culture has been to first destigmatize, then medicalize, then legalize, and now glorify through Hollywood. Party drugs for the youth and painkillers for the proletariat, mendaciously legalized through the conniving exploits like those of the Sacklers. Meanwhile, California’s attempt to empty overcrowded prisons through criminal reform is another boost for drug culture. Ever since theft up to $950 in value was decriminalized through Proposition 47, the incentive for junkies to get clean has effectively gone, as they can now feed their habit with the five-finger discount.
Children as young as nine have been found living on the streets, and while drug-addicted parents are often the cause of abuse and neglect at home, one should not omit the proliferation of illegitimacy, non-biological parenting, and radicalized adolescents. One would think that the validity of these forces would be clear from the number of children who flee foster homes, and yet the response from the liberal academic-media complex is to keep pushing euphemistic ploys like rainbow families and Modern Family. A well-kept secret among felons is that they can avoid registering as a sex offender if they are technically homeless.
In less than a century, America has gone from Fitter Family contests to the Kardashian-Jenner clan taking center stage. Sexual intimacy has never been lower and yet STDs are skyrocketing. There is no politically correct spin that can stabilize historical norms so badly off their axis. And yet the chaos and confusion spiral on into fresh terrain.
Racial dysphoria is the trendy new psychosis that California is a hotbed for. While the state is famous for its White flight problem there is also what Steve Sailer terms “flight from white.” In this case, the majority of the White student body in an ultra-liberal San Francisco Bay Area school unexplainedly disappeared in 2019 and subsequently reappeared/reidentified as being “two or more races.” In a just world, White liberals wouldn’t be allowed to seek asylum in red states, as this is as principled as fleeing the scene of a crime, but it’s only slightly more odious than attempting flight from White though internalized blackface or POC-face. Now more than ever White Americans are politically polarized, and when you interlace social and moral affiliation, they’re basically bipolarized.
This brings us to the next category of Shylocks whose services endow America with net loss and harm: the political class. In California, politicians are an entrenched breed of tenured and sinecured lackeys in service of the Democrat plutocracy. The problem is that those who aren’t consciously corrupt still have far-advanced ideological cataracts that distort their view of the world. California’s politicians cannot even keep their premier sponsors and clients happy: Oracle, HP and Tesla have left for Texas. Meanwhile Venice Beach could not even hold on to its Ben & Jerry’s—just desserts some might say for the social justice-flavored ice cream company.
The government of Venice currently comprises “model-American” Ted Lieu, Autumn Burke, Mike Bonin and Ben Allen—the four seasons of diversity that ensures at least Asians, Blacks, gays and Jews have someone that looks like them in parliament. One resident of Venice Beach notably not represented by this team of rainbow all-stars is 1980s film star Paul Hogan. The Australian-born actor recently told media that Venice Beach is “an unlivable zoo,” which is an interesting choice of words for someone made famous by Crocodile Dundee.
In the nearby ritzy suburb of Venice Canals, another famous tenant has reason to be needled by the encroaching tent-city. None other than the President’s son Hunter Biden has his quarters there for $17,500-a-month rent. As a self-professed hard drug user, Hunter could probably relate quite well to the folks down on skid row, if it wasn’t for his strenuous job as a Ukraine hydrocarbons expert.
Wheeling and dealing is of course the Biden and Sons family trade, but few could have known that foul-mouthed stepmom Jill Biden is higher qualified still. In 2007, Jill was granted a mickey-mouse doctorate from a community college in Delaware. All in all, there doesn’t appear to be a single decent member in the Biden household—and that includes the family dog recently removed from the White House because of a biting problem.
The Bidens’ other pet is of course Kamala Harris—politically adopted as though there was a melanin quota to fill, because it certainly wasn’t for her charisma or record as a public official. In terms of popularity and visibility, Harris trails Biden like a Muslim wife. And yet it’s ironic that it’s Harris who now breathes down Biden’s neck for the top job. Biden may not have the legs to complete his term—he certainly doesn’t for an airplane staircase. His lizard-brain can’t help blurting out awkward inner monologue. He is 78 after all, and to be fair, having an establishment mouthpiece who often speaks with no filter has its advantages. And calling him Sleepy Joe kind of lost its bite once Kamala Harris joined the ticket, the very person most notorious for having slept her way to the top.
Harris’ underdog story never quite resonated with the public. She is, after all, descendent of academics and slave owners, grew up as a pampered minority, and matured into a sly careerist and overpromoted doge. This multi-racial, multi-millionaire child of Californication has made virtually every life decision a maneuver of self-aggrandizement—and that includes her marriage at age 49 to prominent Californian-Jewish lawyer Douglas Emhoff.
Jews on the west coast naturally have their own inimitable history of semi-integration at the civil level, while being politically alien and quite ahead of the cultural curve downward. Jews did not come to enrich surfing culture in Huntington Beach or grow citrus in Orange County. They came for Hollywood and Sacramento, with New York values in their breast pocket. Among California’s Jewish politicians, one can recall such exemplary cultural pioneers as Dianne Feinstein, Harvey Milk and Roberta Achtenberg.
Just as California was America’s cultural bellwether for the better part of the modern era, so shall its current plight be the omen of the republic’s festive unraveling. California has been the gold tooth in America’s smile for years. And America is only smiling because it’s high on its own supply—from monetary policy to state ideology. Biden may yet be the perfect mascot for these mortal throes; a cognitively declining president leading a populace suffering cognitive dissonance. His electoral victory, much like his campaign, was made in a Hollywood basement—and yet he’s still the political dinosaur that America deserves to have. Perhaps he’ll be America’s last before the meteorite.
Bravo. Excellent, perceptive piece and very eloquent and erudite as well. I was born and raised in Los Angeles County and used to bike, job, and roller skate on the paths in Santa Monica and Venice Beach. Even then, in the 90s, crime and depravity was rampant; I can only imagine how the permissive policies have aggravated this state of affairs. I moved to the Pacific Northwest in 2007 and, what a surprise myriad Californians have followed suit, including criminals. Our crime rate has skyrocketed and many Portland police officers have resigned because of the kid-glove treatment that the sleepwalking Portland elite insist be the protocol for dealing with a litany of victims/criminals.
The writer of this article is truly gifted. I never thought it possible that such an insidiously revolting subject could be discussed with such skilled tongue-in-cheek satirical humor.
I had to put down one of my beloved German Shepherds last Tuesday and this is the first time since then that I smiled. Thank you, Tom Zaja.
Excellent article.
“[A]nd, what a surprise myriad Californians have followed suit, including criminals.” W/out vetting/controlling, this poison will spread throughout. Then, where do we move to?
“…if it wasn’t for his strenuous job as a Ukraine hydrocarbons expert…”
Ha ha ha ha! Glad I wasn’t sipping hot coffee when I read that.
I grew up in Marin County, which will probably be one of the last livable (if you can afford it) places in California — mainly because it is only accessible to the rest of the Bay Area by ferry or two bridges, unless you want to drive an extra 50 miles or so.
My grandparents lived in Woodside. This horsey exurb next to Silicon Valley is now home to tech billionaires who don’t appreciate nature, and it shows.
My great aunt lived in Carmel, which might be a safe bet if you want peace, quiet, and safety (and you’re rich).
They didn’t allow street lights or sidewalks. If you wanted your mail, you had to go to the post office to pick it up. If a tree grew in the middle of the street, you had to drive around it. It has become popular with the techies, so who knows what it’s like now. They need their toys and conveniences.
Basically, California’s problems are urban and coastal. If you stay out of the big metro areas and away from the coast, you can still live a good life here and have a reasonable cost of living. And I ask: Is there a metro area in the United States that doesn’t have most of the same problems California has? Homelessness, crime, drugs, mental illness, racial hostilities, predators of various types, high cost of living?
There are relatively few blacks in California. That’s a plus!
So I’m not yet ready to give up on this state. As for all the homeless I’ve seen over the decades in San Francisco, San Diego, and now Palm Springs, they have mostly been young White males.
Well, of course: Whites and males are the only two groups it’s legal to discriminate against, and White males get the double whammy of discrimination.
Then, just throw in an almost doubling of the work force (without a doubling in the number of jobs) that took place when women decided to work instead of have kids back in the 1970s…I’m amazed White males aren’t even worse off! (Get a trade, young man; get a trade).
I suppose there are some younger White males out there who get government support. But in my experience, welfare in this state has always been something mainly for blacks — housing projects and the like. You wouldn’t want to live in them.
This starts off focused on the horrific homeless issue in Venice and LA broadly, then bounces into political personages, Hollywood stars, Jews and a few other sub-topics. It’s clever humor about heinous dreadful things have helped me develop a Hamlet-esque amused fatalism that may be the best response in these interesting times. I get the reference in the title too. It’s all funny to a point, and then the End Times come.
Wonderful, Mr. Zaja … I very much enjoyed this article. You really brought it home with the “Muslim wife” comment and the metaphorical reference of California being the “gold tooth in America’s smile”. Then the comparison of America’s decline to JB’s cognitive decline … very apt and poignant. Thanks for writing and look forward to reading your articles in the future.
Compare and contrast the poor area of Tokyo with that of Los Angeles :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cfUd_W4-0fM
Race in America is an anti – social construct.
A very brilliant and also hilarious piece. On my last visit to Kalifornia, I noticed the huge numbers of white people, most of them young people, living in the parks. They were jobless, aimless, drug addicted, and indigent. There were also many formerly comfortable middle aged white women, left homeless following divorces and/or job losses. In an unused bus kiosk next to my hotel was a homeless octogenarian, who would stagger four steps away from the kiosk to defecate on the sidewalk. I asked the police why he wasn’t relocated to a nursing home, and they muttered the usual excuses about a lack of nursing home beds and their inability to force the homeless to do anything against their will. The juxtaposition of this despair and need with some of the surrounding wealth and privilege was exceedingly jarring. I believe it was in the book “You’ll Never Eat Lunch in this Town Again,” that the author Julia Phillips wrote forty years ago that “A terrible day of reckoning must surely come.” She couldn’t have said it much better, but one beleaguered L.A. resident’s comment to me came close: “May a mighty fire one day cleanse this place.”
I, too, used to rollerblade down on the bike path. I was there in the ’90s and although Venice beach was kind of a no-go at night – the daytime was a must to go for youngsters on weekends, then onto Norms for breakfast. That’s been demolished to make way for expensive apartments. There were no homeless tents at all back in the 90’s.That would not have been tolerated at that time. Now, anything goes, and I am so happy I exited Los Angeles for greener pastures. It was the best move I have ever made in my life. It breaks my heart to see California going down the pan as we know it did not have to be this way.
It appears we had different experiences and different perceptions of the area! I didn’t say there were tent cities at the time; there were however myriad homeless people and though most may have been benign, some were not. I once fell asleep while laying on the beach only to be woken by a man trying to molest me. Though I did enjoy countless hours of blissful fun in the sun there, I was also aware of incipient danger. It appears that conditions have deteriorated remarkably since then. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it!
Well written, even if more black-pill stuff. I mean…what else is there, really?
The tent cities are modern day Hoovervilles. (A comparison I don’t see much)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hooverville
Except whereas the Hoovervilles were entirely caused by a collapse in income and unemployment, these are created by a vice of both a collapse of income and massive increases in price.
I live in a town / city in northern CA. This place is an absolute joke. It is literally an open air mental asylum. The only people walking the streets up here are drug addicts, prostitutes, and the severely mentally ill whom it is honestly criminal to leave on the streets as the only option for them is a slow and dehumanizing death.
The answer our liberal overlords have to the issue of heroin use epidemics on massive scales is to set up more needle exchanges all over the city and drop the requirement of one needle handed out for each turned in, which means that our streets, parks, and natural spaces are littered with needles. A clean up of a massive homeless encampment several years ago netted so many needles that they stopped counting at 1,000 and had to bring in dumpster sized sharps containers to haul them all away.
I can go on and on about this, but for brevity’s sake, what’s happening here is that an otherwise cute town that could draw plenty of tourists each year is now a place that many people shun, and anyone with the wherewithal to move away is planning on doing so, including us. The place is dying. The only industry here is drugs. There are more abandoned storefronts than occupied ones. The homeless are literally everywhere. Trash blows through the streets like tumbleweeds. It honestly didn’t have to be this way. The mismanagement on the part of the leftwing leadership here has created a place where criminals are coddled at the expense of any decent folk who might want to create a quality of life ever so slightly above that of sitting in a garbage strewn alley, pumping every drug known to man into your body.
Shame the multimillionaire Marrano M&M Nancy Pelosi never got a mention.This disgusting tribe member has her proboscis deeply embedded in public money.The only rational explanation of why anyone would vote for is her electorate is in a rich area..
How anyone is going to get a revolution cranked up to oust the Jews stranglehold on the country is anyone’s guess…perhaps a food shortage might do the trick.
Incidently Mrs Bidens real surname is JACOB….which makes it extremely likely she is a crypto jewess.Interesting about her fake PhD!.
Checking Mrs Trumps ancestry in Slovenia would likely find her family members are Jews.
Trumps daughter Ivanka…interestingly…had some crucial cosmetic surgery when younger to de-jewify her appearance….the PR stuff about her getting Jewish lessons in preparation to marry the rich jew were just a load of hogwash.
Like the hip hop star DRAKE who is a fully barmitzvahed black jew….it is highly likely that Kamala Harris is also…..
Never fear folks, there’s always the possibility that some gold toofed Black Hebrews may yet come along and redeem this paradise lost.
Time to consider the new religion of
{{{ The PRIME DIRECTIVE }}}
for Humanity to thrive-n-survive beyond
{{ The Solar TOTAL Extinction Event }}
before it is too late .