by Brett Stevens on May 31, 2017

As liberal democracy fades in the West, it is perhaps the oldest of troubles — money — which will put it in the grave. This will most likely happen just as all of its other ill-considered policies come crashing down upon it, including environmental crises, warfare, diversity race wars, terrorism, infrastructure collapse and a paucity of competence.

We can see this beginning in the tragicomedy of the Chicago pension meltdown:

“We are probably approaching that point of impaired ability to function at basic level,” said John Humphrey, the Chicago-based head of credit research for Gurtin Municipal Bond Management, which oversees about $10.1 billion of state and local debt and has steered clear of Illinois. “We’ve already probably passed that point. We haven’t seen this in a modern state before.” The self-inflicted crisis has left the fifth most-populous state with a record $14.5 billion of unpaid bills, ravaged entities like universities and social service providers that rely on state aid and undermined Illinois’s standing in the bond market. Without a deal by midnight, it’s increasingly likely that Illinois enters its third fiscal year on July 1 without a budget.

As if designed as an exercise for a textbook labeled Why Democracy Sucks, this scenario is comically simple at its core but buried under layers of complex law, politics and economics. (Emphasis on “We havenâ€™t seen this in a modern state before” is mine).

Starting with Chicago, famous for its institutionalized corruption, Illinois has been spending itself into a void by promising more in social services than it could reasonably pay for. Its politicians, naturally selected by voters who elect anyone who promises the right benefits, decided this could be handled through a complex series of funds and loans.

Illinois is not alone. All across the West governments have chosen to enact expensive social services based on the promise of future revenue. As populations have decreased, it has become clear that these debts can never be paid, and now the bloated voters and canny politicians are importing vast numbers of third world people to make up a larger tax base.

However, as Chicago shows us, this has not worked. Let us inspect the ethnic data for Chicago, Illinois:

Look, another highly diverse city like other debt bomb superstars such as Houston, Dallas and California. It seems that the plan of importing third world labor to pay taxes for the retirees and impoverished has not worked out so well, and now instead of subtracting from the debt bomb, the politicians have only introduced more people they have to pay for, as well as other problems.

Chicago has always been highly diverse. Back when “diversity” meant importing Southern/Irish and Eastern Europeans to America in order to dilute the WASP population, Chicago was at the forefront of diversity politics, with institutionalized corruption leading the way because these new populations always voted Leftist, or for benefits rather than responsibilities.

The pension tsunami is just the first edge of the debt bomb. As governments across the West reach into their coffers and come up with nothing, cities and states will collapse in a domino effect. This will happen just as everything else is simultaneously failing because democracy fought imaginary problems and neglected real ones for two centuries.

Remember the prophetic words: We haven’t seen this in a modern state before. But soon, we will find it all too familiar.

Tags: chicago, debt, debt bomb, diversity politics, illinois, pension bomb, pensions

Please enable JavaScript to view the comments powered by Disqus.