"Us" Versus "Them"

"Me against my brother, my brother and I against my cousin, and all of us against the stranger." ­

This old proverb reflects how our tribal ancestors viewed the world. It was us against "them", who was anyone outside of our small tribal group.

The march of civilization requires us tolerate and accept the stranger. It requires civility - which requires the Golden Rule, "The principle of treating others as you want to be treated."  It also requires fairness, the rule of law, and acceptance of others. 

In a democracy, it requires the acceptance of elected officials that we do not agree with. We must accept the will of the people who elected them. If we don't we will no longer have a democracy and will descend into chaos and anarchy and civil war.

Bastides - Planned New Towns

The Bastide towns in France were planned and built from 1200 to 1400.  Bastides enabled rulers to bring the population together so they could be controlled and defended.

They were built during a peaceful time before the Hundred Years' War and so were not fortified. After war broke out many walls were built.

Most of these towns used a grid street pattern with a central square. The photos in this post are mostely of Domme, France, a delightful town.

 

References:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bastide#:~:text=Bastides%20are%20fortified%20new%20towns,1144%2C%20as%20the%20first%20bastides.

https://about-france.com/tourism/bastide-towns.htm

https://www.francethisway.com/places/domme.php

Star Cities

 

"CNN) — They're scattered all over Europe but their perfect geometrical beauty can only be fully admired when seen from above."

"Like snowflakes viewed through a magnifying glass, there's a dazzling fractal-like quality to the neat, intricate way they've been laid out -- just that we're not talking here about natural wonders.

An entirely new, rational way to design fortified settlements, the "star cities" of the 16th and 17th centuries were a jewel of the early modern era and engineered by some of the most brilliant minds of their time.

The science of building star-shaped bastion forts came into being in Italy during the Renaissance, when gunpowder and cannon rendered old medieval walls obsolete.

High, vertical walls gave way to low-lying ramparts, which offered less of a target, while wide moats, sloping earthworks and complex networks of protruding bastions would eliminate any blind spots and prevent besieging armies from coming anywhere near the ramparts."

Click to read the full article and see more photos:

https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/star-cities-europe-architecture/index.html

https://www.messynessychic.com/2020/05/21/a-bucket-list-of-star-cities-scattered-across-our-globe/

USA GDP Growth

 

As the chart shows, the US economy has a solid growth rate. It really does not make much difference who is President or which party is in power.

Hullinger and Associates

Craig Hullinger has over 35 years of experience in city planning and economic development. He was the Director of Economic Development for Peoria, Illinois, Village Manager of Olympia Fields, University Park and Minooka, Assistant Manager of Tinley Park, Planning Director for Will County, and a Colonel (Retired) in the Marine Corps Reserve.

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State and Local Police Expenditures

 

As expected, the big States with big cities usually have the highest expenditures per capita.

There are a few surprises. South Dakota has a low expenditure and Wyoming has a high expenditure despite being low population neighbors.  

Source:

https://www.urban.org/policy-centers/cross-center-initiatives/state-and-local-finance-initiative/state-and-local-backgrounders/criminal-justice-police-corrections-courts-expenditures#:~:text=From%201977%20to%202017%2C%20state,for%20the%20past%2040%20years.

USA Military Budgets

 

The upper graph shows military spending in the US.

The lower graph shows military spending as a percent of GDP.

Source:

https://www.macrotrends.net/countries/USA/united-states/military-spending-defense-budget