Collapsing cities, failed states, etc.

[Nothing Human Is Alien]

It's no secret that the last few decades have seen the "rise" of a plethora of collapsing cities, failed states and the like.

In the U.S. alone we have numerous "ghost towns," the "Rust Belt" (former manufacturing regions), Detroit and surrounding areas. Places look like they've been bombed out. Factories, buildings, homes are vacant and collapsing. Or they are torn down. Huge chunks of the population disperse. Public services disappear, schools, libraries and hospitals are closed. Entire areas are bulldozed over. And all of this in the richest country in the world.

On a world scale, we have places like Somalia and Haiti where things are much worse, have been for some time, and don't look like they will improve anytime soon.

What kind of historical precedent is there for this sort of thing? When did whole towns and entire societies collapse in the past? How? Why?

When, where, how and why did this sort of thing occur in feudal societies and even previous social forms?

I think this a relevant question for today, especially in understanding what this all means and how militants can best act in and around it.

[Susurrus]

We need to find one and take it over.

[Geiseric]

I think that'd be pretty dangerous. If anything, we should start a weed co-op farm.

[Le Socialiste]

I'd argue that there's plenty of evidence that suggests "ghost towns/cities" and failed states to be on the rise ever since the beginning of 08's financial crisis. The world economy's current situation has resulted in a dramatic increase where deteriorating/crumbling infrastructure is concerned, not to mention its connection with the actions of the international financial and political classes who have effectively overseen a direct assault on the means and livelihoods of entire populations (the brunt of which has been borne overwhelmingly by the international working-class). The pursuit of climbing profits and a lack of much-needed social programs has caused many working families to uproot and search for better work (which is all but nonexistent). Those who stay are forced to witness their cities and hometowns turn into a series of overgrown, crumbling streets and buildings. Failed states see this on a mass scale. America happens to be the richest nation on earth because of the short-term benefits of gutting social and state programs. In the long-term, however, the ruling-class will experience difficulties as it searches for labor to fill certain positions it hasn't been prepared for. The financial elite's incessant need for profits will drive it into the ground once it has sucked the nation's infrastructure dry. Granted, this won't be the sole reason (just one of many). A concentration on the assurance of financial and economic stability, coupled with a drive for private profit and disregard for the public's welfare, will trigger the longstanding sociopolitical antagonisms inherent in the capitalist modes of production.

[Rusty Shackleford]

where capital flees, so do people.

the rust belt is the rust belt because of regional deindustrialization.

as for historical examples.

that is something i want to look into. its probably difficult to find a medieval ghost town though.

[Rocky Rococo]

Usually that kind of deterioration of infrastructure coincides with the end of an era or a civilization. The most hackneyed example would be the disintegration of the civilization of the western Roman Empire that plunged the region into the Dark Ages. Certainly the arrival of Europeans in the New World spelt such a catastrophe for the great pre-Columbian civilizations. After the Mongols swept through Central Asia, the massive ancient irrigation systems of the Iranian plateau, and the historic Silk Road cities like Merv, Balkh and Nishapur that depended on the product of those irrigated plains, went into a collapse from which that region has never recovered even 800 years later. So we get an idea where today's banksters rate up on the historic scale.

[Os Cangaceiros]

There was a really interesting article in "Scientific American" called "Shantytowns and Street-markets", and it was all about how the populations of slums, ghettos and favelas have exploded over recent decades, and how those places may be an image of our future. It was also about how hard people hustle in those areas, in order to get things like electricity, water, and just generally survive, and how in many cases they've done some really impressive and inspiring innovations with really little resources, and being totally ignored by their governments...one massive slum in Nigeria isn't even shown on official maps, which still portray it as a giant forest.

Unfortunately I tried finding the article again, and it says that you now have to pay to read it. Goddamn intellectual property. :(

[Sendo]

It's the tension between town and city. It is totally unresolved in the capitalist West. America is the worst example of this. In Korea, Japan, and China it is not bizarre to see small but bustling town centers in rural areas, or to see 20-story apartment buildings with a supermarket to the right of it and a vegetable farm to the left of it. These facts are known but worth repeating, because they lead to another concern I have for the West. With the unemployment and lack of any gardening know-how, inability to make (somewhat) non-perishable food like kimchi, how poorly would Americans fare in a breakdown of society? The infrastructure problems are worsening, not improving.

America is nothing but mega farms in the middle and over-crowded cities on the coasts filled with desperate people working dead-end jobs. It's an unstable dynamic and will worsen as rural towns get old and die and fuel prices rise. I don't see it improving unless there's a revolution. It's so badly broken.

[Nox]

Interestingly, someone I know is working on a theory involving all global economies being linked.

For example, we are seeing huge economic growth in Asia and parts of Africa, and the economies in the west are beginning to collapse.

Another example is the American economy crash in 1929 which was around the same time the USSR had rapid industrial growth.

Of course, correlation doesn't imply causation, but when things like this correlate so often, it makes you wonder if they could be linked.

[Tommy4ever]

Well things like this have indeed happened before, many times in history.

For the most dramatic situations look at Dark Age Europe where the ancient cities were left entirely abandoned as populations in places like Italy moved to new locations (usually on hill tops). This left huge abandoned ruins that were far more complex than the people then living in Europe could ever build themselves. Almost like living on some alien world with a the ruins of a long dead but more advanced civilisation all around you.

After the plagues of the Late Medieval period wiped out 1/3 of Europe again farms and towns were abandoned wholesale whilst in many places (again, Italy especially) there would be rings of abandoned buildings around once large cities.

Its not massively uncommon in history for previously settled areas to be abdandoned. But its not something that happens on a massive scale that often.

I think the depopulation of the American Mid-West since the mid 20th century is probably as dramatic as anything in living memory.

[Rusty Shackleford]

I know this is an inappropriate post but everytime i look at this thread this song comes to mind.

cS2BrxcWWZA