SAN FRANCISCO CLEANS UP
The APEC Summit Brings Walls and Clean Streets
What is APEC?
For their Olympics, the Chinese cleaned up their streets, shoveling the poor off to the countryside, then shuttered businesses so that the “fog” they created wouldn’t be so noticeable by the athletes and attending public. The Chinese are proud people; they didn’t want this world forum to show up the desperate state of their cities. Many of us saw through the sham, but the face-saving worked for many on the Left.
It shouldn’t be a surprise then that Newsom insisted on cleaning up the streets of San Francisco, in hopes of showing off “the shining city on the Bay” to visiting dignitaries attending the APEC Summit this year. The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) was established in 1989 to allow countries in this realm to try to come up with economic policies that promote free and open trade. This sounds like a noble undertaking that even the most fervent Libertarian would applaud. However, it all depends on how you define “economic.” We already know that “health” was opened up to allow governments to close businesses, force vaccinations, demote citizens to second-class and ultimately, to kill elderly people when they couldn’t find a place to put Covid patients. APEC’s current version includes women’s empowerment (odd, since we are now letting men compete with them in sports), digitization, energy security (really? After shutting down many sources of energy?), food security and health.
The arrogance! This is another instance of “the smart people in the room” deciding what is good for the rest of us, while exempting themselves from the consequences of their decisions.
Why San Francico?
Most of Asia considers San Francisco as well as Los Angeles a second home. It makes sense, as well as cutting travel time. But given that Newsom is clearly intent on a presidential run, it also makes sense to him to have such a premiere event on his turf.
It’s also economic. Newsom expects that APEC will deliver benefits worth $52.8MM which the city badly needs.
But then, there’s the big problem. No one wants to go to San Francisco anymore. Even if you didn’t mind stepping over piles of human feces and the people generating them, even if the smell didn’t bother you, the crime makes most people afraid to go. If there are no consequences to shoplifting (and there aren’t), what would stop people from holding up pedestrians and car-jacking drivers? Nothing. The place has turned into a hellhole and businesses are fleeing in droves. The most shocking announcement was when the owners of a major shopping complex walked away from their investment as the major stores closed. Hotels? Many are filled with the homeless and illegals. Do you really want to share the hotel with them?
But the cleanup started in a panic, as leaders realized that their city isn’t going to show off all that well. Streets were cleaned, potholes fixed, police assigned to areas where the delegates were likely to go and more. The remaining homeless have been shunted off to areas farther away. A large, high-security zone is being maintained to keep all of us out of the way of the conference. Fences are erected (but fences don’t work?), streets are closed and transit curtailed. I’m glad I don’t work in the City anymore.
Residents clamor. “We’ve been after the city to clean things up and make it safer. Apparently, you can do this. Why not keep it this way for us?” It’s a fair criticism. But just as so many of us may let our housekeeping go for a bit, then rush to clean before family arrives, the politicians only care about the optics, not the residents.
What’s Happening Now
A Czech news crew assigned to cover APEC was robbed at gunpoint near City Lights Bookstore, a place my husband and I enjoyed visiting. More will happen as people stray past the controlled areas and encounter the real San Francisco.
This was supposed to be a reset between China and the US. Biden hasn’t been able to get a meeting with Xi and this is supposed to be his chance. But I wouldn’t bet on getting anywhere with the Chinese delegation. They currently feel in control and have no interest in negotiation.
The one area which could be interesting is Newsom’s handling of the issue that he was able to score a meeting with Xi, while Biden couldn’t get one. Knowing Newsom, he will take a backseat and let Biden “shine” if, in fact, he is able to do so. This is the smart move, as Biden is likely to fall, say some stupid things and/or insult someone important. He’s been like this for quite a long time. Then, Newsom can look like the right choice for President, while Biden has yet another chance to look old and infirm.
One thing we won’t see is any progress. This is just another junket to make everyone feel good. We won’t see attacks on China’s human rights issues. We won’t hear about their dire economic status.
But my tip – don’t go to SF during this event. Or perhaps, until they finally fix their serious problems in this wretched city.
