Not-so-quick rant: Iowa City is nowhere near Socialist
TLDR; This city is more capitalistic than any other city in the state. We have the highest rent in the state, and Zohran has proven that our mayor is incompetent and unable to stand up to clear issues. Iowa City and the University have proven time and time again that they prioritize profit over people. They have a responsibility to improve the community’s quality of life too, not just their own.
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I’m sure many of you have seen plenty of hateful comments about how socialism and black people are ruining Iowa City because of one isolated drunken incident. Aside from the obvious racism and bots coming from these despicable people, I find it pretty frustrating that we’re getting painted as a progressive, socialist place when, in reality, half of the city is conservative and hateful and the other half are center-left liberals who don’t stand on anything.
It’s upsetting as a resident of IC because it’s always felt like it’s one of the more predatory areas of the state when it comes to housing and businesses. There’s NO city oversight on any of the few people running the apartments and bars downtown, and especially none on housing developers. It’s a little too obvious that these people pay the city (and county) council members off and are allowed to do whatever they want. I think it’s important to be clear that this is objectively not a socialist city in the slightest, and this is likely being done to manipulate voters into thinking we’re “too far left” when really we should just be taking care of our people based on their needs and what could improve quality of life, regardless of what manmade agenda it falls under.
These bar owners are the guys bringing in and allowing dangerous things to happen all over downtown, and they don’t do anything about it because they profit from it. It’s not rocket science, and it’s not a grander conspiracy than conservatives taking advantage of poor people like they always do. I’m not sure why it’s an own to say that the socialists here are why a random shooting happened. It’s completely ignorant to how different the goals of socialism (collective ownership) and the goals of the city ($$$) are. If you’re going to blame anyone but the gunmen, you should be blaming the city and the bars, not some boogeyman economic system that you’ve purposely been propagandized against since the Cold War & beyond.
It’s the city and county’s job (especially Oliver Weilen) to do something about this and to be asking the proper questions about under-the-table payments to politicians, widespread underage drinking for profit, and multiple confirmed drug rings within bars downtown. Irresponsibly dealing to the students is a whole other rabbit hole/issue that conservatives love to place blame on the other side for.
There’s no required security at “clubs” aside from a few coked our frat guys at the door…but money they make from 17-20 year olds downtown and at the University is way too profitable to do anything about that. Which is where a city normally steps in, no? How are these vile people instantly blaming an entire group of people for a problem that rich folk and city council members/the mayor could solve in a week if they cared enough about people over profit.
Why aren’t Summit, Brothers, El Rays & ReUnion rapey-looking bouncers checking for GUNS instead of sitting there being dicks to anyone who isn’t a 16-19 year old girl? Why are they suddenly making women carry clear purses? Why not metal detectors like any other downtown venue that charges an (outrageous) $10-20 to get in and listen to a shitty DJ play country EDM? I’ve had more guns flashed at me downtown INSIDE OF THE BARS than I ever have in my many years of being in and around Chicago, St. Louis, and Minneapolis. If the University faculty and politicians are looking for a change, *why not start with prioritizing people over profit?*
Ask yourself… if they can reform taxes & rent while tackling poor living conditions and public transportation in NYC as soon as a new mayor comes around then why can’t we? I’ve rarely seen this city do anything actually “socialist” and especially not “communist” so it’s pretty frustrating seeing so many far-right morons act like this city is something it’s not. Socialism would benefit everyone BUT those soulless goons running the housing and bars. Cannot believe how poorly people interpret things like this. Have some empathy and stop using a one-off incident as an indictment against an entire race.