Democrats’ Progressive Policies Ruined Chicago

Delegates to the Democratic convention this week will be working inside a security bubble that shields them from the fact that their progressive policies have ruined America’s Second City.

The poet Carl Sandburg called Chicago the “city of big shoulders.” He celebrated how its working-class self-reliance and drive had made it a leader in every industry from meatpacking to railroad construction. In the 1950s, it was known as “the city that works,” with public services that were the envy of the nation. A new slogan for Chicago today, however, might be “the city that people leave.” The four horsemen of urban apocalypse — poverty, high crime rates, oppressive taxation, and horrible public schools — are driving an exodus from the city.

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John Fund

John Fund is National Review’s national-affairs reporter.

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Delegates to the Democratic convention this week will be working inside a security bubble that shields them from the fact that their progressive policies have ruined America’s Second City.

The poet Carl Sandburg called Chicago the “city of big shoulders.” He celebrated how its working-class self-reliance and drive had made it a leader in every industry from meatpacking to railroad construction. In the 1950s, it was known as “the city that works,” with public services that were the envy of the nation. A new slogan for Chicago today, however, might be “the city that people leave.” The four horsemen of urban apocalypse — poverty, high crime rates, oppressive taxation, and horrible public schools — are driving an exodus from the city.