http://philly.curbed.com/archives/2013/07/11/the-long-and-troubling-history-of-penntrification-in-west-philly.php#more
Thanks for the link Cindy.
In the past 15 years, Penn and its agents didn't use the bulldozers west of 40th St., because they wanted the housing stock intact. But our neighbors who have the ability to think critically can see that the propaganda strategy used to seize the neighborhood was identical to the destruction of the bottoms!
For several decades, Penn deliberately engaged in fear mongering about the neighborhood around the region and around the globe. When Penn and its corporate partners were buying up the neighborhood in the 1990s, they also pushed grad students to move to center city. All around campus, they warned newcomers of exaggerated dangers, if they ever ventured west of 40th St. (I often worked with visiting scholars and arriving grad students. I witnessed the fear mongering and its harm in person.)
In the late 90s, they started a global propaganda campaign calling the neighborhood "an abandoned industrial wasteland." As late as 2007, Penn agents were quoted saying that "PEOPLE" didn't live west of 43rd street until Penn worked its charities. And they called our diverse community in Clark Park, "prostitutes, drug dealers, and gang members" in endless propaganda "newsy stories" for several years.
They claimed the need for a type of martial law, where community participation in decision making, transparency, and truth would endanger their charitable, business like, take over. The demonization of local people with lies and fear is an age old tool of oppressors. It helps their agenda to fool and distract the bourgeoisie by playing upon fear, anger, hatred, and greed.
The gentry in our neighborhood fell for their campaign hook, line and sinker. They applauded the move to a police state in the neighborhood, and several civic association leaders saw an opportunity to serve the new rulers in the pursuit of Judas silver and fool's gold. When the vast majority of our neighbors accepted the new corporate rule and celebrated the marketing lies, I knew that we had passed a point of no return. You're right, most didn't know any of the relevant history that would help them understand the transformation of our neighborhood and society!
Those who study the impact of negative and fear based marketing can confirm Penn's war against the neighborhood kept the real estate values way down before the occupation. Penn's agents try to claim that their huge marketing budget and pathetic marketing campaigns have delivered higher rental costs. But long term residents knew that the neighborhood had been a great place, and in my opinion, one of the most successful diverse urban neighborhoods in the country. It would have always attracted newcomers and restaurants, except Penn's war frightened newcomers and the civic associations frightened small businesses.
Unfortunately, I believe the gentrification wars that have occurred since re-urbanization, across America and the world, became pivotal data for the plutocracy. In the shift from a republic to a totalitarian police state modeled after the East German Stasi, it's important to have tentacles and mind control that reach deep into all local communities. (The successes of Italian fascism are an early example.) Moreover, gentrification became an experiment in psychological control of the masses. Essentially, will the local people (all around America) willingly give up control of their own neighborhood and even celebrate the lies and brutality against immediate neighbors? Or will the people rise up and protect their local neighborhoods, parks, public institutions, and citizen rights? Well, they got the answer in the gentrification studies, and our Penn is one of the biggest K St. lobbyists demanding neoliberal capitalism!
They've known for decades that the American bourgeoisie would support terrorism, torture, and genocide against foreigners!
All of the current issues associated with the destruction of society and our omnipresent police state were inevitable, because the plutocrats and masters knew we had become sufficiently dumbed-down as helpless consumers more than a decade ago!
Here is a good analysis by a New York writer for you and any other thinking citizens out there:
http://www.counterpunch.org/2013/07/12/democracy-and-empire/
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>From: Cindy Miller
>Sent: Jul 12, 2013 10:31 AM
>To: purple
>Subject: [UC] most don't know….
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