Baltimore, The City that Reads

Jason D. Bland, "Baltimore Propaganda: So Bad It's Laughable"

Baltimore City, a once-proud industrial and commercial center in the mid-Atlantic, conveniently located between D.C. and Philadelphia, continues to slide into oblivion -- and one department’s propaganda machine is the warning signal rational people everywhere can no longer ignore.

Corrupt politicians, wasteful spending, horrible policies, and general negligence for the citizenry continue to highlight why this city is an increasingly horrible place to call home, despite the wonderful history, sports, parks, and food. Unfortunately, for me, as a Marylander, Baltimore is my neighbor. The crime, drugs, poverty, and general sense of hopelessness reside right around the corner from my home.

The education system in this city is notoriously corrupt and tragically incompetent.

The city is literally falling apart. I’ve seen it with my own eyes when I travel through the city for work. The countless vacant homes, abject poverty, and destroyed communities remind me of scenes from Detroit.

Despite the real problems: poor education, crumbling infrastructure, crime, poverty, and drugs, the city continues to hobble its own citizens and the local economy through arbitrary COVID measures. At the forefront of this effort is Mayor Brandon Scott and the Baltimore City Health Department.

The Health Department is focusing its effort on propaganda that continues to align with mainstream narratives regarding COVID, as well as to show their solidarity for Black Lives Matter. Yes, that’s right -- the Health Department is a supporter.

The other thing you’ll quickly notice is the content of their posts on Facebook. It seems like a peculiar mix of slick marketing and juvenile thinking, and there’s an ever-present sense of superiority in their word choice. The propaganda machine wants you to know that you’d better listen. They have the answers, and any contrary opinion is downright idiocy. Yet the harder they push their message, the more disingenuous it becomes.

The department’s posts range from helpful info about scheduling your vaccine to silly gifs that make little sense. When people push back and provide comments in opposition to the department, the administrator often replies with the simple phrase of “Stay Mad,” as if this is an acceptable and logical response. Although, if my guess is correct, the social media wing of the department is being run by a 20-something-year-old gender studies grad who has no sense of how to rebut arguments with any substance.

What particularly struck a chord with the public this past week and spread beyond Maryland, was a cartoony post about how to celebrate Memorial Day. One side showed an image representing those who have been “fully vaxxed” and can celebrate with food and friends at an outside BBQ -- “the absolute best”, as they describe it. The other side shows the “unvaxxed” who must stay at home, eat leftovers, and remain masked -- “the absolute worst.” A Maryland-based Facebook site caught the post before it was unceremoniously removed.

By all appearances, this was a legitimate post, although it didn’t seem to last long online -- It was apparently overrun by abject contempt from the readers. The propaganda machine was truly firing on all cylinders when they created this beauty. I understand there will be mistakes made, but this seems to be outright egregious. Just look at the absurd comparisons between the vaccinated and unvaccinated, not to mention the callous description of what it means to “celebrate” Memorial Day.

But, perhaps this is the best the city has to offer. And I don’t mean that facetiously.

If we look at the education system, high crime, horrible communities where vacant homes attract rats, trash, and drugs, who would want to move to Baltimore and make it home? When people outside of Maryland think of opportunity, I doubt they think of Baltimore. Their thoughts probably tend towards Texas, Florida, or Tennessee. The city isn’t drawing talent or new commerce, and unfortunately, the local population isn’t well educated or trained.

As we often hear, people vote with their feet. The city’s overall population declined from 1950 where the city peaked at almost one million residents to the current number which fell below 600,000 in 2019. That’s a 40% decrease.

Baltimore, like so many other cities, has been dominated by one-party rule for decades. Democratic mayors have dominated the city since the 1960s. This is not acceptable for a healthy and successful democracy to fully function. Instead, one-party rule allows for corrupt politicians and their policies to operate without checks or balances. The city continues to exemplify this unfortunate truism.

The sad result is that there’s so much untapped opportunity here. People want to be successful. People want to be safe and happy in their homes. If only those same people would realize they have the ability to make a difference by throwing out these corrupt politicians and leaders. The citizens need to regain a hold on the reins of power and rip them from the hands of the corrupt, ineffective, juvenile, thoughtless leaders that currently reign supreme. Only then will Baltimore have a chance at a bright future.