The Strafing of Fayettenam

Having been back in North Carolina for a little over a year living in my childhood city of
Fayetteville, my eyes have been opened little by little.  Fayettenam certainly is not anything like it once was.  I take that back.  There are certain indelible aspects of Fayettenam that always will remain the same.  Upon my reflection having grown up mostly in Fayetteville, I adamantly can say that Fayetteville has changed.  The major change other than the massive expansion of Ft. Bragg is the appearance of a highly conservative governing populace that like the rest of America seems to be controlled by the money that elected it.  This conservative agenda has had remarkable but also gross consequences for this medium sized town.  While the revitalization of the downtown area is a viable and aesthetically pleasing endeaver, it has transpired at the sacrifice of many Fayettevile citizens.  George W. Bush's Imminent Domain thoroughly has been utilized to evict small businesses in lieu of more grandiose downtown ventures.  I have witnessed this first hand as a good friend of mine lost his business for a soon to be built transportation hub.  While these small businessmen are paid a paltry sum for their property, I can understand the scope of this project.  Downtown has made great strides in recent years comparartively speaking to previous decades.  What is of concern are the accompanying practises of this governing populace immently Republican and conservative.  While it probably is a good thing the strip clubs and bars of the old 500 block of Hay Street are gone, is it necessarily a good thing that other small businesses have been force to close their doors becoming obideint to this aristocracy?  When did a governmental body become empowered to decide which socio-economic group is allowed to exist?  According to the Constitution of the United States,  ALL economic groups should be allowed equal opportuniy to exist.  It is henious that elected governmental leaders sweepingly can delegate that, "All trailer parks, garages, and other small businesses should be exterminated for the greater good of Fayetteville."  These small businesses always have been a core part of the grass roots portion of America.  Further the restriction of personal freedoms afforded by the Constituion slowly, like the cruise industry, are being revoked.  The larger deep pocketed businesses all are adopting policies that seem to be affecting the quality of life of especially young people.  It has been in the news recently how most financial industries in America for decades have been taking advantage of the young, especially college students.  Moreover the model of each and every child possessing a mobile telephone has been erroneous.  Not only are these frequencies of our elector-magnetic spectrum dangerous to human beings, it is unconsionable that large corporations have been reaching into the pockets of teenagers.  Further the once common past times experienced by adolescents that are free of charge openly have been forbidden by restricting their activity on private property.  The parking lots, sidewalks, and streets of neighborhoods once that were playgrounds for our youth are stricken with signs declaring "No bicycles, no roller skates, no skateboards, etc."  How and why would any American business prohibit such activity?  The answer is because it does not earn them revenue.  How can these fundamental physical activites that promote the health and well-being of youngsters be deemed undesirable?  It is uncanny to me that the sport of skateboarding in America has been earmarked as evil in some way by businesses.  Maybe this dynamic is different in Southern California or Miami, Florida, but here in Fayetteville North Carolina there is a staunch conservative governing faction that loathes this activity.  I never have witnessed such a anit-skate mentality in my life.  Likewise this past time of which I actively participate for mental therapy also has become condemned in the cruise industry.  My only word for this sentiment is "Fascist."  The opening of my eyes of the course of a year has been to see the deep well of money that exists in Fayetteville mostly because of Ft. Bragg and its expansion under the B.R.A.C. protocal.  With the welcoming of the Ground Forces Command and a slew of high profile officers, certainly the concept of Fayetteville as a small Southern town has changed.  I am grappling with these huge changes and the loss of personal freedoms that are consequential.  The increased security at Ft. Bragg coupled with the existence  of these highly important military commands has changed Fayetteville forever.  I for one do everything I can not to support that infrastructure.  It, other than supposidly assuring my personal freedom, does nothing to augement my quality of life.  Conversely the military contingency at Ft. Bragg uses the city of Fayetteville for war games.  We have become a guinea pig for what must be Special Operations training as the seeming strafing from continual aircraft never stops.  How did this transpire, that a city otherwise not associated with the military freely has become the training ground for a killing machine?  I would rather just skate.