Remembering Our Lost Friends

 Cumberland County has the worst water in the state.  The presence of the Chemours plant, an offshoot of DuPont, doesn't help.  After polluting the watershed with forever chemicals for decades, Chemours now is professing to care.  Locals are not buying it.  Irresponsibility runs deep, and Camp Lejeune used similar chemicals to clean grungy locomotives on "Track X" back in the day.  These chemicals seeped into the ground water and contaminated wells causing disease and death for many locals at Marine Base Camp Lejeune.  National defense has a long powerful arm, and unfortunately the Pentagon feels local citizens are expendable.  It is not a sentiment dissimilar from corporate America.  The needs of the masses outweigh the needs of the few.  While their is a mass migration into North Carolina, because of its relatively low cost of living, there are trade offs.  The host county for the world's largest military base has the worst water in the state.  This is a contradiction.  If we wanted our defending troops to be strong and intelligent, then we would treat them better.  Life at Fort Liberty is no walk in the park.  Fort Bragg has a history of violence, and it is understandable, because it is a training ground for ensuing war.  It is difficult to balance that training, fierce dedicated fighting with enlightened living.  Fayetteville suffers consequently.  It is common knowledge that children leave Cumberland County and never return.  It does not offer the amenities of other cities.  Military personnel who move here become disillusioned.  Since the outbreak of Covid 19 the quality of life in Fayetteville has plummeted.  During the pandemic it remained relatively steady, while people sheltered at home.  When the disease began to ebb, urban decay emerged.  With a severely disabled work force, middle class businesses quickly succumbed to a markedly changed clientele.  It was difficult to find quality labor, and the socioeconomic status of neighborhoods changed.  Suddenly Fayetteville resembled a ghetto, something I never have witnessed.  Parts of Fayetteville have waned in the past and fallen into disrepair.  In time these properties are purchased and rejuvenated.  Joe Biden's ending of the War in Afghanistan had major consequences for Cumberland Country.  Defense contractors, local businesses with contracts through the Department of Defense, began to disappear.  Those free flowing dollars sanctioned by war dried up.  It has become obvious these types of war-related entities comprise a majority of Cumberland County's middle and upper classes.  This not always was the case.  Once Fayetteville had a substantial societal class  funded by businesses outside of the United States military.  Merita baked fresh bread on Ramsey Street.  The Coca Cola bottling plant was torn down and replaced with government agencies.  Black and Decker closed.  There was an elite group of business professionals living on "The Gold Coast," Skye Drive, and many other upper middle class neighborhoods.  With the absence of these businesses, the influence of this old money has lessened.  The older generation has died off, and as many know, children do not return to Fayetteville.  Consequently these reputable historic neighborhoods have suffered from disrespect.  That disrespect comes from corporate America mainly in their activity supporting the Military Industrial Complex.  While BRAC painted the moving of Ground Forces Command to Fort Liberty as positive with its influx of dollars, it in fact has contributed to the neglect and decline of Cumberland Country infrastructure.  Yes, we have I-195, an outer loop that serves the post.  Also we have other eye candy which is meant to feign civility and enlightenment such as a baseball stadium, new tennis complex, and skateboard park.  The reality is none of these things can overcome the brusk reality of industrial activity such as freight rail, military air traffic, and now commercial air flight.  These three things have forsaken the city of Fayetteville and turned the city into a small nuclear reactor with people living in its core.  A Facebook group named "Remembering Our Lost Friends" is necessary to commemorate the memories of so many lost souls.  People die more rapidly and more often in Cumberland County, and it is no mystery why.  Downtown Fayetteville a few years ago was a focal point of revitalization.  It would seem Covid 19 and its effects on the population largely are responsible for these societal changes.  Urban flight covertly drained Fayetteville of its middle class dollars, and a ghetto remains.  The police force has numerous vacancies, and drug distribution in particular through "Vape" shops has flourished.  These legal fronts for drug distribution, gambling, and prostitution are a smear on virtuous living.  They are unneeded temptations, a short term fix, for the now long term problems of a military city.