Once upon a time, elders were generally respected members of society because they had lived long enough to gain some wisdom. For many, including some of the oldest citizens in America, that time must seem like a fairy tale.
A culture increasingly bereft of morals has turned liberal American cities into sites of squalor. The people who choose to live in these cities — or have no other choice — are victimized not only by the thugs and punks that steal, kill and destroy, but by the government itself.
In California, for example, victims of crimes are now the ones who face punishment.
Earlier this month, Oakland-born, 102-year-old Victor Silva Sr. received a citation from the city to remove graffiti from the back fence of his home or face an $1,100 fine. If he failed to comply, he would be subject to an additional $1,277 for each failed re-inspection, according to KTVU.
102-year-old Oakland man ordered to clean up graffiti on fence or pay thousands https://t.co/E0N2QXBebe
— KTVU (@KTVU) March 21, 2024
The elderly Silva is no stranger to graffiti being painted onto the back fence of his Oakland home. He has lived in Oakland as a tax-paying citizen for 80 years.
As a younger man, Silva Sr. said he would paint over the graffiti himself with a roller and a paintbrush. “It was very easy because I was a contractor. I’ll be 103 in two months or so. That slowed it up a little bit, you know,” he said, according to Fox News.
It’s heartbreaking to know that the government is forcing an old man to clean up after younger citizens who are allowed to run amok. “When reason fails, the devil helps,” the novelist Dostoevsky wrote.
Should the city apologize to Silva?
When reason fails, the devil helps!
— Fyodor Dostoevsky | Novelist & Philosopher ✍️ (@Dostoevskyquot) September 7, 2023
Reason has obviously failed in California and the devil is on a rampage, working to leave his mark.
Elena Silva, Silva Sr.’s daughter-in-law, said the situation is “absurd,” according to Fox. “It’s like a joke,” she said. “If you drive around the city and see the graffiti everywhere, it’s just, I don’t know what to say.”
Absurdity is the absence of reason.
Silva Sr.’s son, Victor Silva Jr., 70, now helps his father cover up the graffiti. He told KTVU that keeping up with the vandalism is difficult because once it is covered, new graffiti will soon replace it.
Up the street from Silva’s home, a utility box reportedly has six types of graffiti covering it. Who gets fined if that isn’t cleaned up? The utility company? The city? Or maybe they’ll pin it on the old man. After all, he’s not working and has nothing better to do. Why not? Absurdity is a cruel master.
It should come as no surprise that crime in Oakland is rising, according to Fox. A number of stores have either moved or taken security measures due to the amount of retail thefts and other crimes.
The Silva family owns a small business that was broken into three times in the last year. In one instance, Silva Jr. found a person inside the building. He called 911 in each instance and said was put on hold.
“So, it’s hard to understand where our tax dollars are going,” Silva Jr. said. “They can’t answer 911, but they can come out and hassle you about the fence. I would hate to think that there [are] other hundred-year-old people that are being harassed like this. Oakland has to change. The system is not working.”
That’s an understatement by a polite man. A lot of things need to change. Oakland is a microcosm of America and the entire country needs to change because it is not working — it’s failing its citizens. A culture that disrespects the elderly is experiencing a creeping rot from within. The rot can prove fatal if left untreated.
KTVU did report that a city inspector told them he would inspect the graffiti in question. Hopefully, he will cancel the citation. That would at least be a step in the right direction to help the Silvas wake up from the nightmare that is California.
