Editor,
Albuquerque is a fascist entity.
What do I base this opinion on? Albuquerque's insular and parochial nature - the utilization of fear by local politicians and an unaccountable police force that is hyper-reactive.
Albuquerque is a parochial town, insular and bubble-like. Government accounts for 20 percent of the city's gross, nonagricultural employment with Kirtland Air Force Base being the city's largest employer with 18,000 nonmilitary employees.
The city also heavily relies on federal dollars. In addition to Kirtland Air Force Base, private employers such as Honeywell, Applied Research Associates and Northrop Grumman are reliant on Pentagon contracts.
This model is very much like a fascist state in which jobs and industry are in some form heavily reliant upon the government even if the company is privately owned.
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This city also has a bad case of lucky sperm club mentality. Out of four classmates I graduated with, three have left for larger cities. Why? Because they could not get ahead in this small-minded little town. Every time they go for a job, they would not get hired, only to see that six months later, someone else with equal or less qualification got the job - because of surnames.
This insular, incestuous mentality has driven many talented people out of the city and state. They realized no matter what they do or how hard they try, they will never ascend because they did not come out of the right testicles or the right womb.
Politicians such as Mayor Martin Chavez use fear in ways that would make President George Bush envious. Chavez got caught in 2002 taking illegal contributions and gifts from businesspeople who do business with the city.
What did he do? Get the township riled up over sex offenders. Chavez needs to scare people and divert attention from his wrongdoing.
He then follows up with the red-light cameras. These were courtesy of an Arizona firm that reputedly gave $50,000 to Chavez's war chest over the years.
The Albuquerque Police Department is the modern-day Gestapo of Albuquerque. It stops and harasses people over every little thing. It turns every minor traffic stop into a DWI bust, especially if you are just driving by or in the vicinity of a bar or club.
When these modern-day stormtroopers cost the city money because of their jackboot tactics, it marvels me that in many cases they are not fired. They live to suck our blood another day.
This is why this pissant city loses bars and clubs and has been rated No. 65 in dating and singles life by Sperling's BestPlaces.
I have spoken with people in the bar and club business and they say the overkill on traffic enforcement has hurt business. When even having a glass of wine or beer and nothing more gets one snared in a trap by the local jackboots, people start staying home.
Albuquerque is nothing more than a watered-down Nazi regime, a tin-pot repressive kleptocracy and banana republic rife with corruption and cronyism.
Brandon Curtis
UNM alumnus
