A Fountainhead No Longer

 

Nearly a third of all downtown Minneapolis office space is currently vacant, according to a recent Cushman & Wakefield report. Hybrid work models and other post-COVID phenomena have resulted in many companies downsizing their offices, with some pulling out altogether.

The city hopes to turn a number of office towers into apartments, as the alternative is to demolish them.

This is all too illustrative of what’s happening to society at large in Biden’s World. Through much of the 20^th Century, the American Century, giant cranes stood as a testament to rising skyscrapers, skylines, and aspirations throughout America’s major cities. We used to build things and reach for the sky. “The sky’s the limit” was a common phrase. Now, in several of our biggest cities, we sidestep human feces and hope airplane parts don’t fall from the sky.

There is a documentary called “The Fall of Minneapolis” that can be found on several internet sites. It chronicles what happened to the once thriving city in the wake of the George Floyd debacle.

Minneapolis has “fallen.” Now its towers may, too. A decade ago, I wrote that the U.S., in a nod to terrorists and progressive accommodation, might start toppling its own towers. And now that tongue-in-cheek prediction may come true.

Skyscrapers throughout the land once stood erect and proud, teeming with industrious and hopeful citizens. It will be a travesty if wrecking balls start knocking those buildings down.

For now, many stand empty, awaiting their fate. Sadly symbolic of Joe Biden’s America. And many of its citizens.

Somewhere, Howard Roark weeps.