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Or so many fear. As we know, the folks building them are not as local as some believe. There is a lot of cash coming into our corner of the world from China in particular, with much of it being illegal at the source. The word of choice for the transit of all that wealth is smuggling, though embezzlement is often used by the interested overseas parties as well. And since there is no extradition treaty between the United States and the Peoples Republic of China (a kind of cold war relic), all of that cash is welcomed here in a warm and caring way. And apparently with no strings attached.
You are welcome to come along with your money as well, just as long as you have enough of that embezzled stuff to make yourself interesting to our government. And once you've made the trip, you can pretty much build whatever you like here. All you need to do is find localities that privilege and enable your kinds of cash driven needs over the less glamorous concerns of the locals. Who often have barely enough money to pay their taxes.
Arcadia (and perhaps soon Sierra Madre), serves as a kind of sanctuary for multi-millionaire refugees fleeing the cheap labor republic where they made all of their money. Something that must seem like ingratitude to the folks back home, especially those running the government. So great is their pique in Beijing these days that they have begun arresting some of the worst offenders and putting them on trial for corruption, sexual misconduct, and worse. Something that is apparently a very popular form of televised entertainment there. Kind of like the NFL is to us.
However, there is another source of enthusiasm for McMansions, and that would be the so-called Narco states of South America and South Asia. Places where vast new fortunes are being made in the drug trade daily. And as with a lot of folks from similarly rough and rude backgrounds, ostentatious displays of their new found wealth are simply a must. And, just like here, that means McMansions.
The term for McMansions built for the likes of drug lords and narcotics smugglers is Narcotecture. Which is kind of a cool word that does impress. Or at least it impresses me. Here is how the always essential Urban Dictionary defines it (link):
Narcotecture - n. - (nahr-coh-tek-shur)- The style of structure (most commonly large residences) built by large-scale distributors of illegal narcotics. This style includes many exits, ostentatious extravagance, and other features that are either practical for a fugitive or large-scale drug dealers, or classic signs of nouveau riche. Common in illegal narcotics hubs such as Bogota, Colombia, and Kabul, Afghanistan.
A rather luridly illustrated blog (in a murderous and gory drug criminal kind of way) called Ironiclast is also interested in Narcotecture, and they have their own interesting take. As a word of warning, if you choose to click on the link I am about to provide you, a few of the pictures you will find there are pretty gruesome. Drug lords having decorum issues that some living in Sierra Madre would abhor (link).
Narcotecture - n. - (nahr-coh-tek-shur)- The style of structure (most commonly large residences) built by large-scale distributors of illegal narcotics. This style includes many exits, ostentatious extravagance, and other features that are either practical for a fugitive or large-scale drug dealers, or classic signs of nouveau riche. Common in illegal narcotics hubs such as Bogota, Colombia, and Kabul, Afghanistan.
A rather luridly illustrated blog (in a murderous and gory drug criminal kind of way) called Ironiclast is also interested in Narcotecture, and they have their own interesting take. As a word of warning, if you choose to click on the link I am about to provide you, a few of the pictures you will find there are pretty gruesome. Drug lords having decorum issues that some living in Sierra Madre would abhor (link).
THE RISE OF NARCOTECTURE - What is it? What is -- Narcotecture? Narcotecture is a term used to describe the gaudy mansions, homes and burial shrines -- yes, burial shrines, built by powerful drug lords in both South America and Afghanistan using illicit drug funds.
Drug cartels have never been more powerful than they are now. Neither can it be said have they been more dangerous. When President Nixon created the DEA and with it, the "war on drugs," they effectively shut down the distribution channels in Columbia. This didn't stop production, however. They still produce copious amounts of cocaine, but they leave the distribution part to the violent cartels in Mexico. Now, Mexico is essentially a "narco state" and the blood runs red in the streets at a swiftly moving northern current into the United States.
It's a shame that all of the money and influence these cartels garner does little more than build these Narco palaces, but it can't be understated how much gruesome, barbaric violence used to instill fear in their people make dissenting voices impossible.
Another interesting source for information on Narcotecture is the military newspaper Stars and Stripes (link). In the following article they discuss the drug funded McMansions of Kabul, Afghanistan. This in a country where we have spent hundreds of billions of dollars, plus the irreplaceable lives of many of our military men and women, to prop up.
It is sad to see that some of the end results of all that sacrifice and misery aren't quite what we might have hoped for.
Garishly incongruous ‘poppy palaces’ lure affluent Afghans - For rent on Street 6 in the neighborhood of Sherpur: a four-story, 11-bedroom dwelling of pink granite and lime marble, complete with massage showers, a rooftop fountain and, in the basement, an Asian-themed nightclub. Price: $12,000 a month.
It’s a relative bargain in this district favored by former warlords and bureaucrats — Kabul’s version of Beverly Hills. There’s a war on, but carnival-colored mansions are mushrooming alongside cratered streets and sewage streams. Vast outdoor chandeliers, heated indoor pools and acres of mirrored, skyscraper glass windows abound.
The grandiose houses, derided here as narcotecture, have become the most obvious symbols of Afghanistan’s corruption, which ranks among the world’s worst and is fueled both by an enormous influx of U.S. dollars and by the opium trade. They have paralleled a building boom sweeping this and other Afghan cities, fed by the donor money that has helped distort an economy of haves and have-nots.
I have selected a few examples of Narcotecture, both the South American and Afghani varieties. I think you will agree that some are not really all that different from the local McMansions already being built here in the San Gabriel Valley.
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http://sierramadretattler.blogspot.com
Drug cartels have never been more powerful than they are now. Neither can it be said have they been more dangerous. When President Nixon created the DEA and with it, the "war on drugs," they effectively shut down the distribution channels in Columbia. This didn't stop production, however. They still produce copious amounts of cocaine, but they leave the distribution part to the violent cartels in Mexico. Now, Mexico is essentially a "narco state" and the blood runs red in the streets at a swiftly moving northern current into the United States.
It's a shame that all of the money and influence these cartels garner does little more than build these Narco palaces, but it can't be understated how much gruesome, barbaric violence used to instill fear in their people make dissenting voices impossible.
Another interesting source for information on Narcotecture is the military newspaper Stars and Stripes (link). In the following article they discuss the drug funded McMansions of Kabul, Afghanistan. This in a country where we have spent hundreds of billions of dollars, plus the irreplaceable lives of many of our military men and women, to prop up.
It is sad to see that some of the end results of all that sacrifice and misery aren't quite what we might have hoped for.
Garishly incongruous ‘poppy palaces’ lure affluent Afghans - For rent on Street 6 in the neighborhood of Sherpur: a four-story, 11-bedroom dwelling of pink granite and lime marble, complete with massage showers, a rooftop fountain and, in the basement, an Asian-themed nightclub. Price: $12,000 a month.
It’s a relative bargain in this district favored by former warlords and bureaucrats — Kabul’s version of Beverly Hills. There’s a war on, but carnival-colored mansions are mushrooming alongside cratered streets and sewage streams. Vast outdoor chandeliers, heated indoor pools and acres of mirrored, skyscraper glass windows abound.
The grandiose houses, derided here as narcotecture, have become the most obvious symbols of Afghanistan’s corruption, which ranks among the world’s worst and is fueled both by an enormous influx of U.S. dollars and by the opium trade. They have paralleled a building boom sweeping this and other Afghan cities, fed by the donor money that has helped distort an economy of haves and have-nots.
I have selected a few examples of Narcotecture, both the South American and Afghani varieties. I think you will agree that some are not really all that different from the local McMansions already being built here in the San Gabriel Valley.
http://sierramadretattler.blogspot.com