Mobsters, drugs and violence sound like the plot of a 1950s gangster movie, but it's the daily life of people who live in Camden County, New Jersey. The city is described as ruined, overrun by corruption and violence in Chris Hedges' article “City of Ruins”. Camden County will soon become a forgotten ghost town if drastic changes are not made to the government, education system, and jobs brought back to the county. This article is about the city of Camden and how it went from being a thriving city to a ghost town. city ​​that is now in economic crisis. The city has a population of 70,390 and is the poorest city in the nation (16). Camden has an unemployment rate of 30-40% and a median household income of 24,600 (16). Camden was once an industrial giant with several large companies such as Campbell's Soup and RCA having factories there, employing 36,000 people (17). Factory closures are a major reason for Camden County's high unemployment rate. In recent years Camden has been forced to make “$28 million in draconian budget cuts, with officials speaking of 25 percent cuts to every department, including layoffs of nearly half the police force” (16). With the lack of funding, the counties education system is starting to suffer, having to cut the library fee by 2/3, they now have a "70% dropout rate, with only 13% of students making it through the level of state competence". mathematics exams” (16). With all the empty factories, empty houses and vacant lots, Camden is starting to become a very unattractive and unhappy place to live. Living in Camden is becoming an unhealthy place to live. It is overrun with the homeless and "the only white people they see... middle of the paper... have a better side of things waiting to be discovered" Despite the desolation of Camden, despite its crime and deprivation, despite the lost factory jobs that will never return, despite all this, valiant souls somehow rise up in magnificent defiance” (18). The city of Camden is trying to rebuild the city by building new buildings like the aquarium and the new law school, but Hedges clearly states that nothing in this city will prosper if the mob doesn't want Camden County to be a city in complete and total ruin. They are invaded by corruption and violence. Hedges' article does a good job of describing how bad the city really is. The economy is suffering, the education system is lacking in several areas and the police force is a joke. If changes aren't made soon, Camden County will no longer be a city anyone will want to live in or visit.