Baltimore’s biggest critic is still “wired” up. 

It’s been a little over five years since the end of “The Wire” – the HBO hit that depicted life in the toughest parts of Baltimore – but creator David Simon still has a lot to say about his city…and his country overall

Simon was one of the headliners at last month’s Festival of Dangerous Ideas in Sydney. The annual festival, in it’s fifth year, has, of course, been the center of controversy.

Simon’s talk,”Some People Are More Equal than Others,” enjoyed the company of other talks like “The End of the Homosexual,” “To Die Rich is to Die Disgraced,” and “Teach Your Children to Fail.”

All of the talks are available for viewing here.

“There are definitely two Americas. I live in one, on one block in Baltimore that is part of the viable America, the America that is connected to its own economy, where there is a plausible future for the people born into it. About 20 blocks away is another America entirely. It’s astonishing how little we have to do with each other, and yet we are living in such proximity.”

Simon went on to explain his frustrations with the current mentality in the U.S.

He stated his belief that capitalism is the only way to sustain an economy.. but he decried its failures…

“We have become something other than what we claim for the American dream and all because of our inability to basically share, to even contemplate a socialist impulse.”

He went on to use the healthcare debate as an example of the general disregard for social responsibility. He also implied that the Citizen’s United case has resulted in capitalism run amok. As he sees it, elections can now be bought and sold.

Simon argued that we have to rediscover our values and make sure that nobody is left behind. The “two Americas” Simon described must become one again.

You can read an edited extract of the speech here.

What’s the more “dangerous idea”- that we take Simon’s advice or choose to ignore him?