I’m a resident of Metro Detroit, a student at a major university located inside Detroit, and a Detroiter by birth. Like almost every other Detroiter, I somehow love the city. That is why this Forbes article on how “doomed” Detroit is gives me hope.
Think about it: the only “hope” for the city is a group of artists who will surely fail. On the other hand, the city faces an out-of-control government bureaucracy with out-of-control government taxation, spending, and regulation. No wonder the city is nearly bankrupt. I am filled with joy by these news. The beast seems to have finally starved - the federal government and the Michigan government are both financially strained, making a future bailout of Detroit unlikely. A fiscal collapse of the Detroit city government could provide opportunities to provide radical small or no government solutions to everyday problems. Perhaps the Detroit city government could restructure, cut costs, cut taxes, and deregulate, making Detroit a leader once again.
My friend, I am a few klicks north of you. I love Detroit. It will not have a small government renaissance. I admire your optimism however.
You can’t starve the beast. That doesn’t actually work. You have to lose popular support for the government.
The people of Detroit keep looking to messiahs like Bing, or Kilpatrick, or Young for solutions. As long as they do that, the government will simply be a parasite hibernating until there is something new to feed off.
I think we’ve had this conversation before. Detroit rocks.
You’re correct in stating that the people of Detroit elect Obama-esque big government messiahs to the seats of power.
The catch here is that human ignorance is subject to the constraint of reality. The federal government is running huge deficits and increasing the national debt at never-before-seen rates. Unfunded liabilities will certainly destroy the federal government’s ability to bailout any local or state government. The Michigan state government has also been running large deficits, which makes a bailout of Detroit unlikely.
Lastly, the government of Detroit will soon paint itself into a corner. High taxes, high spending, high deficits, and too much regulation will finally kill Detroit. With a coming second credit crunch, the government of Detroit will not be able to continue its large budget deficits and with worsening economic conditions, tax revenues will fall drastically. The only solution will be cutting huge swaths of the budget.
I wish your thesis inspired more confidence with me. Unfortunately, the Great Depression and repeated re-election of FDR gives us an idea of what people do during tough times. They cling to ineffective government, even tighter than before.
I have lived most (and was born in) of my life in the Toledo/Detroit/Ann Arbor area. The area is not reforming any time soon, and may well be dead in 2 decades and it is sad because I love the area. I see my home essentialy turning into nothing more than Gary Indiana or Flint. The odd thing about it is the avg Michigan/Ohio Democrat is usually much more reasonable and tolerable than your avg New York City/ East Coast Democrat, yet somehow they screwed themselves more and are still entrenched with their party, go figure. Progressivism is the opiate of the people I suppose.
If there is anything good about Detroit it is that the city will soon be placed under the control of a bankruptcy administrator. The people have clearly failed at governing themselves.
If it makes a comeback from bankruptcy, it will be a solid argument against democracy.
not without a change in mindset or else it will be the same circus. somebody comes in, all the bad investments are purged from the community, the people left remaining need to survive so they start at square one again. They pull up their sleeves and work. then this somebody/anybody comes in, and enacts a few small potato legislative decrees. Meanwhile the people that pulled up their sleeves stumbled upon reason and figured out how to clean up the mess where it matters - in their homes, business, and gathering places. Yet this legislator says, “hey lookie, i did all that!” And without a change in mindset the people do all the work and say, “hey lookie, that legislator cleaned up this mess!” it makes no sense - i know.
The main difference between the Great Depression and today is that today all levels of government, but especially local governments, have much less resources that could be used. At least prior to the Great Depression, governments imposed a certain amount of fiscal restraint on themselves and deficits were looked down upon. But now, since every single level of government has been running up large deficits, there isn’t much that any government can do. The City of Detroit can’t really raise taxes and expect more tax revenue and it seems like the borrowing binge of the City Council is coming to an end, as creditors will simply be forced to cut off the credit spigots to Detroit. The only way out will be reduced levels of government.
Okay, well at least include the Red Wings and the Tigers.
Coney dogs are awsome. Are they doing the passports now? I thought that was a year away. I can not name one time since 9/11 that going into and out of Canada was not a pain in the ass, the US security seems much worse (as in longer to get through) than the Canadian side from my experience. And in my handful of experiences the tunnel is worse than the bridge.
Also on a side note the radio station 88.9 (I think it is based in Windsor) comes in more clear in Clevland than in does in Toledo I don’t get how that works and I have no idea how I know that, being that I hardly pay attention to the radio.
