I would argue Baltimore is not a statistical outlier, but rather a predictable precursor – a canary in the coalmine if you will that indicates what American cities will increasingly degenerate towards going forward if our nation does not significantly reform how we handle them. Cities in Post-Modern Amerika suffer from an interlocking directory of failure modes which retard their economic and social development. This scares many productive and worthwhile people out of setting foot on one of their streets unless necessity brooks no other course of action. A typical American City will usually be worse than the surrounding countryside in crime, illegitimacy, educational outcomes, and economic opportunity. This is precisely opposite of how it was originally intended to work.
So just what does America do about murder as lifestyle in Baltimorgue, bankruptcy in Detroit, or the perception at least of deliberate Apartheid in new Haven, CT? Here’s what I think should be a reasonable to-do list.
Not withstanding the UAW’s contribution to the decline of Detroit’s Big Three, it’s been more than two years since the UAW’s Bob King announced his union’s intent to “shame” foreign auto makers into unionizing their American workers through “blackmail.”
Moreover, it’s been nearly two years since the UAW’s King began talks with the German union IG Metal and VW’s works council.
With some set backs, to date, progress at unionizing foreign automakers’ U.S. operations has been slow going for Detroit’s most progressive union boss–to say the least.
Now, even as the UAW fights with its own employees, things have begun to heat up in the South.
“The [NLRB]’s decisions have enraged many small-business owners, and some of them are defying board rulings. It appears this discussion is only getting started, and we can expect (I hope) to see more employers standing up for their rights.”
It’s easy to kick Detroit. The place just about roles over and begs for it. Now we learn that the City Henry Ford built is now eligible to be put under emergency management by Governor Rick Snyder. Michigan State Treasurer described the situation succinctly below.
“We believe there’s a financial emergency in the city and that there’s no plan in place to correct the situation … I do believe strongly Detroit is fixable,” he said.
I read this, nod in sad agreement and then think to myself that Detroit is just the symptom. Detroit is just the canary that died in the burning coal mine of American finance. Our country is going bankrupt and despite our heartfelt desire that this not happen, most of us are helping it occur. We are caught in what’s called a discursive dilemma. Gonzalo Lira gives us an explanation of how we made it to sequestration below.
Detroit, Michigan shows us the ruins of a once-great civilization. It does us an even better favor than that. It shows us these ruins as a precautionary warning – while our civilization actually embarks upon collapse. You can view the very artistic now vs. then photos of Cass Technical High School, and see the crash that awaits the rest of America if we continue to believe in impossible things.
This crash will certainly take place, and Detroit’s future will certainly become yours if you remain foolish enough to believe in Government Claus. Libertarian Author James Payne explains the foolish fallacy of Government Claus below.
Events get driven by something. The motive power behind what happens in policy and politics can often lie hidden like the mass of an iceberg underneath the sea. Those who bother wondering why President Obama refuses to compromise on anything in order to avoid the “Fiscal Cliff” theorize two primary things. Barack Obama plays the PR angle to make Rethuglicans appear as the political subsumed class* of lackeys to the E-Vil Rich. Others assume he’s Richard Roundtree** and he’s sticking it to the man.
Both of these conjectures see only the tip of the iceberg. There are two possible errors in assuming either explains our President’s behavior in total. The first mistake is to assume that Barack Obama completely drives this train. The second is to assume that he reacts totally based on his ideological battles against Conservatism. Assuming a bond fealty between Barack Obama and his committed core of followers causes me to realize that President Obama (and much of the rest of the professional left in America) has strapped himself in for a ride on the tiger. He’s driving the bus from the movie “Speed.”
Heartbreak in the Motor City! I was totally shocked and astounded to learn that Kwame Kilpatrick’s political sidekicks looted the pensions of Detroit City police officers and fire-fighters. According to Tresa Baldas of The Detroit Free Press, Kwame’s Magical Medicine Show included the following shenanigans.
Earlier this week I mentioned a story at Safe Libraries exposing American Library Association astroturf promoting the radical Free Press agenda on Net Neutrality. Now, the ALA does not come into this debate with clean hands. The ALA has taken stands before, notably to protect terrorists from being caught by the FBI. But now they’re getting aggressive. On the heels of this story about ALA | Read More »
Background: back over Thanksgiving weekend John Conyers III (the son of Rep. John Conyers) reported a theft of computers and concert tickets from the car that he was using. The problem? John Conyers III was using the car unlawfully: it was leased to his father’s Congressional office as an official vehicle, and Conyers was not using it in an official capacity. And it wasn’t anything | Read More »
moelane: #rsrh Charlie Cook: GOP should (air quotes) 'start' leaking dirt on Obama to press.: http://t.co/5syx1mf0vz
RMConservative: Between 1992 and 2012, a total of about 1.7 million Muslims entered the U.S. as legal permanent residents.http://t.co/WuPJSn0yp6 #rsrh
moelane: #rsrh It has been a long day in a long week in what is already a long month...: http://t.co/77UFRvPtEh
moelane: #rsrh I hope that we will all be mature about this Lisa Jackson painting.: http://t.co/7vHT3gBauL
moelane: #rsrh Barack Obama has 'complete confidence' in Eric Holder.: http://t.co/IwQvILTUCX
moelane: #rsrh Attention, shadowy VRWC groups: start primarying John "Hi, I'm an idiot" Tierney.: http://t.co/8gcJlF9fpz
moelane: #rsrh How cute: the NYT still thinks Obama won the tax cut fight.: http://t.co/L4pvg81CXQ
moelane: #rsrh So, basically, Barack Obama is now TROLING the press over the IRS thing.: http://t.co/sbusr1n3rw
presjpolk: DHS starts gunning for Bitcoin. TOLD YOU SO. http://t.co/KJYnEUwpPK AND MT. GOX IS DOWN. 502. https://t.co/nc8jEsOCBB #rsrh
moelane: #rsrh QotD, The Huffington Post (!) Takes Media Matters To The Woodshed edition.: http://t.co/kzFKdSoMM8
moelane: #rsrh Use Buycott on *your* sweatshop smartphone to identify corporate malefactors!: http://t.co/jNBupHYB7b
VladimirRS: In the words of Harry S Truman, "The Buck Stops with Some Low-Level Employees." #rsrh
RSBooBooKitty: In other words, REALITY is what keeps this reform (Obamacare) advocate up at night. http://t.co/rjsboI1lC7 #rsrh
RMConservative: 26.1% of California is foreign born http://t.co/BlTtEVsJsu Again, immigration can be a tremendous asset, but how much? how quickly? #rsrh
RSBooBooKitty: Using recent MSM standards, shouldn't this be Romney's worst week ever? #rsrh
![[RS]](/t/img/logo-footer.jpg){kind=logo}
