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Wow, I used to explore abandoned buildings for fun when I was in high school.  Michigan Central was always my favorite.  I first went in around 1998.  It had only been abandoned for a decade, but the decay was mind-boggling and surreal.  Here it's 10 years later and I can't understand how it stands on it's own.  I suppose that building stands as the greatest metaphor for the town's steadfast nature.  I say town, because it barely constitutes a city, now.  The population has dipped well below the 1 million mark and has no real sign of growth on the horizon.

It's easy to blame the unions for Detroit's problems.  The unions gained far too much leverage in the past 35 years.  But that's my own opinion.  The ideal, though, is hard to argue with.  Work 50 years for a company and make enough money to buy the product you build, own a home and put your kid through college.  It sounds fair, right?

It's sad to see what has happened here.  This town has given the world a lot, and when it asked for a lifeline, the government scoffed and made us grovel and beg while it filled the banker's pockets blindly without hesitation.  Personally, I think some are out to abolished the middle class, and Detroit stands as its last conquest. 

If Detroit fails, we all will.  GM is the largest purchaser of insurance in the world, next to the U.S. government.  Can you imagine what dominoes fall after those first two?  It's not just about cars and unions.

Someone sent me this article.  It pretty much sums it up.  It's lengthy but it's a great piece. 
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/writers/the_bonus/01/07/detroit/index.html
 
MikoKensington said:
Someone sent me this article.  It pretty much sums it up.  It's lengthy but it's a great piece. 
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/writers/the_bonus/01/07/detroit/index.html
Click to expand...

Great article - thanks for posting it.  I'm not from Detroit proper, but it definitely hit home.
 
I'm not from Detroit proper either, the closest I ever lived was 3/4 of a mile North of the City Limits.  My brother lives 1 block North.  But, you ask anyone from the surrounding 30 Miles where they're from, they'll say Detroit.  In the end, it's all the same entity. 
 
MikoKensington said:
Wow, I used to explore abandoned buildings for fun when I was in high school.  Michigan Central was always my favorite.  I first went in around 1998.  It had only been abandoned for a decade, but the decay was mind-boggling and surreal.  Here it's 10 years later and I can't understand how it stands on it's own.  I suppose that building stands as the greatest metaphor for the town's steadfast nature.  I say town, because it barely constitutes a city, now.  The population has dipped well below the 1 million mark and has no real sign of growth on the horizon.

It's easy to blame the unions for Detroit's problems.  The unions gained far too much leverage in the past 35 years.  But that's my own opinion.  The ideal, though, is hard to argue with.  Work 50 years for a company and make enough money to buy the product you build, own a home and put your kid through college.  It sounds fair, right?

It's sad to see what has happened here.  This town has given the world a lot, and when it asked for a lifeline, the government scoffed and made us grovel and beg while it filled the banker's pockets blindly without hesitation.  Personally, I think some are out to abolished the middle class, and Detroit stands as its last conquest. 

If Detroit fails, we all will.  GM is the largest purchaser of insurance in the world, next to the U.S. government.  Can you imagine what dominoes fall after those first two?  It's not just about cars and unions.

Someone sent me this article.  It pretty much sums it up.  It's lengthy but it's a great piece. 
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/writers/the_bonus/01/07/detroit/index.html
Click to expand...


Yeah I see the whole "auto bailout" issue was more as an attempt to "break" the unions and thus pave the way for European companies to "outsource" jobs and use US labor on the cheap as opposed to having to pay these expensive pensions and employee union benifits that many of us here envy over.  Is this a "misconception" of how things are done in EU?  or a sad fact that European companies are copying bad habits of US corporations.


MikoKensington said:
If Detroit fails, we all will
Click to expand...


Maybe I sound a little "overoptimistic" ....BUT as long as the law of supply and demand will continue, along with the entreprenual spirit in this country.  I dont see failure but an opportunity for smaller businesses to pick up to where these "giants" left off.

As they say...where most people see failure the very cleaver few see opportunity for prosperity and promise, just as so long as knowlege in Engineering, Culture and Art will be passed down to future generations...

So even in fact, there will be a paradigm shift...personally I've noticed great cynicism in people older than me such as the "baby boomer" generation and others....but the spawn of these ealier generations have more insight, a positive outlook and are a bit more suspicious of what the Media/Gov tells us.

I bet during the Industrial Revolution the older folks probably thought that the world was coming to an end with innovations like the lightbulb and the automobile..lol






 

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