An American Catastrophe (by Bob Herbert)

[dtotire]

An American Catastrophe




By BOB HERBERT
Published: November 20, 2009

n many ways, it’s like a ghost town. It’s eerily quiet. Driving around in the middle of the afternoon, in a city that once was among the most productive on the planet, you see very little traffic, minimal commercial activity, hardly any pedestrians.

What you’ll see are endless acres of urban ruin, block after block and mile after mile of empty and rotting office buildings, storefronts, hotels, apartment buildings and private homes. It’s a scene of devastation and disintegration that stuns the mind, a major American city that still is home to 900,0000 people but which looks at times like a cross between postwar Berlin and the ruin of an ancient civilization.

Detroit was the arsenal of democracy in World War II and the incubator of the American middle class. It was the city that taught mass production to the rest of the world. It was a place that made cars, trucks and other tangible products, not derivatives. And it was the architect of the quintessentially American idea of putting people to work and paying them a decent wage. It’s frightening to think seriously about what we’ve allowed to happen to this city and what is now happening to the middle class and the American economy as a whole.



more:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/21/opinion/21herbert.html?hp

[Tansy_Gold]

1. I wish I could rec this a million times. n/t

[Doctor_J]

2. The fascists have won the war on working americans

the only amazing thing is that we never even fought back

[pundaint]

14. Brokaw's grandkids are going to write about "the stupidest generation"

[UpInArms]

3. someday, when the walls around the wealthy collapse

the awful decisions that have been made that favor the few over the many will have devastating repercussions.

[barbtries]

8. i agree

but in the meantime the repercussions are being visited upon the many. it's just not right.

[reggie the dog]

4. there are good videos up on youtube

showing detroit in ruin. I showed it to my high school students here in France and they were stunned. One kid from Singapore could not understand how someone could do that to their own people, it was truly culturally beyond him.

[BR_Parkway]

5. Do you have a link?

[barbtries]

9. here's just one:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XeUQLMEwUz4

i searched detroit in ruins

[Bozita]

11. Link to "Detroit Wildlife" by French documentarian Florent Tillon

This is one of the best.

http://www.vimeo.com/2371774

[reggie the dog]

13. here is part 3

a tour of detroit's ghetto http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pHhUDKfiggY

part 2 set to "to live is to die" by metallica http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BfhsS-KMFL4&feature=related


my personal favorite to show what trickle down economics and delocalization do, very sad part one

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T6WKMNmFsxM

try not to cry too much.....

[drexel dave]

6. ever been empty building hopping in Detroit?

It's an adventure! Some former military friends and I do it ever so often when we get the chance. It's UNBELIEVEABLE the amount of decaying buildings. Mile after mile sometimes.

[Faygo Kid]

7. Born and raised there. East sider. So very sad.

I have so many great memories, including junior high and high school in the Motown - Beatles years. So many mistakes made. Both my uncles worked for the auto industry (Ford, Buick - white collar) back in the day when that was the ticket to a guaranteed good life. Mom and Grandma both worked at Packard before I was born. Even my father - who left the family when I was a kid, never to return (the bum) was a designer at the GM Tech Center in Warren.

White flight because of the '67 riots, busing, and whatever other excuse were factors. The Renaissance Center was built on the wrong side of Jefferson Avenue, blocking the river view and isolating it from downtown. Zero sense of historic preservation. The freeways were built to destroy the neighborhoods and provide easy access through and out of the city. I could go on and on.

I will always be a Detroiter. Will even watch the Lions again on Thanksgiving. Haven't ever missed a game in my long memory, whether attending or (as this year) on TV. Tradition.

[Tansy_Gold]

10. Chicago native here, but in a sense we're all Detroiters.

Or at least those of us who grew up in the automobile age, the years of high union membership and good jobs and lots of things being made here. Detroit, Cleveland, Akron, Kenosha, Pittsburgh -- so many more cities that knew prosperity then, and are suffering now.

TG

[Uncle Joe]

12. Kicked and recommended.

Thanks for the thread, dtotire.

[Enthusiast]

15. Globalization

and the free trade philosophy caused the entire thing.

In light of the wholesale loss of U.S. manufacturing, and middle class jobs, you won't convince me that these cheap goods from China have enriched our lives. But you will hear this argument every day from the talking heads on TV.

[wuvuj]

16. WHY?

http://www.alternet.org/story/144109/15_signs_american_society_is_coming_apart_at_the_seams


15 Signs American Society Is Coming Apart at the Seams

The economic elite have launched an attack on the U.S. public and society is unraveling at an increased rate. You may have missed it in the mainstream news media, but statistical societal indicators are reading red across the board. Let’s look at the top 15 statistics that prove we are under attack.


So let’s break down these numbers.

You have a population of 50 million people who are in desperate need of money, they most likely have no health insurance and can’t afford to get health care or help of any kind. Part of this population probably also has loved ones who can’t get life sustaining medical treatments, or loved ones who have already died due to lack of costly medical treatment. The clock is ticking loud for these people and they are running out of options fast, and time delayed is time closer to death.

While the richest 1 percent have never had it so good, a significant percentage of the U.S. population now has firsthand experience in this. Millions upon millions of Americans are poor, broke, struggling, starving, desperate… and armed.

We are sitting on a powder keg!

We are now witnessing the critical unraveling of U.S. society.

....


Unemployment will peak in 2012?

[treestar]

17. Diversify!

Putting all the eggs in one basket is clearly the problem here. There are going to be down times to any industry.

People are going to leave the city during those downtimes.

[democracy1st]

18. kick