In Detroit a man passed away unnoticed and when he was noticed he was ignored. He was ignored by the people who were there to ensure this didn't happen to him. It happened because they forgot to look at why their city is dyeing, instead of looking at what they can scavenge from it.
Convinced that it was indeed a body, this reporter made a discreet call to a police officer. "Aw, just give 911 a call," the cop said. "We'll be called eventually." A call was placed to 911. A woman answered. She was told it was a reporter calling. The operator tried to follow, but seemed confused. "Where is this building?" She promised to contact the appropriate authorities. Twenty minutes or so went by when 911 called the newsroom. This time it was a man. "Where's this building?" It was explained to him, as was the elevator shaft and the tomb of ice. "Bring a jack-hammer," this reporter suggested. "That's what we do," he said. Nearly 24 hours went by. The elevator shaft was still a gaping wound. There was no crime scene tape. The homeless continued to burn their fires. City schoolchildren still do not have the necessary books to learn. The train station continues to crumble. Too many homicides still go unsolved. After another two calls to 911 on Wednesday afternoon (one of which was disconnected), the Detroit Fire Department called and agreed to meet nearby. Capt. Emma McDonald was on the scene. "Every time I think I've seen it all, I see this," she said. And with that they went about the work of recovering a person who might otherwise be waiting for the warm winds of spring.
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Maybe the reason nobody called 911 is because of what happened when the reporter called 911.
Detroit is a dead city
Detroit was killed by many things ... economics, as manufacturing sought out the lowest cost providers ... race riots in the late 60's that scared most of the non-black inhabitants out of the city, taking their money and investment with them ... massive corruption in the city government, which if you follow the news, is ongoing, and John Conyers of the house of representatives, wife is caught up in the latest bit ... fiscal mismanagement, just look at their expensive and aging schools, which don't really educate students ... crumbling infrastructure, just drive down I94, or I96 and you will see what I mean ... 3rd world power system, yes power does go out in the city ... entitlement attitude, and an unwillingness to take responsibility for their own situation.
Detroit died many decades ago. The body has barely been kept alive through expensive and intrusive life support.
But its not just Detroit.
Its Michigan.
This is a union state, which forces employers to pay far more than their competitors per unit of work, and as has been demonstrated time and again, union work is the least productive work, often requiring 2-3 people to do what 1 could do at another non-union shop. While union officials see this as a victory, it decimates the ability of the employer to compete against these other non-union encumbered companies. They aren't as productive, their cost bases are higher, and their products aren't considered nearly as good. If this sounds familiar, this is why 2 of the big 3 are about to go tits-up. The union decrys this view, but their protestations notwithstanding, it is generally acknowledged that they and mismanagement, including a lack of a pair during negotiation with the greedy unions, has brought these companies to ruin.
Michigan as a whole is doomed. There are beautiful parts to the state. There just isn't capital, or investment, or job creation. The reason there isn't job creation is the cost of those jobs is so much higher in Michgan than elsewhere. There is no investment here ... there is the failed Life Science Corridor now the failed 21st century fund, there are lots of terribly frustrated entrepreneurs who would grow jobs and companies if they could get capital. The MEDC has elected to invest in 4 areas, 3 of which will never blossom in the state for obvious reasons, and the 4th is mindblowingly stupid to invest in. We are doing research for the Chinese for free as a result of the MEDC focus.
The state is one of only two that is losing population ... new high school and college graduates are leaving as fast as they can. With no new job creation, we aren't attracting talent in. Michigan has a 10.9% unemployment rate ... it was 8.5% several months ago, and it is accelerating.
It is sad to watch a state die. One with so many beautiful places to visit and spend time. But dying it is, from corrupt and/or inept government ... Granholm on downward, through insane requirements that make it difficult to grow a business there.
In 20 years, Michigan will look a great deal like West Virginia. WV is a beautiful state. An economically depressed, and effectively permanently so, state, but beautiful.
Weep for us.
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