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Current Events => Politics => Topic started by: 5412 on December 21, 2009, 10:06:45 PM

Title: This is so spot on it is terrifying....
Post by: 5412 on December 21, 2009, 10:06:45 PM
Hi,

Got this report from a dear friend today.  It is scary.

Also, I cannot argue with it,

5412


 
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Subject: USA: The Next Detroit


 

 
 

 December 21, 2009 
 
 

  Editor's note: One of the most controversial pieces we published this year was Porter's essay paralleling America's decline with Detroit's complete economic and political failure. We received more heated e-mails about this Digest than any in recent memory. Some called us "racists," though everything in the below essay is fact. Others agreed with our simple message... A socialist government is dangerous.

USA: The Next Detroit
By Porter Stansberry
From the October 28, 2009, S&A Digest

One of the most important things to remember about socialism - or coercion of any kind - is it fails eventually because human beings have an innate desire for liberty and a strong need for personal property rights. In fact, the origins of government lie in the need of agricultural communities to protect themselves from violence and theft. So it is particularly ironic that in more recent times, it is government itself that has more frequently played the role of bandit.

When you start taxing people at extreme rates to pay for socialist "benefits," when you start telling them which schools their children must attend, when you start giving jobs away to people based on race instead of ability... you quash human freedom, which bogs down productivity... and if continued for long enough, leads to social collapse.

I find it perplexing that only 20 years after the collapse of the Berlin Wall, the West continues to implement laws that mimic all of the failed policies of our former "communist" foes. In fact, our current president won the election by promising to "spread the wealth around." But... truth be told... we don't have to look to Eastern Europe or the Soviet Union to find a society destroyed by coercion, socialism, and the overreaching power of the State. We could just look at Detroit...

In 1961, the last Republican mayor of Detroit lost his re-election bid to a young, intelligent Democrat, with the overwhelming support of newly organized black voters. His name was Jerome Cavanagh. The incumbent was widely considered to be corrupt (and later served 10 years in prison for tax evasion). Cavanagh, a white man, pandered to poor underclass black voters.

He marched with Martin Luther King down the streets of Detroit in 1963. (Of course, marching with King was the right thing to do... It's just Cavanagh's motives were political not moral.) He instated aggressive affirmative action policies at City Hall. And most critically, he greatly expanded the role of the government in Detroit, taking advantage of President Lyndon Johnson's "Model Cities Program" - the first great experiment in centralized urban planning.

Mayor Cavanagh was the only elected official to serve on Johnson's task force. And Detroit received widespread acclaim for its leadership in the program, which attempted to turn a nine-square-mile section of the city (with 134,000 inhabitants) into a "model city." More than $400 million was spent trying to turn inner cities into shining new monuments to government planning. In short, the feds and Democratic city mayors were soon telling people where to live, what to build, and what businesses to open or close. In return, the people received cash, training, education, and health care.

The Model Cities program was a disaster for Detroit. But it did accomplish its real goal: The creation of a state-supported, Democratic political power base. The program also resulted in much higher taxes - which were easy to pitch to poor voters who didn't have to pay them. Cavanagh pushed a new income tax through the state legislature and a "commuter tax" on city workers.

Unfortunately, as with all socialist programs, lots of folks simply don't like being told what to do. Lots of folks don't like being plundered by the government. They don't like losing their jobs because of their race.

In Detroit, they didn't like paying new, large taxes to fund a largely black and Democratic political hegemony. And so, in 1966, more than 22,000 middle- and upper-class residents moved out of the city.

But what about the poor? As my friend Doug Casey likes to say, in the War on Poverty, the poor lost the most. In July 1967, police attempted to break up a late-night party in the middle of the new "Model City." The scene turned into the worst race riot of the 1960s. The violence killed more than 40 people and left more than 5,000 people homeless. One of the first stores to be looted was the black-owned pharmacy.

The largest black-owned clothing store in the city was also burned to the ground. Cavanagh did nothing to stop the riots, fearing a large police presence would make matters worse. Five days later, Johnson sent in two divisions of paratroopers to put down the insurrection. Over the next 18 months, an additional 140,000 upper- and middle-class residents - almost all of them white - left the city.

And so, you might rightfully ask... after five years of centralized planning, higher taxes, and a fleeing population, what did the government decide to do with its grand experiment, its "Model City"? You'll never guess...

Seeing it had accomplished nothing but failure, the government endeavored to do still more. The Model City program was expanded and enlarged by 1974's Community Development Block Grant Program. Here again, politicians would decide which groups (and even individuals) would receive state funds for various "renewal" schemes. Later, Big Business was brought into the fold. In exchange for various concessions, the Big Three automakers "gave" $488 million to the city for use in still more redevelopment schemes in the mid-1990s.

What happened? Even with all of their power and all of the money, centralized planners couldn't succeed with any of their plans. Nearly all of the upper and middle class left Detroit. The poor fled, too. The Model City area lost 63% of its population and 45% of its housing units from the inception of the program through 1990.

Even today, the crisis continues. At a recent auction of nearly 9,000 seized homes and lots, less than one-fifth of the available properties sold, even with bidding starting at $500. You literally can't give away most of the "Model City" areas today. The properties put up for sale last week represented an area the size of New York's Central Park. Total vacant land in Detroit now occupies an area the size of Boston - Detroit properties in foreclosure have more than tripled since 2007.

Every single mayor of Detroit since 1961 has been a Democrat. Every single mayor of Detroit since 1974 has been black. Detroit has been a major recipient of every major social program since the early 1960s and has received hundreds of billions of dollars in government grants, loans, and programs. We now have a black, Democrat president, who is promising to do to America as a whole what his political mentors have done to Detroit.

Those of you with a Democratic political affiliation may think what I've written above is biased or false. You may think what you like. But there is no way to argue that what the government has done to Detroit is anything but a horrendous crime. You may think what I've written above is merely a political analysis. Perhaps so, but politicians drive macroeconomic policy. And macroeconomic policy determines key financial metrics, like the trade-weighted value of a currency and key interest rates.

The likelihood America will become a giant Detroit is growing - rapidly. Politicians now control the banking sector, most of the manufacturing sector (including autos), a large amount of media, and are threatening to take over health care and the production of electricity (via cap and trade rules). These are the biggest threats to wealth in the history of our country. And these threats are causing the world's most accomplished and wealthy investors to actively short sell the United States - something that is unprecedented in my experience.

Regards,

Porter Stansberry
 
 


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Title: Re: This is so spot on it is terrifying....
Post by: bkg on December 21, 2009, 10:12:27 PM
Jason Lewis has been warning of this for Years. Specifically in the MPLS/St Paul areas, but warning the country as a whole also.

We're well on our way.
Title: Re: This is so spot on it is terrifying....
Post by: 5412 on December 21, 2009, 10:22:11 PM
Quote from: bkg on December 21, 2009, 10:12:27 PM
Jason Lewis has been warning of this for Years. Specifically in the MPLS/St Paul areas, but warning the country as a whole also.

We're well on our way.

Hi,

Much like the working class moved out of Detroit in droves, people will be fleeing the US en masse.  My wife and I are headed on a scouting mission to Costa Rica on 12/31 and will visit Panama in April.  Those who have the means will not stand for what the government is trying to do.

regards,
5412
Title: Re: This is so spot on it is terrifying....
Post by: longview on December 22, 2009, 06:32:13 AM
I lived in Detroit in the 60s to early 70s.  Had two elderly neighbor men who'd been there all their lives.  They frequently cussed and discussed the politics and development plans promoted saying it wasn't sustainable and wouldn't achieve it's goals.  Both suggested that I would live to see Detroit revert to open space and a ghost town-like landscape. 

I'm fascinated by the photos I see of it today.  They sure nailed it.
Title: Re: This is so spot on it is terrifying....
Post by: rustybayonet on December 22, 2009, 07:29:36 AM
Born and raised in a northern suburb just 11 miles from the Detroit River, my ancestors where founding fathers of my hometown.  I know it's a small example, but this  past year the entire Michigan State Fair closed after 100+ years.  The fair grounds covered 1 square mile of property on the northern edge of Detroit.  [My family used to own the property - I have the original deed as a family keepsake].  The reason for closing - people couldn't afford to attend.  I watched and lived through exactly what was written.  

Jerry Cavanaugh was defeated by Roman Gribbs - but the real downturn in my opinion, started with good ole' Coleman Young the one that defeated Roman Gribbs.  If Obama ever had a political mentor to look at it was 'StreetSmart Coleman'.  Formally working for Ford Motors, he was 'blacklisted' from them, before becoming mayor.  If that doesn't say something for the cause of Detroits downfall, I don't know what does.
During the 'riots' - I remember a certain future U.S. Congressman standing on the back of a truck, supposedly trying to 'calm' the crowd, at the beginning of the riots.  That person is still serving in the House of Representatives - none others than John Conyers, D, 14th district, now a 'leader' in the Congress.

One factor not really mentioned though was the labor unions.  They totally control Michigan, from Bay City [US 10] south.  The 'Non-Union' 'right -to-work' force businesses have to compete with the inflated wages and salaries that the 'Big Three' and all their suppliers with union workers make.  We have just seen how well the auto industry is doing in Michigan.  And since the state is controlled by those factors, is it any wonder Michigan is in the shape it is, and I agree, the country is being taken down the same path.  I owned a business in the Detroit area, finally in 1985 I said good-bye.  Call it drastic, but not only did I move from the Detroit area, I moved out of state.  We still have family and friends up there, and go back to visit - each time we see more and more of the decline taking place and it's spreading.
Title: Re: This is so spot on it is terrifying....
Post by: Eupher on December 22, 2009, 08:28:22 AM
Quote from: rustybayonet on December 22, 2009, 07:29:36 AM
Born and raised in a northern suburb just 11 miles from the Detroit River, my ancestors where founding fathers of my hometown.  I know it's a small example, but this  past year the entire Michigan State Fair closed after 100+ years.  The fair grounds covered 1 square mile of property on the northern edge of Detroit.  [My family used to own the property - I have the original deed as a family keepsake].  The reason for closing - people couldn't afford to attend.  I watched and lived through exactly what was written.  

Jerry Cavanaugh was defeated by Roman Gribbs - but the real downturn in my opinion, started with good ole' Coleman Young the one that defeated Roman Gribbs.  If Obama ever had a political mentor to look at it was 'StreetSmart Coleman'.  Formally working for Ford Motors, he was 'blacklisted' from them, before becoming mayor.  If that doesn't say something for the cause of Detroits downfall, I don't know what does.
During the 'riots' - I remember a certain future U.S. Congressman standing on the back of a truck, supposedly trying to 'calm' the crowd, at the beginning of the riots.  That person is still serving in the House of Representatives - none others than John Conyers, D, 14th district, now a 'leader' in the Congress.

One factor not really mentioned though was the labor unions.  They totally control Michigan, from Bay City [US 10] south.  The 'Non-Union' 'right -to-work' force businesses have to compete with the inflated wages and salaries that the 'Big Three' and all their suppliers with union workers make.  We have just seen how well the auto industry is doing in Michigan.  And since the state is controlled by those factors, is it any wonder Michigan is in the shape it is, and I agree, the country is being taken down the same path.  I owned a business in the Detroit area, finally in 1985 I said good-bye.  Call it drastic, but not only did I move from the Detroit area, I moved out of state.  We still have family and friends up there, and go back to visit - each time we see more and more of the decline taking place and it's spreading.

You nailed it, rusty. Jerry Cavanaugh was a warmup act for Coleman Young, who took graft, greed and corruption to levels that might have even exceeded those of the Daly Klan in Chicago.

Detroit is a sucking chest wound and the patient isn't long for this world....
Title: Re: This is so spot on it is terrifying....
Post by: DumbAss Tanker on December 22, 2009, 08:48:16 AM
Quote from: Eupher on December 22, 2009, 08:28:22 AM
You nailed it, rusty. Jerry Cavanaugh was a warmup act for Coleman Young, who took graft, greed and corruption to levels that might have even exceeded those of the Daly Klan in Chicago.

Detroit is a sucking chest wound and the patient isn't long for this world....

Unfortunately, the 'Rats that caused it won't go down with the ship, they will just move on to contaminate other cities and ride them down for what they can wring out in the short term.
Title: Re: This is so spot on it is terrifying....
Post by: Oceander on December 22, 2009, 08:55:49 AM
An image or two of parts - too many parts - of Detroit:

(http://teamowens313.files.wordpress.com/2008/07/detroit-blown-out.jpg)

(http://www.moonbattery.com/detroit-wilderness.jpg)

(http://www.doobybrain.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/abandoned-house-detroit.jpg)

(http://betaphilings.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/detroit-house.jpg)


If you really want to wallow in Detroit's suicide, there's a whole photo-essay on it here: http://www.marchandmeffre.com/detroit/index.html


This image from the March & Meffre photoessay was just so poignant that I had to put it up separately:

East Methodist Church

The words in the image read: "And You Shall Say God Did It."
(http://www.marchandmeffre.com/detroit/15.jpg)

Title: Re: This is so spot on it is terrifying....
Post by: Baruch Menachem on December 22, 2009, 10:25:49 AM
Detroit will become one of the great anthropological mysteries, like Ankor Wat, Great Zimbabwe and the Mayan cities.   It looks like it is already 2/3s there.
Title: Re: This is so spot on it is terrifying....
Post by: IassaFTots on December 22, 2009, 01:36:03 PM
Wow.  That is so sad.  I have seen devastation personally of hurricanes, and tornadoes, and seen pics of the aftermath of earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanos, and even nuclear bombs. 

This was just people.  Man.
Title: Re: This is so spot on it is terrifying....
Post by: Happy Fun Ball on December 22, 2009, 04:43:30 PM
Taking bets on when the first ED-209s start showing up on the streets there...
Title: Re: This is so spot on it is terrifying....
Post by: DumbAss Tanker on December 22, 2009, 05:05:10 PM
Quote from: Happy Fun Ball on December 22, 2009, 04:43:30 PM
Taking bets on when the first ED-209s start showing up on the streets there...

Who'd put that kind of dough into it?  The State and city are obviously in no position to do that.  More like they build a wall around it to keep people in, as in Escape from New York.
Title: Re: This is so spot on it is terrifying....
Post by: Odin's Hand on December 22, 2009, 05:25:29 PM
Quote from: Oceander on December 22, 2009, 08:55:49 AM
An image or two of parts - too many parts - of Detroit:

-snip pics-


I kept waiting for Super Mutants and feral ghouls to pop up...
Title: Re: This is so spot on it is terrifying....
Post by: Oceander on December 22, 2009, 05:39:36 PM
Quote from: DumbAss Tanker on December 22, 2009, 05:05:10 PM
Who'd put that kind of dough into it?  The State and city are obviously in no position to do that.  More like they build a wall around it to keep people in, as in Escape from New York.

That is probably a whole heck of a lot closer to reality than a lot of people might think.
Title: Re: This is so spot on it is terrifying....
Post by: Karin on December 23, 2009, 10:53:10 AM
I am as dumbstruck seeing those pictures above, as when I first saw them in a NR article.  Here is good, hard, heartbreaking evidence of corrupt, incompetent socialist rule.  Why are so many blind to it?   

At another site I hang out at, we have a troll who lives near Detroit.  He will deny up and down that Detroit is the nation's ashtray, and continues to try and convince conservatives of the superiority of socialism. 
Title: Re: This is so spot on it is terrifying....
Post by: 5412 on December 23, 2009, 12:02:23 PM
Quote from: Karin on December 23, 2009, 10:53:10 AM
I am as dumbstruck seeing those pictures above, as when I first saw them in a NR article.  Here is good, hard, heartbreaking evidence of corrupt, incompetent socialist rule.  Why are so many blind to it?  

At another site I hang out at, we have a troll who lives near Detroit.  He will deny up and down that Detroit is the nation's ashtray, and continues to try and convince conservatives of the superiority of socialism.  

Hi Karin,

I think this also is a testament to unions out of control.

When the big three had only to compete among themselves they would target one auto maker and they would strike a deal and the other two would follow along.  Made little difference to management because their costs were all similar and they could just raise the price to the consumer and they would still be comparably priced to their competition.  In those days US automakers dominated the US market.

When they started having international competition, much like the air lines, when they deregulated, competitors came into the market who had tremendous cost advantages in the building of their product.  The Japanese could build in much better quality and still have a lower cost per vehicle to compete in the US marketplace.

Well same happened in the air line industry, the low cost carriers trounced them.  One by one the big air lines filed bankruptcy in order to get out from under union contracts and pension benefits that made them no longer competitive.  They tried to grandfather their current employees in, lots of them basically set up two tiered wage scales, one for the old folks and one for all the new hires so they could compete in a competitive marketplace and save as many of their jobs as the could.  All but Eastern Air Lines unions worked with the respective carriers and they survived.  Eastern had a militant union and basically the company folded and they all lost their jobs....

Seems the automakers were about to do the same thing and the union contolled democrat party realized what would happen so the government stepped in.  Instead of letting them belly up, then the unions would be forced to bring their folks into the 21st century with wages etc, they just stole the companies from the stockholders and bond holders and gave the unions majority interest.  Well that will not solve a damn thing.  The inevitable is still inevitable.   Detroit will just be the first ghost town until organized labor recognizes that the labor market is world wide and they cannot continue with artificial pay scales because they will drive their employers out of business.

SEIU wants to organize world wide and they think they will bring all wages up to the level of the US.....and they are nuts.  They will eventually get more dues from outside the US and then sell the US unions down the river.

regards,
5412
Title: Re: This is so spot on it is terrifying....
Post by: thundley4 on December 23, 2009, 01:46:44 PM
Quote
SEIU wants to organize world wide and they think they will bring all wages up to the level of the US.....and they are nuts.  They will eventually get more dues from outside the US and then sell the US unions down the river.

SEIU is also the main union of health care workers. Hm, makes you wonder doesn't it?
Title: Re: This is so spot on it is terrifying....
Post by: Oceander on December 23, 2009, 01:52:36 PM
Quote from: thundley4 on December 23, 2009, 01:46:44 PM
SEIU is also the main union of health care workers. Hm, makes you wonder doesn't it?

Just wish it would make Democrats start thinking.
Title: Re: This is so spot on it is terrifying....
Post by: Oceander on December 23, 2009, 02:13:21 PM
Unions killed the United States.  Period.  End of discussion.

For those who want to see the extent of the devastation caused by unions, some more abandoned houses in the Detroit area: www.100abandonedhouses.com

A sample or two:

Brush Park (formerly a wealthy suburb)

(http://www.100abandonedhouses.com/wp-content/gallery/abandoned-houses/brush_park_8.jpg)

Frank Lloyd Wright knockoff

(http://www.100abandonedhouses.com/wp-content/gallery/abandoned-houses/03150406_15_xl.jpg)

anonymous

(http://www.100abandonedhouses.com/wp-content/gallery/abandoned-houses/03180804_05_xl.jpg)


(http://www.100abandonedhouses.com/wp-content/gallery/abandoned-houses/12150405_10_xl.jpg)


Y'know, the more of this I see, the angrier and angrier I get.  These fcuking leftists and liberals whinge on and on and on and on about the "lack" of "affordable housing" and how so many people don't have a decent place to live and on, and on, and on, and you know what - they are the only people who are to blame for that situation!  The reason there is such a shortage of good housing is because of liberals and leftists!  They're not interested in actually making it possible for the maximum number of people to obtain - through their own efforts - the best housing they can find, they're only interested in seizing everything and doling it out in accordance with their own stupid, false ideas of wrong and right.
Title: Re: This is so spot on it is terrifying....
Post by: 5412 on December 23, 2009, 04:02:27 PM
Quote from: Oceander on December 23, 2009, 01:52:36 PM
Just wish it would make Democrats start thinking.

Hi,

Let's see, OXYMORON's

Senate ethics

Cubs Highlights

Democrats thinking


hmmmmm

5412