Steven Crowder reports on the economic situation in Detroit. (Video below)
“They’ve been promised the world, but have been left with this.”
The same “progressive” policies that have destroyed Detroit are going to destroy the rest of America. One must wonder if the policy makers truly believed that their socialist ideas for Detroit would actually work. Whatever the case may be, this is the end result — a perfect example of what not to do.
As Crowder points out in the video below, the people of Detroit and Michigan (and now the rest of the USA) willingly give up their liberty for increased government intervention and entitlements for education, health care and training programs.
The following quote, attributed to Benjamin Franklin comes to mind:
“They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety.”
Those who give up essential liberties not only do not deserve liberty or safety, they are almost guaranteed to have neither. Detroit, in its current state, will be a paradise compared to what this country will look like in a decade.
Video: Detroit in RUINS! (Crowder goes Ghetto)
Hat tip to Rick Blaine, who alerted us to Steven Crowder’s new video and commented that Detroit now looks similar to the set from the SHTF movie Children of Men, if not worse.
To be sure, Detroit’s economy is one of the worst in the nation. Wasn’t their chief liability a heavy dependence on employment from auto production? Seems that their Congress people asked for and got just about anything the auto industry wanted. The U.S. auto industry just could not or would not adapt to the changing consumer market. Furthermore, I believe the Detroit auto-based industry was also under assault by those ideologic forces that continue to bust up higher paying domestic unionized jobs in favor of cheap foreign labor. It’s a shame to loose good paying domestic jobs. Those same forces are seeking to drive down the standard of living for the average American (they don’t call us “working class” for nothing as they treat us expendable parts of the machine). When it is low enough for them and many of our workplace protections have been scrapped they will bring back industrial jobs to the USA and the average Americans will praise them for providing jobs the good ol’ USA.
I can’t see where Detroit’s problems and the larger economy is a GOP or Democratic issue. The Congress people are only the lever pullers for their corporate backers. The corporations are trying to extract more profit. Capitalism seeks to exploit the worker and the environment to extract profit. It all comes down to corporate greed. Detroit’s economy was ruined because too many people were making a lot of money on the status quo in the auto industry and sub-prime loads. No one would change course while certain people were making lots of money.
If you want to save the national economy then push back against corporations trying to eliminate workplace protections and benefits. They try to brainwash Americans into believing that this is necessary so that Americans can compete on the world stage…read…compete with cheap southeast Asian labor–which is impossible to compete with a Chinese worker making a few dollars an hour with no fringe benefits.
An American firm can employ Americans and pay a decent wage, but will realize less profit, but still be a profitable business. To save the American economy corporations must rein in greed to be profitable and responsible to the future of the nation they operate in.
An employee making a livable wage has money to spend into the economy.
who is John Galt…
Eye opening for sure. Glad I don’t live there and will fight the current government takeover to the end.
This video was far to critical on the alleged ” liberal “influences and completely failed to include the war on the working class, trade policy, etc., etc… This was a pitiful, polorized view of the entire Detroit issue and could have been sponsored by some like Rush… I was surprised and disappointed that this crap journalism found it’s way onto one of my favorite sites..Â
So, Paul, you’re saying its not nearly this bad? Did Crowder just pick all the bad stuff to show? Or, are you just disappointed that he told the truth without the liberal spin?
Actually, I think he was kind. From what I’ve heard from people that actually live there, I surprised the guy didn’t get shot at. …and they had a tax sale of tax delinquent properties. They couldn’t sell them. Out of 8,000 properties with a minimum bid of $500, NONE of them sold, so I read. Sounds pretty ugly.
Show us your story. I’d be interested to see a rebuttal.
Paul – yes, I agree that perhaps that video was a bit on the “conservative” side…and I know I fall into that category…
However, I for one, was more interested in the overall condition of Detroit. Granted, maybe those shots were intentionally taken in the “bad” parts of the city, but things are not looking good. That is, maybe the S has already HTF there…or is close to it.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/12/16/detroits-unemployment-rat_n_394559.html
Rick- Nothing wrong with conservatism. I have read, and like Pat Buchanan. I have seen a number of stories, videos etc. on Detroit and know people from Michigan. I don’t see how someone can legitimatly blame the entire Automobile and Detroits problems on leftist policies. This was a very polorized perspective, and was what i would consider as propagandizing and not the level of integrity that I expect to see here.    Â
AND…. that sort of jounalism just perpetuates the left / right false paradigm. The global agenda is no more Democratic than Republican,  Muslum from Christian, baseing  your world view on a false paradigm  will keep you from seeing the motives and real agendas of groups like Builderburg, The Committee of 300, CFR, Illuminatti etc,etc. Take off the damn red or blue colored glasses..Â
For all those claiming this is a right wing hit job, rebuttal to the points engaged please. Â In my community in Oh we spend $6500 per kid, which in my opinion is still too much. Â 97% of our kids go on higher education. Â That success says more about the parents than the children or teachers. Take our teachers and facilities, transplant them in Detroit and you will not change results one iota. Â Unless you have parents who value education and create a culture that values education you will not succeed regardless of the amount of money you poor into the rat hole.
`Detroit lost the automotive market because of poor workmanship coupled with high labor costs. Â While the Japanese took Edward Demming to heart, Detroit management and unions gave him the cold shoulder. Â Quality became the Asian car makers mantra, while Detroit’s became “I deserve whatever I can get and the public will pay for whatever I produce regardless of the quality.” Â Guess we know who won that philosophical argument.
For every extra $1200 dollars of sales price in a Detroit car to subsidize benefits, $1200 dollars worth of hard costs must be rung out of the same car.  The Japs don’t have that cost and can afford to put $1200 worth of leather, trim, radios etc in the car instead.  The people have voted with their wallets and have chosen the leather, trim, radios, etc as opposed to the bloated  beach whale.
There is still a vibrant automotive manufacturing business in the USA, it just is not located in Detroit. Â Try looking in South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippe, Tennessee, Â Kentucky, Ohio, and Indiana. Â BMW, Toyota, Honda, Nissan, Kia, Mercedes-Benz are all employing and building cars profitably with happy well paid workers outside the grasp of the UAW. Â Coincidence?
Fifty years and untold billions in aid to this city has produced what? Â Any of you bleeding hearts wish to go and gentrify the area?
Talk about affordable housing, it is all right here. Â You can rehab one of those houses for less than $50 grand. Â Why has no one invested their money in this neighborhood? Â I know, evil bankers.
It never ends for the left, if you could only do a little more for someone they would be better off. Â Life just doesn’t work that way. Unless of course you are spending other people’s money in your pursuit of utopia.
Hear Hear, Doug: “The people have voted with their wallets” — This is true not just about the automobile industry, but Detroit in general. People see what has happened there, and refuse to make any investments in that city because it has become a poster child for the end result of socialism. As such, capital has left the city and shifted elsewhere.
Detroit is a perfect example of how throwing money at the problem does not work.