Weekly Standard: The Death of Detroit (Laughable, Harrowing and Appalling at the same time)

The Weekly Standard ^ | Matt Labash

[quesney]

Before I'd left [for Detroit], I'd asked an acquaintance if he was from Detroit. "Indeed I am," he said, "Give me all your f--ing money."

Another colleague, always mindful of my desire for maximum material, suggested, "You should go when it's warm, you'd have a better chance of getting hurt."

Somewhere along the way, Detroit became our national ashtray, a safe place for everyone to stub out the butt of their jokes...

But with millions of jobs on the line, including their own, the Detroit Three honchos went to Washington to endure the kabuki theater, first in their private jets, then in their sad little hybrids. All to get their slats kicked in by Congress (and who has been more profligate than they) in order to secure a bridge loan to withstand an economy wrecked by others who'd secured no-strings bailouts before them. The absurdist spectacle was best summed up by car aficionado Jay Leno: "People who are trillions of dollars in debt, yelling at people who are billions of dollars in debt."

It happens, though, when you're from Detroit. In the popular imagination, the Motor City has gone from being the Arsenal of Democracy, so named for their converting auto factories to make the weapons which helped us win World War II, and the incubator of the middle class (now leading the nation in foreclosure rates, Detroit once had the highest rate of home ownership in the country), to being Dysfunction Junction.

To Detroit's credit, they've earned it.

[Big_Monkey]

"I'll finish you off tomorrow"

Good grief. You're starting to sound like my wife. I'll be waiting with bated breath.

[the invisib1e hand]

You’re a good freeper, FRiend. I have enjoyed your posts for many years.

Damn, you're a class act.

Now here's what I think the founders would tell you: YOU get to decide if it can be saved or not. Do you get what I'm saying?

[the invisib1e hand]

No, wait, there's more, much more.

Here's a start: you know what they mean when they say, "Pray hard and row for shore"? You know, "if it can be saved" isn't the question. The question is, "Will we save it?" The "if" part is irrelevant, if the "will" isn't there.

[gigster]

Thank You for your thoughtful post.I guess growing up in Detroit,which was one of the great world cities,and seeing it today, makes me too angry.But I think that it is for good cause.
I still have some of my best friends working for the Big Three,and while I support them,I do not support the UAW.
As for you working at Rockwell Int.,I have always joked that I wanted to tour France as a weapons control officer on a B-1-B after what they did to us during the Libya deal.
One of my best buds had 22 years Air Force as ground support. He went everywhere. Ramstein,Kadena,K.I. Sawyer,
Wurtsmith,Turkey,Kuwait,Qatar,Italy,Hawaii,and others.
I envy and salute you guys.
And last,you have a great Freep name.

[Lancey Howard]

When the economy tanks and people lose their jobs, homes, and savings, they become dependent on government handouts and eventually become addicted to government. And, just as drug addicts keep going back to their dealers for a fix, government addicts likewise keep going back to THEIR dealers for a fix. That would be Democrat politicians. A tanking economy means more government addicts and therefore more votes for THEM.

How many human beings have the strength of character to ever say to their Democrat politicians, “No thanks, I don’t want any more of the free stuff that you routinely confiscate from my neighbors so that you may redistribute it to me in exchange for my vote”? How many junkies are successful at kicking heroin?

The question at this point is: Do the parasites now outnumber the producers? Do the losers, bums, malcontents, and government “workers” now outnumber the ambitious, hard-working risk-takers and entrepreneurs?

The fact is that as the economy worsens and Obama and the Democrats shower “free stuff” on the losers with their hands out they will help create more and more government-addicted parasites. That is, more Democrats. And that wheel will turn ‘round and ‘round until it finally crushes the last vestiges of a once-proud nation that was built by strong, independent, self-reliant people.

Can entropy be reversed?

Happy New Year!
LH

[gigster]

Setting up shop in Detroit was a no-brainer in the early part of the last century. You had a confluence of shipping points,finance,and raw materials.Ford was incorporated in 1903,GM in 1908, and Chrysler in 1926.
The fact that they have managed to stay afloat this long is the wonder.
Detroit in the early 20th century was rightly described as “The Paris of the Midwest”.
And remember, that some of the greatest automotive markes were never made in Detroit.
I give you Peerless,Pierce-Arrow,Auburn,Cord,Duesenberg,
Studebaker,and Stutz,among numerous others.
It didn’t matter, for the most part, where you built it early on.
I have tried to decide what portion of the blame rests on
the shoulders of the various entities.Government Regulation,UAW,Management.
Care to give it a stab?

[gigster]

Don’t forget that Detroit also gave us Mitch Ryder and
Bob Seger.

[az.b1bbomberfxr]

Thank you for responding to my post...Hey I was wondering...Do you think maybe part of the reason the Lions went 0-16 this season was Detroit's bad Karma?....LOL...Just kidding of course.

And with regards to your remarks about France I'm in total agreement with you. I still don't understand how we can consider and call France an ally of our Great Nation. Their staunch support for us in the Libya Campaign and then how they unwaveringly supported us in our current war in Iraq... /sarc>...Well gigster...keep me up on the latest...It's always nice to make a new FRiend. God Richly Bless you and yours, my friend. Oh, BTW, I'm an Aircraft Mechanic currently performing a Modification on B-1Bs at Davis-Monthan AFB in Tucson. This is the first time I've worked on them since my days working production in the '80s...I've always loved this aircraft.

[dennisw]

You get the award for most moron post of the month. Are you a lib lib lib lib libertarian by any chance? The philosophy of me me me myself and mine

The higher the monkey climbs the more he shows his ass

[dennisw]

You are what has been characterized as a “post American”.

Post American and current libertarian monkey. Yeah baby!!!! It's all about me and the world revolves around me!!!

[denydenydeny]

While everyone has done the white-flight story, and a few more have done the black-flight story, Charlie did "The Flight of the Dead."...for every 30 living human beings who leave Detroit, a dead one is brought along too.

LOL!

Thomas Frank's What's the Matter with Kansas?

I had to laugh at this title in the context of this article; it implies that there's something the matter with Kansas and nothing the matter with Detroit.

[Edit35]

Americans should be making cars for American companies so the profits go to Americans

WHAT profits??

The only entity profiting from the major American car makers is the UAW and the Democrat party.

Until that changes, I have no guilt about NOT supporting these inefficient union-strangled behemoths.

Even more so now that their corporate/UAW mouths are firmly planted on the federal govt. teats, and are sucking for all its worth.

In fact, I will bet that foreign car makers operating in America pay MORE in taxes and revenues (federal, state, and local) and hire MORE Americans than the anemic American companies.

Now, I'm not saying I'm happy the American car companies are in such a pickel. I grew up loving GM, Chrysler, and Ford products.

But until they find a way to stop their idiotic inneficient union work rules.... and until they stop caving to union/Democrat blackmail.... I would rather see them go under than continue in such a quagmire.

[dennisw]

Americans should be making cars for American companies so the profits go to Americans

WHAT profits??

The only entity profiting from the major American car makers is the UAW and the Democrat party.

Until that changes, I have no guilt about NOT supporting these inefficient union-strangled behemoths...........

STOP RIGHT THERE!

No capitalist goes into business to operate at a loss or to operate as a charity
Capitalists go into business to make profits
So the Japanese companies here send the profits back to Japan
When you buy Japanese cars it is Japanese who profit
When you buy American cars it is American stockholders who benefit

You have a slave mentality and Lord knows it takes some effort to get there

You also hate UAW workers when the real unionized enemy is government workers

 

 

[Edit35]

You also hate UAW workers when the real unionized enemy is government workers

I don't hate UAW workers personally. Far from it.

But in my experience, most UAW workers could care less about the health or efficiency of the American car companies...

... as evidenced by their insane adherence to union mandated rules that: slow down the line, won't allow idle workers from doing jobs outside their 'single' function; prevent management from implementing rational work schedules, etc.

Hey, if I saw any sign that the UAW workers had just any sympathy .... just one little bit of sympathy... for the health of the company, I would be willing to cut them some slack.

As long as the UAW has this me me me only attitude, they can live with the consequences... which will most likely be elimination of their jobs.

Like I said, I don't begrudge them the ability to make good money. In fact I like them making good money.

But they have to allow the company the freedom to implement the same logical rational work rules that everyone else has.

No more of this 'that's not my job' attitude. That type of thinking is the main reason American auto companies are unable to be competitive.

[the invisib1e hand]

Can entropy be reversed?

In the long run, entropy doesn't exist.

[Soul of the South]

What good is it to have the taxpayer subsidize investment in the auto companies if they do produce enough products people will buy? It is a distortion of the economic system to take taxpayer money to keep a company alive that cannot sustain a customer base, regardless of whether it is an auto company or a bank. The economics of US vertically integrated auto production do not work. Whether it is union wages, legacy costs, poor products, bad management or some combination of all of the above. Why are auto companies more deserving of government assistance than the southern textile workers?

Fix the problem without bailouts. If we aren’t willing to tackle the cost side of the equation, fix the price side by applying stiff tariffs on imported autos and parts used in assembly operations. If Toyotas, Hondas, and Nissans cost 20-30% more than US products, people will move to the domestic product or the US auto companies will be able to raise prices to levels above breakeven. Either way, problem solved via an economic solution, not a taxpayer bailout. In fact the Treasury receives more money through tariff income.

For an industry to survive long term the economics have to work. It has to make competitive products at a competitive price. I prefer bankruptcy because it represents and economic solution, not political solution, to the necessary restructuring of the industry. The textile, airline, and steel industries have all gone through bankruptcies and massive restructuring over the last 25 years as we opened our market to global competition. Having the government decide which industries to subsidize (autos, banks, green energy) and which to let die (apparel, steel, mom & pop retailers) is not in the long term efficient.

If government has to get involved, better to ditch the “free trade” policies that allow foreign companies to subsidize exports to the US while protecting their domestic economies through tariff and non-tariff barriers. During the second half of the 19th century, when the mighty US industrial backbone was being built, the federal government depended on the tariff for most of its revenue.

Fortunately the US is blessed with natural resources and is large enough to sustain a modern economy on its own. Here’s a novel thought — raise tariffs and lower personal income taxes. Let US citizens invest in creating US businesses supplying US consumers. Bring back US manufacturing by creating inside the US a free economy that encourages investment instead of sustaining sick industries on taxpayer funded life support determined through the corrupt political process.

[philo]

Detroit also gave us Fortune Records, home of Nolan Strong & the Diablos, Andre Williams & the Don Juans, the Five Dollars, and other cool and crazy rhythm and blues groups in the 1950's.

Let's not forget John Lee Hooker either