News Detroit City Bankrupt

[anthony]

It seems Detroit's concerns over the last decade or so with its manufacturing collapse, sending the city into chaos, is now coming to a climactic close... as the city faces bankruptcy as a whole.

Link Removed

 

[a3a2]

The previous mayor was no great boost either. I doubt we'll ever know how much money lined his pockets and the pockets of his "trusted friends".

 

[a3a2]

The previous mayor was no great boost either.

What really burns me up is that this @$$ gets hired as a motivational speaker at college graduations! The only event I can imagine this man being motivating at is a gang meeting instructing others how to steal. I also have no doubt that his spouse is somehow responsible for the death of the prostitute.

I haven't been following his recent trials. For all I know he is back in custody. I hope.

 

[Innordinate]

Crazy. I feel a paradigm shift coming on. For the world in general, some things gotta give, collapse, rebuild. No great empires last forever.

 

[Rumors]

I found it interesting that Detroit was voted the most depressed city in the nation. :(

The city also tried a new districting area there that was devastating to the outlying city. Their resources became so slim that they made the city boundaries less which took transportation and other services away from areas that have had that. However, so many jobs had been lost and so many people had moved out of Detroit there were city blocks of homes left empty and beyond repair. It was interesting bc the hope was that they could rein in the expense but in reality they did nothing more than put the final blow in their already poor economy. The areas that they de-annexed, for sake of better word, lost the remaining residents, taxes, and essentially made land value for the area null. Can you imagine driving into an area that once was homes and it looks like a bombed out war zone in the US in 2013? This goes on for block after block and in the horizon you can see the GM, Ford, and Chrysler buildings lurking overhead. This is sad and scary and a model for what NOT to do!

There have been many failures for Detroit other than one bad mayor. Unfortunately the ones we failed the most were the kids who came out of there.

 

[anni]

I heard an interview with a man who just wrote an entire book on this, and Detroit as a whole. WISH I could remember his name, rats. He's a reporter, no love lost between he and the politicos. Detroits has always been a big, fat mess, contributed hugely to it's own decline. Well heck, 'It' was it's own decline. This latest is a huge shame, considering that Chrysler ( for one ) has made a wildly successful come back in a typically American fashion. The car manufacturers appear to have learned from their abysmal mistakes of the past, no one else out there seems to have gotten a clue. I say hand it all over to whomever got Chrysler ticking over again, stick the present honchos on an assembly line somewhere, where they might be useful.

 

[anthony]

US debt is out of control, European debt is out of control in many countries, the UK has just been downgraded, and let me tell you, regardless of all the hype due to Australian's positive financial figures, for a per capita nation, our stupid Government is also getting us in over our head. We were all paid off and solid, then this Government got us into a crapload of debt again.

We all need to suck it up, put all our demands on hold, and as nations globally, Governments need to reduce incomes that are above society (especially white collar positions which don't really make money), and we all (countries) need to get our debt back under control, balanced, and only spend what we earn as a nation, not borrow, borrow, borrow, thinking we can somehow sustain that type of standard.

Banks won't allow us as individuals to live that way, and nations shouldn't be allowed either. If we can't afford that hospital, or treatment plant, or ecological something or other, then suck it up and stick it in the queue for when money does become available due to having a balanced financial nation.

The world has to give sooner or later. Something financial has to give. We're either going to all just wipe our debts from one another and start over, or it all collapses and we become so debt ridden on paper that as a country none of us could ever repay it, because consumer demand outweighs actual money earnt from the country.

 

[anthony]

Actually... I should say, our stupid Government 'has' gotten us in over our head. States are taking drastic action with spending, cutting things left, right and center, because at the state levels they know more is being spent than earnt, and trying to do something about it brings a lot of resentment from their state.

It seems most people nowadays believe money does grow on trees when you're the Government.

 

[Innordinate]

The world has to give sooner or late

Unfortunately I think this will be the states....that gives. Which is going to have major impact everywhere. My main concern is that they are the biggest player in wars. The threat of the US army coming down upon a country has held in check numerous evil plots. With them out of the picture who will take their place? That's what scares me most.

 

[Innordinate]

OKay...and honestly.... two income households... they are killing the economy. I'm not saying women need to go back to being housewives...but someone, either mom or dad, needs to be staying home so there is not such a huge gap between upper middle class and middle class. Just saying....

 

[anthony]

The threat of the US army coming down upon a country has held in check numerous evil plots.

We may agree to disagree on that one. Most countries don't care about the US military. Besides lots of bombs that the US just can't afford any more, the US military isn't going to fair well against most other countries in man to man combat. This is proven in the Middle East, Vietnam, Korea and so forth. Countries that fight tactically kick the crap out of American troops. America's method is to drop lots of bombs, the biggest they can make... but against tactics it still fails, as they know what's coming and adjust accordingly. The US wastes billions on this method against forces spending a few millions, who then kick the crap out of US troops in man to man combat.

The future is not in wars of this nature, or who has the biggest military. The US is sending itself broke trying to maintain the very method they used to break the USSR. The future of warfare is in technology, finance and covert operations. Not full country invasions. The US would do themselves a lot of help financially by reducing their military, putting more into covert security and operations, and thus it would help them in financial strength again, and well... technology, the US are already doing pretty good in that area.

If the US taper down the military to boost internal investment, the USA would be booming again in a decade with honest figures, leave the big boot at the door, and do things more tactically rather than the sledgehammer approach.

The world just doesn't accept the big brother approach any more. We all have too much invested in one another. Keep the nutjobs at bay with covert ops and security, and keep the rest of the world in check by all playing nice together to boost each others financial interests. Technology is winning globally... consumers are winning globally. War just doesn't have a place nowdays though. The mere threat of nuclear weapons is enough to keep all the big players in check... because one nuke and we all lose.

 

[anthony]

so there is not such a huge gap between upper middle class and middle class. Just saying....

We were just talking about this yesterday here in relation to Government pensions for single mothers / families on one income who get subsidised for childcare. If one parent is at home, the Government shouldn't be giving them anything for childcare. You're at home to look after your child. If you want a rest, a day off, then you have parents or other stay at home parents who you setup a swap with. You look after my child one day a week so I can have a day off from raising them, and then I do the same for you. You scratch my back, I scratch yours. But no... here, instead we have these women putting their children into daycare at next to nothing rates, thus parents who need daycare because they're working full-time are struggling to get their child in as a result.

It seems there are just unsustainable models being created all over the world.