Detroit and the Bankruptcy of Liberalism
Rich Tucker
July 22, 2013 at 7:00 am
Detroit is a showcase for the liberal agenda — and now it is bankrupt. More than 50 years of control by big-government liberals and union bosses have left a once-great American city crippled and deteriorating.
Last week Detroit became the largest city in American history to declare bankruptcy. Few were surprised, as the city’s been struggling for years.
The unemployment rate in Detroit is 16 percent, more than twice the national average. The city’s government-run schools have failed, with just 7 percent of eighth graders proficient in reading. It takes police about an hour to respond to calls, and the city has more than $18 billion in unfunded liabilities. The city’s population has dropped by a quarter in just the last decade, as hundreds of thousands have voted with their feet and left.
It hasn’t always been this way, of course. For decades, the city of Detroit was a manufacturing powerhouse. The assembly line was perfected there, and brought with it the idea of a middle-class lifestyle based on manufacturing. Tanks and planes made in Detroit helped make the U.S. the arsenal of democracy. And after World War II the city boomed, producing cars that helped make the American dream achievable for millions. Motown Records produced music that defined a generation, with artists who remain household names such as Diana Ross and the Supremes, Marvin Gaye and the Jackson 5.
Dear PJ,
This is a really misinformed article. The demise of Detroit started in the mid 1960s and accelerated after the tragic riots in 1967. Industry started to move out to the suburbs, white people and blacks with means also moved to the suburbs. Even Motown left for LA in 1972. Detroit is hardly a showcase for failed liberal policies. It is a showcase for 1960s and 1970s white flight to the suburbs following new housing, new schools, and the jobs that were once in the city. In truth, Detroit peaked in the 1950s and early 1960s. When the money left town for the suburbs, things went downhill, similar to Paterson and Newark. Some issues DO demonstrate failed and well intentioned urban policy, not this one.
But rather than adapt to changing times, Detroit’s liberals continued to spend and promise more and more goodies, which is why Detroit is a prime example of failed liberal policies.
“Tanks and planes made in Detroit helped make the U.S. the arsenal of democracy. And after World War II the city boomed, producing cars that helped make the American dream achievable for millions. Motown Records produced music that defined a generation, with artists who remain household names such as Diana Ross and the Supremes, Marvin Gaye and the Jackson 5.”
Reads like a 5th grade book report.
Rob in 1960 Detroit had the highest per capita income in the country
Ok…