LIfe in Detriot
I know I am really down on Detroit, but most of my public gripes are trivial. The reality of living here is much more bleak than I let on to. I don't think that people in other cities can fathom the economic impact that the current state of the American auto industry has on everyone here.
When an auto worker gets laid off, he stops going out to eat, he cut's back on groceries, he loses his health coverage, he doesn't buy clothing, he doesn't go to movies, he ignores his legal problems because he can't afford a lawyer, he fires his landscaper... you get the picture. Now multiply that by tens of thousands of blue and white collar workers from the auto companies and the parts suppliers, and you have a crisis situation.
Worst of all, when an auto worker gets laid off, chances are he won't be buying another American car in the next year or two. In the fat 90's Big Three employees buying new cars with their generous discounts accounted for a large number of American auto sales. Ultimately that ended up being a flaw in the system, but that's really not what this post is about.
I have heard so many stories of businesses having to close, doctors with empty spaces on their schedule for the first time in their careers, private schools closing down, you name it. Detroit has crashed, and crashed hard.
Today E forwarded me an article from the April 11th issue of the WSJ entitled "Down and Out in Bloomfield Hills." Bloomfield Hills is one of the wealthiest zip codes in the the country, and also happens to be the location of E's office. The article tells of the general troubles we are facing here in Oakland County, but also of the troubles of the "once-rich" and "less-rich."
While I don't feel bad for the lady who had to give up her $450 a week spa treatments for $200, less-frequent treatments, or for the people on the waiting list to get out of their country club obligations, I definately can relate to the buisness people who have had to close down, and I know too many people who could face the same fate in the near future.
What's the answer? Buy American would be the easy answer, but our auto companies will continue to have a hard time competing with the cheap labor and lack of government regulations in other countries. In my opinion there are two options,
1) Abandon Detroit all together (while tempting - it'll never happen); or
2) Bring other industries to the area (that's entirely up to the State Government).
Time shall tell what the fate of Detroit will be.
Goodnight
Jenn
When an auto worker gets laid off, he stops going out to eat, he cut's back on groceries, he loses his health coverage, he doesn't buy clothing, he doesn't go to movies, he ignores his legal problems because he can't afford a lawyer, he fires his landscaper... you get the picture. Now multiply that by tens of thousands of blue and white collar workers from the auto companies and the parts suppliers, and you have a crisis situation.
Worst of all, when an auto worker gets laid off, chances are he won't be buying another American car in the next year or two. In the fat 90's Big Three employees buying new cars with their generous discounts accounted for a large number of American auto sales. Ultimately that ended up being a flaw in the system, but that's really not what this post is about.
I have heard so many stories of businesses having to close, doctors with empty spaces on their schedule for the first time in their careers, private schools closing down, you name it. Detroit has crashed, and crashed hard.
Today E forwarded me an article from the April 11th issue of the WSJ entitled "Down and Out in Bloomfield Hills." Bloomfield Hills is one of the wealthiest zip codes in the the country, and also happens to be the location of E's office. The article tells of the general troubles we are facing here in Oakland County, but also of the troubles of the "once-rich" and "less-rich."
While I don't feel bad for the lady who had to give up her $450 a week spa treatments for $200, less-frequent treatments, or for the people on the waiting list to get out of their country club obligations, I definately can relate to the buisness people who have had to close down, and I know too many people who could face the same fate in the near future.
What's the answer? Buy American would be the easy answer, but our auto companies will continue to have a hard time competing with the cheap labor and lack of government regulations in other countries. In my opinion there are two options,
1) Abandon Detroit all together (while tempting - it'll never happen); or
2) Bring other industries to the area (that's entirely up to the State Government).
Time shall tell what the fate of Detroit will be.
Goodnight
Jenn
posted by Jenn @ 11:04 PM
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