Dr Winston O'Boogie;1443605 wrote:Globalization and unions killed Detroit. What's there now is not the cause of the demise, but the result. When policy made it possible for manufacturing to go overseas without penalty, it was inevitable to avoid the very expansive and difficult union issues. Industry exodus led to massive white flight and now the city is left to a black underclass that will continue to elect black democrats who will ensure government entitlement payments are made. The situation is tragic.
It's really just a perfect storm against the former pro-labor cities of the midwest. The situation in which the midwest unionized labor found itself in; corruption of the Detroit unions in particular, globalization; the overly strong dollar after foreign devaluations; the Federal system in the United States wherein Unions are essentially ensured to be extinct in southern states; the economic growth of the sun belt region, etc.
Germany with almost double the rate of unionization as the United States is still a manufacturing/industrial powerhouse. However, Germany's nearby competitors also have high rates of unionization and pro-labor laws and are now tied to the Euro (Germany wouldn't put up with French anti-unionism and Italian currency devaluation like has killed the U.S....that's why Italy got into the Eurozone despite being a fiscal profligate).
the midwest pro-labor states have to compete, not just with foreign countries, but with the southern (and now midwestern states) that have enacted anti-union laws and have seen those jobs go to the south, if not across borders, predictaby. In addition, the midwest is fighting a losing battle with many people choosing to live in warmer weather as those states become wealthier. California is pro-union especially with the Screen Actor's Guild but it hasn't stopped people from moving to that beautiful mediterranean climate.
But personally, for all the problems of these midwestern cities, I
still think they're better than a fair amount of southern cities that their wealth has been transferred to.
The most ironic thing I think, is that Detroit crowd-funded a Robocop statute and this emergency manager thing is almost like a "Delta-City" light. lol
