The popular narrative of what happened to Detroit contains a great deal of truth but its focus is too narrow to account for the astonishing decline of this former industrial colossus. Yes, there were the riots of 1967, and white flight; and political leadership that was not just shortsighted but at times embarrassingly incompetent and corrupt. And, yes, the auto industry was a case study in self-destruction.
But as Mr. Shaiken points out, Detroit was still viable enough for the Republican Party to hold its convention here in 1980, when it nominated Ronald Reagan. And it was not the riots, but the devastating recession of the early ’80s that really knocked the city senseless. “That’s when the place really cracked,” said Mr. Shaiken, “and that was about aggressive globalization and the lack of an industrial policy, not the riots.”
HERBERT NEVER MENTIONS THE WORD UAW OR UNION ONCE IN THE COLUMN. NOT ONCE.
IS HERBERT AWARE THAT THE AUTO-INDUSTRY OUTSIDE OF DETROIT AND IN OTHER PARTS OF THE USA DID VERY VERY WELL FROM 1980 UNTIL THE RECENT RECESSION, AND THAT NON-UAW PLANTS ARE BETTER THAN UNION PLANTS, AND THAT OVERALL THERE ARE MORE AUTO-WORKERS IN THE USA THAN 1980?
WHAT LED TO THE BIG THREE'S DECLINE WAS PROTECTIONISM.
PROTECTIONISM LET THEM MAKE CRAPPY CARS AND WHEN PROTECTIONISM ENDED 200 MILLION AMERICANS WERE SUDDENLY ABLE TO BUY BETTER CARS FOR LESS.
AND HERBERT NEVER MENTIONS THAT DETROIT AND MICHIGAN ARE RUN BY THE UAW/DEMOCRAT MACHINE AND LIBERAL POLICIES FOR THE LAST 30 YEARS AND THAT THESE LIBERAL POLICIES ARE WHY THE CITY SUCKS AND WHY INDUSTRY FLED DETROIT FOR ANYWHERE ELSE.
IF HERBERT WANTS DETROIT TO COME BACK TO LIFE HE SHOULD VOTE GOP.
LIBERALISM IS A ONE-WAY TICKET TO SERFDOM.
BOTTOM-LINE: DETROIT IS QUINTESSENTIALLY A LIBERAL CATASTROPHE.
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