Is Detroit really leading the way for America?

American cities facing bankruptcy are now lined up like jets at O'Hare International Airport. Unknown to much of their population, these cities are not far behind Detroit: Chicago, Cincinnati, Minneapolis, Portland, OR., and Santa Fe, N.M. Many of them are failing for the very same reasons. They have driven away almost all of their core businesses because of inflation in labor costs brought by labor unions. When the revenue stream from successful businesses move elsewhere the city is unable meet its municipal obligations for essential services, not to mention the pensions guaranteed to government workers no longer needed as the population declines. In other words the makers left and the takers stayed. Whether you call it utopian Socialism, a welfare state or pick a different term, the liberal dream has died.

I'm not sure what more I can add to this video. But I will share some thoughts from a few individuals much wiser than me...

“Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever.”  
Mahatma Gandhi


"It's fine to celebrate success but it is more important to heed the lessons of failure."
Bill Gates


“By three methods we may learn wisdom: First, by reflection, which is noblest; Second, by imitation, which is easiest; and third by experience, which is the bitterest.”
Confucius


"We should not look back unless it is to derive useful lessons from past errors, and for the purpose of profiting by dearly bought experience."
George Washington


"Every book you pick up has its own lesson or lessons, and quite often the bad books have more to teach than the good ones."
Stephen King


“The saddest aspect of life right now is that science gathers knowledge faster than society gathers wisdom.”
Isaac Asimov


“Study the past if you would define the future.”
Confucius


“Knowledge speaks, but wisdom listens”  
Jimi Hendrix


“Time is a great teacher, but unfortunately it kills all its students."
[Letter, November 1856]
Hector Berlioz


In 1965 Detroit had the highest per-capita income in the United States. So what happened? How did a city largely responsible for innovations in transportation, manufacturing and defense, which would change the world, fall so far so fast? In 1961 Detroit Mayor Jerome Cavanagh started expanding the role of government to unprecedented levels under the 'Model Cities Program' created by Lyndon Johnson. The rest, as they say, is history. 

Until we acknowledge the true driving forces behind the failure of our cities, we will continue to bark up the wrong tree of solutions and Detroit will in fact have been just the first large American city to file for bankruptcy. Leading the way for other 'Model Cities".

One final quote from someone less wise and lesser know than the preceding authors:

"Pay attention!"
Dad