Here’s a blog worth visiting if you’re from Michigan: Detroitblog. It’s neat, but it’s hard to explain why it’s neat. It celebrates a broken city, and it doesn’t hide the decay. In fact, it celebrates the decay, in a way. I guess the 1960s (?) mantra, “There’s something to love in every day” applies. Then again, if I actually lived there, there’s no way I’d be chanting that mantra.
I’ve speculated that Detroit would make a great laboratory for anarcho-capitalism. The State of Michigan and City of Detroit would sell all its public property: streets, parks, municipal buildings, everything (except maybe the police stations). The sale would be by auction, giving corporations the opportunity to buy-up huge swaths of land that they could then develop, leave vacant, or whatever. But they’d be responsible for it. I might go along with a continuing police force, at least for awhile (Detroit could use the proceeds from the sell-off to fund a force), along with a court system, but everything else would be turned over to the free market. We could then get an idea of whether extreme libertarianism works. I’m not saying it would or wouldn’t, but I think the idea has enough merit to deserve an experiment, and it’s not like it’ll make things worse in Detroit.
Then again, retail is booming in Detroit now:
And a sense of community flourishes:
And city parks are nice (or is that a car dealership?):
And shopkeepers feel safe at night:
It’s quite sad, actually. Fifty years ago, Detroit was one of the world’s greatest cities, and now it’s been a sociological and economical crater for over thirty years. Though African-Americans under the racist Coleman Young deserve some blame, there’s plenty of blame for whitey, too. The federal highway system tore apart the old ethnic neighborhoods, many of them Catholic parishes. Urban renewal demolished ethnic neighborhoods like Corktown. Once the federal government and urban planners had killed all the neighborhoods and parishes, there was only one thing left: The State. There were no mediating institutions between The State and individuals, and the individuals were crushed . . . and continue to be crushed. Get rid of The State in Detroit, and maybe Detroit could return to a somewhat-livable city. It’s just a theory, but Detroit’s current reality is a damning indictment of every aspect of 20th-century American political practice.
Very interesting analysis about the loss of mediating institutions. That seems to be what’s happening everywhere in American life. Maybe Detroit is just ahead of its time.
I love it! I talked about EXACTLY this idea with my friend a couple of months ago!
Southwest DC would be a great place to do that, too.
It literally can’t be worse — schools, crime, decay, poverty — there’s nothing to lose by trying it.
Nothing to lose? What would the government say if DC or Detroit got dramatically better?
Yes to Hans-Hermann Hoppe’s anarcho-capitalism. No to corporate welfare via evil eminent domain, like in Poletown. http://www.counterpunch.org/corsetti09182004.html
They could just dissolve the city government and make the whole area unincorporated. I have thought that this would be a good idea for Gary, Indiana. There is always the issue of city debt, so allow one city owned building to remain the municipal corporation, and the creditors can make some claim over it.
What’s to lose? Power by those who hold it.
This is the dumbest site I’ve ever read. Freedom? Who gives a damn about freedom nowadays? And how would Kwame and his successors get their “freak on” at the expense of the public anymore? I think Kwame should start a “listening” campaign. He could visit the poorest districts and hand out 40 ouncers and bring a couple prostitutes along. He can still get him “mojo” back…just you wait and see!
lol @ the “freak on” comment goldhorder…
It’s a fascinating idea. Make it a giant Tax Free zone, no city taxes, no property taxes, exempt them from the State income tax.
The great study would be how fast Detroit turned it around, it would be a real testament to the power of the free market and the destructive force of government.
After it proves itself, take it a step further: Exempt the whole zone from the Federal Government. No Federal Income Taxes. Establish real money and private banking.
I live in West Michigan, but I’d be seriously considering a move to a Free Detroit.
I meant Southeast DC, not Southwest. Duh. I used to live there for 10 years, too….
Goldhorder wins the retard award. He did nothing but spout unsupported claims and make absurd proposals. Handing out 40oz and hookers? At whose expense?
Sounds like Goldhorder lives in or near Detroit. He is obviously a product of the same government that has caused Detroit to become a such a retarded shithole.
Another good site is “The Ruins of Detroit”
For those keeping score, Paul’s comment was deleted. It failed the civility test. I won’t justify my decision, other than to note that I like to keep the blog cordial, and I’ve deleted comments in the past for their uncivility (including posts that agree with my point).
In the future, I won’t explain myself. I’ll just delete. Life’s too short to engage in unkind discussions.
Actually, Aaron Kinney, YOU deserve the retard award. Your inability to identify and appreciate sarcasm (an intellectual failure in and of itself) also reveals that you lack the knowledge necessary to understand any references in Goldhorder’s comment except for “40oz and hookers.” Something tells me you are too overconfident to take this to heart, but you may want to consider how this may have effected many conclusions you have come to in life.
Indianapolis seems to have narrowly survived the interstate madness of the 1960s, but still as you drive along them you see mile after mile of amputated neighborhoods.