Quote Originally Posted by darwinism View Post
Good post, EMG.

Bearinabox, truth be told ..... our region really, really needs to have a major attitude overhaul. This is a very serious flaw that causes every single person in Southeast Michigan lifelong dilemmas. Folks here have got to stop feeling that they deserve the world, and are entitled to everything under the sun, because they revolutionize the auto industry. It is time to let it go. The entire country has moved on. The entire world has moved on.

The sooner we change our attitude, the sooner we can begin to work hard again for a brighter future. Anything short of that, we are back to exactly where we have been for decades ..... the memory of us revolutionizing the auto industry, the memory of the riot and everything else that has stuck in our minds for generations. That is why folks like BuyAmerican needs to truly look deep and hard at the people he/she loves, and stop trying to get them to believe in the same mentality.
Tell me about now darwinism...tell me what Michigan can look forward to for, lets say, the next 5 years, without the auto industry. What is the unemployment rate today in Michigan? It was 15.2% in August. The attitude overhaul you're speaking about will be people leaving Michigan, not the rah rah spitit I think you are talking about. My neighbors, my friends, some in my family, can't just go out and put a wind farm in their backyards or dig for oil. They had jobs with the auto industry or jobs that were affiliated with the auto industry. Others had jobs that depended on the auto workers for their livelihoods.
To change your career midlife is very difficult for many, impossible for others. Go to school, learn something different, get that newly formed job at that newly formed company is a dream for a long time. It's not an overnight process. What happens in the interim? Does the bank wait for the house payment? Will the hospital put the bill aside until health benefits are reinstated? Will they be able to educate their kids? There are lots of questions and lots of displaced people with absolutely no where to go.
I don't think that folks in Michigan think they "deserve the world" darwinism. Anyone working for an American Auto Company worked hard and long to eek a living. You say the country has moved on, that the entire world has moved on... I say that those who don't support the country where their bread is buttered should move on and leave the U.S. to those who want to support it.

You say "The sooner we change our attitude, the sooner we can begin to work hard again for a brighter future. " Tell me, what is that brighter future you're talking about?