Originally Posted by
kathy2trips
1. When 17th century artists went to Greece to paint, the people who built those structures, or remember them when they were intact...were dead..for centuries! Do you mind if we all die first before you rip apart our hometown? Whether NYC takes it "with a grain of salt" or not, bad publicity not only stings, it sticks.
2. Oh, so now this exhibition is some sort of morality tale, from which we all can learn. Isn't that special? "Don't let this happen to you!" Don't pick bad leaders, don't let them stay in office forever, don't promote a welfare state, don't let the government let other countries steal your manufacturing industry, your defense industry, your best and brightest, BLAH BLAH BLAH. Again, bite me!
3. Income gap? You think that's the cause of this? About those "ruins"...were they built when Detroit was under the free-market system, or over the last 30 years of near-socialism? Nobody on welfare can fix their house. Nobody whose business is failing because customers are unemployed can fix their roof, or their wiring, or meet their payroll. When the business of Detroit was business, no one could touch us. Even before the auto companies, it's astounding to look at an old directory and see the commerce that took place here.
If everybody made the same, if there was no incentive to produce, then what you have is a welfare state, or at best, state-controlled capitalism. Detroit was, is and always will be at it's best when allowed to be inventive, productive and profitable. It's been under both systems, so we have history as our evidence. Until Detroit becomes the "Arsenal of Achievement" and goes back to being a land of opportunity, the misery will metastasize. Now, look at those photos again.