Why are we fighting over small beans? Or: Our money is in Afghanistan.

[socks_mahoney]

I can think of a lot of cheaper ways to overthrow a dictator. The people themselves can rebel [[Egypt). Or the CIA could can fund rebel factions already in the country [[Afghanistan in the 1980's). Or we can mind our own business. One of our largest trading partners [[China) is run by an authoritarian regime.

And yes, Afghanistan and Iraq still have dictatorships. Its called the US Millitary and whatever puppet they back.

But this off topic. The question is, how do we move the conversation from "schools or roads" to "wars or schools"? Why hasn't the conversation moved that way in Detroit?

I often sit through community forums in Detroit where city officials tell residents that they cant fix the lights because there "simply isnt enough money", or the schools have to be shut down because "there simply isnt enough money". Thats clearly not the case. There is a ton of money out there, aside from the money we spend on wars. There is a such thing as a graduated income tax---which more than 60% of folks in Michigan support [[see link to study here: http://www.media.wayne.edu/2010/10/0...upport-move-to).

The defunding of Detroit and of the public sector in general is not necessarily deliberate, but it is systematic. If we wish to fix these problems, we need to start pointing that out more. Especially in the public forum. Democracy happens in public spaces, not hidden in a voting booth. This is happening now in New Jersey and especially Wisconsin. As the details of Governor Snyder's budget rolls in and the effects become clear, we may have the same reactions in Michigan too.