Why shouldn't Detroiters blame others for the city's problems?

[corktownyuppie]

Hermod, no sense even trying to get DNerd off his agenda. Its fact resistant. Its a tough as the agendas he fabricates for others.

Mouch, you and I agree way more than we disagree. And we both generally disagree with DNerd. I'm going to offer another stance on his views that might serve as a useful way to look at them.

Every culture, society, civilization has blind spots. These are beliefs, social structures, and social norms that are so embedded in the way we live from day-to-day that even having them be questioned is in itself disruptive and sometimes infuriating.

But given the wisdom and perspective that comes with time -- long, long periods of time -- we look back and sometimes say, "WTF were we thinking??" An example of this could be something as simple as segregation, which might have been rooted in pragmatic [[if not positive) intentions. Now looking back, even the former Alabama governor George Wallace, who ran on a campaign of

"

segregation now, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever"

, admitted that he was in the wrong.

I take a lot of the perspectives DNerd, the Michigan Citizen, and the World Socialist World News to be incorrect, given my belief structure and my sense of fairness.

But...

...although I still think a lot of the things they advocate are wrong and bullheaded, I recognize that with the "Law of Unintended Consequences" always at play, from time to time they mention something that causes me to question -- or even shift -- my views.

Now certainly there are a lot of false positives. But I think its useful to consider these contrarian arguments as a growth opportunity, an opportunity to continue asking, "There is always going to be a blind spot in my thinking...what are they pointing to...something that may be out of my awareness...that would allow me to see a more complete perspective of everything at play.

So, back to the task at hand... perhaps a useful way to ask the question is this: If we were to start today and ignore all of the political alliances and constraints...what would be the most optimal way to best serve the needs of the citizenry?

And rather than fight the battles of the past with the mindset of the past....what if we were to look at today's complex problems from a higher perspective and more data?

Detroiters should blame others for their problems. But they should also blame themselves. Now we can sit and argue about who was more at fault, but what would the point of that be?

I think one of the main themes of the 20th century was this question of dependence vs. independence. Everything was about power and hierarchies. Now we are moving to themes of interdependence.

It's not who broke it. It's how we fix it.

[JBMcB]

In Detroit, the citizens didn’t chase retail stores away, they didn’t over-invest in the auto industry, they didn’t ghettoize the city with ill-conceived developments and a web of freeways, they didn’t pollute the city with lead, zinc, chromium, mercury, toxic petroleum-based chemicals, they didn’t sell the city out to billionaire developers.

No, the people they voted into office did. This situation is not limited to Detroit.

[maverick1]

Detroiters should blame others for their problems. But they should also blame themselves. Now we can sit and argue about who was more at fault, but what would the point of that be?

This sums everything up right here. I don't know why everyone in this area can't understand it. It wasn't just Black Detroiters running the city post 1967 and it wasn't just "The Man" oppressing the city's residents. It's not a simple answer and people want a simple answer. I want this region to move forward but it we all seem to be stuck in the 70s and 80s.

[Shollin]

This sums everything up right here. I don't know why everyone in this area can't understand it. It wasn't just Black Detroiters running the city post 1967 and it wasn't just "The Man" oppressing the city's residents. It's not a simple answer and people want a simple answer. I want this region to move forward but it we all seem to be stuck in the 70s and 80s.

I wish we were stuck in the 70's or 80's. Detroit was in better shape back then.