This post is going to mainly center around Michigan in the current economic crisis. Sorry for such a locally centered post, but I live in Michigan, so get over it and keep reading.
Living in Michigan, I often hear the off-hand comment:
"Last one out, turn out the lights!"
It is exactly this type of negative attitude that is ruining any chance Michigan has of recovering from this economic downturn. Put the blame on whoever you want, the auto manufacturers, politicians, rich cats, whatever. This downturn is everyone's fault. Michigan, lets rise up and take responsibility. Maybe then we can rise out of the flames like a phoenix and take back control from the rampant negativism that plagues this state and the rest of the country.
Why is it everyone's fault? Take a look around. Did the mortgage company force you to buy that $400,000 home on an interest only loan that has an adjustable interest rate after 5 years? Hell no. You did it. You signed the papers. You are the one that caused your own bankruptcy.
I know this sounds harsh, but it is true. I haven't been the most responsible person with money. I could be in a much better position if I had made more intelligent decisions in my early years of adulthood. But guess what? I didn't. I made dumb decisions, and I am still paying the price. But at least I am recoginzing that fact.
How do we reverse it? Well, at this point, we may have to rely on good ole' Uncle Sam. As much as I hate to say it, the government may have to bail us out, even more actively than the attempts that have already been made.
Do I think it is the government's responsibility to do this. Shit no! I don't even think they are capable of running a meat counter at the local grocery store, but what other choice do we have? The fact remains that most of Michigan's work force is blue collar, and most of it centers around the auto industry. People keep talking about diversifing Michigan, which is a great idea. But we need help now, Jennifer Granholm! (For those of you that don't live in Michigan, this is our idiot Canadian governor).
That is why, when House Minority Leader John Boehner of Ohio sends a letter to President Obama stating that the General Motors bailout is, and I quote, a "bridge loan to nowhere", I become insensed with utter rage. To read this article, go to www.freep.com and search for Republican: GM rescue is 'bridge loan to nowhere'.
Let me declare this publicly, John Boehner, you are a douche bag and deserve to be beat by monkeys with bananas! Maybe that is how we can solve the deficit, have monkeys beat douche bag politicians with bananas. Who wouldn't pay to see that?!
Lets see. If we charge $30 for admission, and we have a 3 trillion dollar deficit. That means we would have to sell 100 million tickets. Okay, maybe not the best idea, but it was worth a thought.
I mean, what the hell does he expect the government to do? Not give the biggest employer in the State of Michigan the money needed for it to survive, after giving a ton of money to banks and AIG? I'm sure he isn't saying that. (Can't you just sense the sarcasm?)
Let this serve as a call to the people. Rise up, take back what is ours! Let's activily change this situation. Write to your reps. Start that business you have been considering. Have a voice, and for God sake, think positive!
I don't want everyone to think that this blog is just going to be me ranting and raving about all things stupid. So, from time to time, I will bring to everyone's attention some of the great shit I see people doing. We will name this section of the blog something clever and original. How about:
GREAT SHIT CHUCK SEES FROM TIME TO TIME:
While watching TV with my wonderfully beautiful and patient wife, I saw the most uplifting show about an entrepreneur in the Santa Monica, CA area.
www.tomsshoes.com
Everyone must check this out. The owner is Blake Mycoskie. He had this crazy idea to start a corporation that gives back in a major way! For every pair of shoes he sells, he gives a pair to a child without shoes. He has personally flown in the face of corporate greed to places like Argentina, Haiti, and even our own country, to place shoes on kid's feet. What an amazing person. Seriously, can you picture the CEO of McDonald's going to Argentina to feed hungry children? Hell no. I am going to put my money where my mouth is and purchase a pair. (Pics to follow). I urge everyone to do the same.
And lastly,...
Let me give a big shout out to my man Dough Boy, who runs the fantastic site: www.comicbookrealm.com
Even if you are not into comic books like the geek boy that I am, check out the site. It is a clear example of what a site should be, and how a site should be maintained.
Also, check out the great offerings at: www.kaptainmyke.com (think christmas, not that far away). He has some great t-shirts!
That's it for today's post of:
Chuck Amok on the World, Life, and Living Fat
I can be reached on facebook or, email me at sorrellcharles@yahoo.com
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theres a reason he's called John Boner.
ReplyDeleteI know your not a big fan of big government, but I would love to point this out. If we had universal health care like the rest of the world, our unemployment would drop like its hot. Think about it. Personaly, for the amount that my company is paying for our insurance (the entire team), they could hire one or two more people without effecting the bottom line, in which would bring more money into the company.
Think about that with the auto company. No workman's comp to worry about, no insurance to worry about. they could hire a metric ton of employees. Even if the demand for cars was still down, they could afford to have them sit on their ass (or better yet, go back into spending more money for engineers to wean us off of forign oil) without taking a hit on the bottom line (if not even imporiving it while doing so)
Granted I am a realist liberal, and I know the corporations would just take that money and pocket it to give the CEO's an even larger bonus, but still.
and that is just the economic benifits of a budget nutral universal (not public option) health care system
Remember that America already has "socialist" programs (other then wellfare) (roads, fire, police, army, etc etc), lets get the most basic and important to the people.
Chad, this may surprise you, but my views have shifted. While it is true that I am not a fan of big government, I do recognize the need at this point.
ReplyDeleteI am a huge fan and supporter of universal health care. Rest assured that I will be discussing this in the blog shortly.
I am currently trying to wade through the options for the open health care enrollment at my company.
Chad, please become a follower of the blog.
"While it is true that I am not a fan of big government, I do recognize the need at this point."
ReplyDeleteThe need for what? A big government? That's what the Nazi party said too. Look what that got them.
Too many chiefs and not enough indians is not the answer.
What is the answer at this point? If we don't do anything about our economic situation, nothing is going to change. At first I thought it was dumb to hand out cash to corporate america, but I can't think of anything else to do. If GM was allowed to close, and received no support, you might as well turn out the lights in Michigan.
ReplyDeleteAny suggestions?
"At first I thought it was dumb to hand out cash to corporate america, but I can't think of anything else to do."
ReplyDeleteYou just answered it right there. There was nothing left to do. The system has failed, and has for quite some time. Every centralized banking system throughout history has failed after 60 years. We are long overdo. There was a reason Thomas Jefferson tried to do away with it. There was a reason Lincoln tried printing greenbacks. There was a reason Kennedy was trying to reprint money by the people not the reserve. There was a reason- oh screw it I'm done.
We can't afford to let the system fail. As a society, we owe it to ourselves to keep trying. By trying, we can't make things any worse than they will be if the entire system crashes.
ReplyDeleteThere are several issues with your post. I am going to have to start my own blog just to correct your ill conceived rhetoric.
ReplyDeleteFact Check.
The federal budget deficiet is about 13 trillion dollars of which 1.8 trillion is due to Obama & Co this year.
Second for the monkeys in bananas the real math looks like this:
13 trillion divided by 30 =430,000,000,000 tickets to balance the budget.
As for your universal healthcare ideas chad. There is little growth economically from universal healthcare. The goverment acts as a monoplistic business. It charges whatever it wants to the goods it produces, whether they are even the goods/programs that are effective. The cost is either charged to the national debt which Chuck bitched about yesterday or gets passed to taxpayers in the form of taxes. Taxes take away consumer income which will decrease demand for consumer products and services in the US, therefore holding down the economy worst than real estate bubble pop!
Chuck,
The answer to Michigan problems cannot be solved with positive thinking. They can be solved with two things happening. The uneducated, unskilled factory workers days are over and will never come back due to increased global nature that the internet and trade have produced. Michigan has too many of these people. In order for us, the unemployment in detriot is 30%, roughly 300,000 people in the city have nothing to do but break into our insureds homes Monday through Friday.
Thinking in economics we need to reduce the number of undesirables by shipping them to other states or countries. This is the supply side of labor. That however will not solve the fact that Michigans cities are overbuilt to accomodate a byegone era and need to be condensed. The real estate market in MI is not going to return to normal in the next decade due to the decline in population and urban decay.
The demand side of michigan equation can be fized by attracting new businesses that target youth. it is no secret that 2 out of 3 college grads in MI leave the state and do not come back. Thats future tax dollars that will support oour aging citizens who rely on state programs for healthcare and retirement.
The solution to getting these younger companies is to produce cities and areas that attract younger people. This means mass transit and no not buses or the people mover, it means light rail and streetcars. It means downtowns that are safe, good infrastructure, and mupltiple use buildings that blend in a community that allows people to walk, bike or take a train to work. Allowing people to live and work and party in the same neighborhood... Take a look at cities that are successful: Chicago, Seattle, Portland, OR, Minn, MN, Austin, TX.
Ok thats my rant for the day. Talk to you tomorrow.
The point I was trying to make about everyone being positive is that we need to change the way we view our situation so that we can activily pursue avenues to dig our way out.
ReplyDeleteCome on, James! Do you really believe that there is no longer a place for the common worker in Michigan? Your answer is to just ship them off? What?!
In the country that I love, I believe there is always be a place for the common worker. But that is an entire other argument.
As for Michigan diversifing, I said right in the blog that this needs to happen. But, that will take years to see the full affect. Michigan can ill afford to wait without doing anything in the interim.
The US debt is actually 11.9 trillion and increases an average of 3.81 billion per day. I will double check my sources from now on.
What to say about your transit comment. Although mass transportation is important, I do not see Michigan or other areas that share the same type of spread out population ever getting to this point. Let's face it. We are not Chicago and we are in love with our cars.
I welcome your blog and will definitely follow.
My apologizes on the debt. I was using the authorized debt limit congress has given itself. Let's not worry they will hit 13 trillion soon.
ReplyDeleteAs for the factory worker, serious they are not the common person anymore. Our economy is evolving and changing from an industrial base to a service based economy. Please look at France, Sweden, Britain, Germany, and other western european countries for clues. The days of a factory worker who is not educated, but makes 60k a year are not done. I want to emphasis this point. Those jobs will be done in Mexico or Asia. They are done!
If you fail to create the communities that the new economy of services provides, ie you dont like real mass transit. Then you have a lifetime of Mississippi, Tennessee, Ohio, Arkansas and other similar states of minimal growth. The only problem with that is that if MI accepts that reality, we can only support that style of economy and services with about half the people in the metro area. So load up the barges, ships, trains and planes.
I agree that the day of the 60k factory worker are done. I am in no way supporting the kinds of salaries and inflated labor rates that have been going on for years. I am simply saying that they need to have jobs.
ReplyDeleteCan you really pictures Detroit, Flint, or Lansing ever having the type of mass transit system that Chicago, Boston, and New York have?
I buy all GM, always have, but I still admit the same defeat Detroit should...
ReplyDeleteIt's a shame Honda or Hyundai can build a better car for half the price.
I do think that cities can introduce mass transit systems like streetcars that will create desirable downtowns in places like Ann Arbor, Lansing, Grand Rapids. I think its time that MI writes off cities like Flint and Detroit as total loss. When there is a tumor you dont give it more money....you cut it out aggressively.
ReplyDeleteTo KaptainMyke: The problem with GM and all the other American auto companies are all the other expenses that go along with the manufacturing process company. What comes to mind are the $60k per year salaries for common workers that James a.k.a. Citizen Runner mentioned.
ReplyDeleteTo Citizen Runner: Write off Flint and Detroit? You are offically categorized as Nutty!
Flint and detroit are decaying cancer tumors. I suggest complete and utter irradiation of them.
ReplyDeleteLike I said, you are a nut.
ReplyDelete