For the record, I will unequivocally state that I would prefer to endure a bloated and wasteful government rather than a nuclear explosion.
But since I’m not a fan of big government and I’ve mocked Detroit’s dysfunctional statism, you will understand why this poster made me laugh.
I suppose I should add another caveat. It’s not Democrats that ruined Detroit. It’s big government. As shown by the Bush years, you get equally bad results when Republicans expand the size and scope of Washington.
So I guess the moral of the story is that if you want prosperity, free markets and small government are a much better combination than big government and nuclear blasts.
International Liberty 
[…] is a dog-bites-man story. Detroit’s problems are the completely predictable result of excessive government. Just as statism explains the problems of Greece. And the problems of California. And […]
[…] is a dog-bites-man story. Detroit’s problems are the completely predictable result of excessive government. Just as statism explains the problems of Greece. And the problems of California. And […]
[…] is a dog-bites-man story. Detroit’s problems are the completely predictable result of excessive government. Just as statism explains the problems of Greece. And the problems of California. And […]
[…] is a dog-bites-man story. Detroit’s problems are the completely predictable result of excessive government. Just as statism explains the problems of Greece. And the problems of California. And […]
[…] is a dog-bites-man story. Detroit’s problems are the completely predictable result of excessive government. Just as statism explains the problems of Greece. And the problems of California. And […]
[…] is a dog-bites-man story. Detroit’s problems are the completely predictable result of excessive government. Just as statism explains the problems of Greece. And the problems of California. And […]
[…] is a dog-bites-man story. Detroit’s problems are the completely predictable result of excessive government. Just as statism explains the problems of Greece. And the problems of California. And […]
[…] is a dog-bites-man story. Detroit’s problems are the completely predictable result of excessive government. Just as statism explains the problems of Greece. And the problems of California. And […]
[…] is a dog-bites-man story. Detroit’s problems are the completely predictable result of excessive government. Just as statism explains the problems of Greece. And the problems of California. And […]
[…] is a dog-bites-man story. Detroit’s problems are the completely predictable result of excessive government. Just as statism explains the problems of Greece. And the problems of California. And […]
[…] is a dog-bites-man story. Detroit’s problems are the completely predictable result of excessive government. Just as statism explains the problems of Greece. And the problems of California. And […]
[…] is a dog-bites-man story. Detroit’s problems are the completely predictable result of excessive government. Just as statism explains the problems of Greece. And the problems of California. And […]
[…] is a dog-bites-man story. Detroit’s problems are the completely predictable result of excessive government. Just as statism explains the problems of Greece. And the problems of California. And […]
[…] is a dog-bites-man story. Detroit’s problems are the completely predictable result of excessive government. Just as statism explains the problems of Greece. And the problems of California. And […]
[…] is a dog-bites-man story. Detroit’s problems are the completely predictable result of excessive government. Just as statism explains the problems of Greece. And the problems of California. And […]
[…] is a dog-bites-man story. Detroit’s problems are the completely predictable result of excessive government. Just as statism explains the problems of Greece. And the problems of California. And […]
[…] is a dog-bites-man story. Detroit’s problems are the completely predictable result of excessive government. Just as statism explains the problems of Greece. And the problems of California. And […]
[…] is a dog-bites-man story. Detroit’s problems are the completely predictable result of excessive government. Just as statism explains the problems of Greece. And the problems of California. And […]
[…] is a dog-bites-man story. Detroit’s problems are the completely predictable result of excessive government. Just as statism explains the problems of Greece. And the problems of California. And […]
[…] is a dog-bites-man story. Detroit’s problems are the completely predictable result of excessive government. Just as statism explains the problems of Greece. And the problems of California. And […]
[…] is a dog-bites-man story. Detroit’s problems are the completely predictable result of excessive government. Just as statism explains the problems of Greece. And the problems of California. And […]
[…] is a dog-bites-man story. Detroit’s problems are the completely predictable result of excessive government. Just as statism explains the problems of Greece. And the problems of California. And […]
[…] is a dog-bites-man story. Detroit’s problems are the completely predictable result of excessive government. Just as statism explains the problems of Greece. And the problems of California. And […]
[…] is a dog-bites-man story. Detroit’s problems are the completely predictable result of excessive government. Just as statism explains the problems of Greece. And the problems of California. And […]
[…] is a dog-bites-man story. Detroit’s problems are the completely predictable result of excessive government. Just as statism explains the problems of Greece. And the problems of California. And […]
[…] y Zimbabue al principio de este artículo, probablemente disfrutéis con esta comparación entre Detroit e Hiroshima y esta comparación entre Hong Kong y La […]
[…] comparison of Botswana and Zimbabwe at the beginning of this column, you’ll probably enjoy this comparison of Detroit and Hiroshima and this comparison of Hong Kong and […]
[…] comparison of Botswana and Zimbabwe at the beginning of this column, you’ll probably enjoy this comparison of Detroit and Hiroshima and this comparison of Hong Kong and Havana. – This article was first published by the Daniel […]
[…] comparison of Botswana and Zimbabwe at the beginning of this column, you’ll probably enjoy this comparison of Detroit and Hiroshima and this comparison of Hong Kong and […]
[…] sounds like a run-of-the-mill story about a city (like Detroit) that has spent itself into fiscal trouble, mostly because of a bloated and over-compensated […]
[…] is a dog-bites-man story. Detroit’s problems are the completely predictable result of excessive government. Just as statism explains the problems of Greece. And the problems of California. And […]
[…] problems are the completely predictable result of excessive government. Just as statism explains the problems of Greece. And the problems of California. And […]
[…] What’s More Dangerous for an Economy, a Nuclear Strike or Big Government? […]
[…] problems are the completely predictable result of excessive government. Just as statism explains the problems of Greece. And the problems of California. And the problems […]
[…] problems are the completely predictable result of excessive government. Just as statism explains the problems of Greece. And the problems of California. And the problems […]
[…] is a dog-bites-man story. Detroit’s problems are the completely predictable result of excessive government. Just as statism explains the problems of Greece. And the problems of California. And […]
[…] is a dog-bites-man story. Detroit’s problems are the completely predictable result of excessive government. Just as statism explains the problems of Greece. And the problems of California. And the problems […]
[…] Thanks to https://danieljmitchell.wordpress.com/2012/12/15/whats-more-dangerous-for-an-economy-a-nuclear-strike… […]
FloridaAcademic, even if we accept your cynical racist-conspiracy theory, your argument forces one to conclude that the only way to prosperity was fleeing Detroit. That proves the original premise–that it’s a failed city–that you’re objecting to.
Uncomfortably, you’re also suggesting that black people are so inept that they can’t escape a city without public transport, can’t govern a city when it’s left to them on a platter, and are in fact responsible for its decline.
You might want to re-think some of those arguments. Are black people so helpless, so hapless, such victims? I don’t think so.
Detroit’s problems derive from statism, and the belief you can lift the poor with redistribution; that robbing Peter to pay Paul encourages both; that slicing the loaf thinner makes more. All bunk.
So they try it, and it fails. Over, and over.
It’s not the color, it’s the policy.
@kirmza,
Detroit’s first freeway was on Division. It was started in 1942 and completed one year later. They started going up in succession after that. Being the birth place of the automobile, one employer that paid very high wages (Ford) and the unions who later forced everyone else to do the same, meant that Detroit workers were able to buy more cars than anywhere else in the Nation.
This lead to Detroit being the first city to build urban freeways.
The sad part about the picture above is the ignorance in even making that claim. What happened in Detroit is that in the early part of industrialization, Henry Ford was offering blacks equal wages and opportunity, so the vast majority of southern blacks that came north, came to Detroit. With the Rouge plant, over 25,000 blacks were able to find employment, and this created the largest black middle class in the nation. Then, because of the highway system, industry could move out of the urban centers and build cheaper in non-urban undeveloped land, and they did. While white workers were able to leave, and follow the jobs out, the black workers were red lined and not able to escape. Knowing that if a black person moves into an all white neighborhood, property value decreases, as white flight follows, banks require higher down payments, better credit to get loans. Further, real estate agents will lead black families to non-white areas. This lead to Detroit having one of the highest levels of segregation in the nation (3rd I believe in 2012). Because public transportation does not lead out of Detroit very well, the people there have been left behind with no jobs, or opportunity. The major white flight out of Detroit started in 1946, and has been consistent until 1975, when the whites became the minority, and the blacks became the majority (thus signifying a racial change in leadership in the city). The white flight finally concluded in the early 2000s, but at no time did the trend increase or decrease as some claim, it was a steady line from about 1946 to about 2004.
The thing is, all this is factual information that you can verify, had noting to do with republicans or democrats. Detroit is a direct result of white racism, mainly from Southern Whites who also came north during the two great migrations, and the polish population, who preceded the blacks as the last immigrant workers to relocate in mass (which is expected as they both struggle for the same types of jobs).
I am currently working on my dissertation on Detroit’s African American labor situation….
And we’d be remiss without talking about forced desegregation. Kansas City in particular has suffered from Government forcing this issue, and many folks moving out of neighborhoods. Once grand churches, homes, and businesses are now unfortunately decaying husks.
I would have been happy to edit this for you – probably still will to post over at Missouri Tenth (http://www.missouritenth.com). Let me know if you’d ever like help with cartoons or photoshop edits.
Krizma, you misread my comment. As for there being controlled access expressways in the USA in 1945, I can not say for certain. There were such highways in Germany, of course, as well as in Italy at the time, however. If my memory serves me correctly, the Italian government built a few roads. They’d been inspired a little by a private road built about 90 to 100 years ago in Italy. Supposedly Hitler and the Nazis copied what the Fascists were doing, albeit with typical German efficiency. Americans followed suit beginning at least in the 1930s, long before the big binge of roadbuilding under Ike.
Now we have something called global warming, and it’s still politically incorrect to pin the blame on government, much less to note that the regimes of Hitler and Mussolini were rife with people who would feel right at home among the Democrats and the neocons today. (More irony in politics, given that it’s the same crowd that poses as defenders of nature.) Unfortunately, Detroit, which did so much to make the problem, is stuck with the legacy of deep trenches marring its neighborhoods.
To bring the thread back to Dan’s comment fully, I think it appropriate to note that national defense was the excuse for the vast network of socialistic, controlled access roads which killed passenger rail service and stimulated demand greatly for fossil fuels. The supply lines t make it all work are protected by the most ambitious and most well-armed military the world has ever known. The fact that the American military may still lag behind say, the German or the Russian military in body count says nothing about its desire to be ready always to use their nuclear weapons.
So indeed big government is worse than a nuclear strike, for big government makes many such strikes likely. And it was big government that gave birth to nuclear weapons in the first place.
Paul T.
The photo of Detroit is from 1945. I’m not familiar with Detroit, but I doubt there were any freeways in 1945?! I was only four years old in 1945… I’m fairly sure there were a few highways, but not limited access freeways with entry-ramps. I was in highschool when they built the Kansas Turnpike and charged drivers for the privilege of controlled access divided highways. It went from the Missouri state line to the Colorado state line, hence “Kansas Turnpike” with the full service gasoline stations complete with restaurants so you didn’t have to exit the toll road until your destination. Ciao. Krizma
The picture is a little misleading, for the lower right hand corner should show the downtown area as it appears today with the freeways, new stadiums, and a few office buildings erected since ’45. Another problem is that Detroit is not alone among cities in the picture that have social democracy running amok in them. Windsor, Ontario, which you can see to the right of the river, has troublesome governments, yet it’s problems aren’t so severe.
Of course, the Grosse Pointes’ problems aren’t so severe as Detroit’s, and all of them, plus Harper Woods, is sandwiched between Detroit and the lake. So, the poster isn’t so far from the truth as defenders of the status quo in Michigan might like to believe. In fact, if you check Google maps you’ll find that many blocks in Detroit have had half or more of their homes torn down.
See the intersection of Mack Ave. and Alter Rd. in the middle of the satellite foto. The area south of Mack Ave. and east of Alter Rd. is Grosse Pointe Park. The rest is Detroit.
https://maps.google.com/maps?q=grosse+pointe+park,+mi&hl=en&ll=42.387205,-82.947443&spn=0.007528,0.01457&sll=42.389234,-82.910042&sspn=0.120446,0.233116&hnear=Grosse+Pointe+Park,+Wayne,+Michigan&t=h&z=16
On the bright side, land in Detroit is cheap.
Reminds me of what the Swedish economist Assar Lindbeck once said, with reference to what The Bronx looked like back in the ’70s: “Rent control can do more damage to a city than the hydrogen bomb.”
Investigate most large cities and you’ll find derelict neighborhoods in all of them. Not just in low income areas, but in their wealthy areas where mansions have been abandoned. I think it says what’s wrong with our economy. The good times are over. Mortgages were flying out the doors of financial institutions because they relaxed the requirements to get people into homes with high payments… then the crash came. Lost your job? Too bad that you can’t afford the payments anymore. Check out the photos of abandoned homes in Chicago, New York, St. Louis, Baltimore, on and on ad nauseum.