No Siree, No Grocery!

Another couple of hundred thousand jobs gone in July (9.4% unemployment for the nation), according to the Department of Labor, but the jobless rate in Michigan is over 16%... and yeah, that comes with my normal admonition that these numbers address only non-farm labor and do not include folks whose unemployment benefits have completely run out (and there are lot of them now), and people who want full time jobs but can either only find occasional or part-time work or don’t know where to look anymore. You know Michigan reaches well above 20% when that correction is included.

Getting right down to it, we know that Detroit has been losing population for quite a while, but the demise of big General Motors and big-enough Chrysler suggests that “Motor City” might just have to be content with being known as “Hockey Town” – if there are enough folks are left to buy tickets. You see Detroit has dropped from an all-time high population of 1.8+ million to about half that number. It’s fallen in size from the fourth largest US city (in the 1950s) to eleventh today. And while there are rumors of Chinese buyers scooping up masses of vacant residential and factory real estate, I’m not sure they are big hockey fans.

My Webmaster, who was the gent who spotted a great deal for a house in Detroit (under $10K for a three bedroom, two bath house in seemingly decent condition) until a view from Google Earth showed that the rest of the neighborhood had been bulldozed into rubble, pointed out another ramification of the crumbling neighborhoods, abandoned factories, de-population and economic demise of this once-great American city: “In this recession-racked town, the lack of food is a serious problem. It's a theme that comes up again and again in conversations in Detroit. There isn't a single major chain supermarket in the city, forcing residents to buy food from corner stores. Often less healthy and more expensive food.” August 6^th CNN.com.

Middle class workers have become increasingly formerly middle class workers. From shopper to food line aficionado. They’re not good at the welfare thang. They don’t know their rights, struggle to qualify for unemployment benefits (which eventually run out) and find the adjustment from comfort to poverty completely, mind-numbingly horrible. They didn’t grow up this way; they don’t know how to make the system work. There’s real hunger in Hockey Town. It’s a real struggle for local charities and local, cash-strapped, governmental agencies to keep up. Resources have worn thin, but neighbors are helping neighbors as best they can.

There’s lots of vacant land in the area, and “urban farming” has seen resurgence out of necessity. Volunteerism at local food pantries has also increased significantly. There’s a lot of humanity here. But the pictures and stories from decimated urban Detroit seem more like description of some third world hopeless country than my vision of the United States. I am deeply saddened. The reports that we’re getting better because we are getting worse more slowly just don’t cut it in my eyes.

I’m Peter Dekom, and I approve this message.