'Cipients Speak-May 2008

Detroit, MI, continues to sink under the weight of mis-management, corruption, and greed at the hands of despots seen when the Declaration of Independence was being written. Just when we believed that nothing else horrible could happen, we are again jolted by yet another attack on the quality of life poor people are trying to hold on to. Dig this!

In 2007 in Detroit alone, over 70,000 homes were foreclosed on in that one year. These devastating numbers come as a result of the “local” Katrina we suffer because Detroit is tied to the auto industry. Because the “Big Three” must maintain maximum profits at all costs, workers have to suffer. Plants have disappeared…Mack Stamping, Fleetwood Assembly, Huber Ave. Foundry, Lynch Rd. Assembly, Dodge Main, Ford Glass, and others have all gone the way of the wrecking ball. The number of cars being produced however, is the same. What is different is the number of hands needed to produce those cars, have been replaced by robots and in many cases, off shore workers. Technology that used to enhance labor, now has replaced labor, so what does that mean? It means that you had better figure out how to say, “poof” and turn yourself into a computer!

For Detroiters who used to believe that they, they children and their children’s children would always have good paying jobs with the auto industry are undergoing a transformation. Further evidence of what we are all in store for came to light in the following example. With so many evictions, the community has decided that enough is enough, so they are moving families back into their homes all over the city. Speculators like the Deutsch Bank of Germany are purchasing properties listed on tax foreclosures internet screens, buying homes sight-unseen. Bailiffs can’t keep up with the demand for 8-10 set-outs per day!

Now comes the depth of treachery – mortgage companies and banks are not willing to wait, so they have resorted to hiring “street thugs” to evict families. The highest Judge in one of our local Courts verified this information saying that the Courts are actively looking for these “thugs” who are performing a totally illegal act. Everything owned by these unfortunate families is summarily tossed out into waiting dumpsters -- children’s pictures, the family Bible, grandma’s wedding photos, all thrown away. Roving highwaymen come by in cars and take unattended bits of furniture and appliances. We are under siege.

Some are like frogs in a pot of water. Turn up the heat slowly, and they stay quiet as they boil to death not noticing the change. Some of us have noticed, and have decided that it is time for Detroit to change. It won’t be pretty, but the government here must be overthrown, jailed and tried for crimes against humanity. (MDT)