You have commented 339 times on Rantburg.

Your Name
Your e-mail (optional)
Website (optional)
My Original Nic        Pic-a-Nic        Sorry. Comments have been closed on this article.
Bold Italic Underline Strike Bullet Blockquote Small Big Link Squish Foto Photo
Home Front: Culture Wars
Geo Will: Detroit is a culture problem, not a problem - Daily Caller
2013-07-29
On Sunday's "This Week with George Stephanopoulos" on ABC, Washington Post columnist George Will took on proponents of federal assistance for Detroit, which declared bankruptcy earlier this month.
Is Chicago is next domino to fall?
According to Will, the city isn't undergoing a fiscal crisis, but is facing a much more serious cultural one, which is the source of its woes.
Detroit is 'n kultuur probleem, nie 'n fiscaal probleem nie? Isolated and unique, who knew? Who could have possibly seen it coming?
Anyone who isn't a progressive saw it coming. All the folks who moved out of Detroit to the suburbs certainly saw it coming. Things that can't go on forever, won't...
Can't solve the problems because the problems are cultural," Will said. "You have a city, 139 square miles. You can graze cattle in vast portions of it. Dangerous herds of feral dogs roam in there. You have 3 percent of fourth graders reading at the national math standards. Forty-seven percent of Detroit residents are functionally illiterate. Seventy-nine percent of Detroit children are born to unmarried mothers. They don't have a fiscal problem, Steve. They have a cultural collapse."
Grazing cattle and wild dogs, back to future
Will referenced an op-ed in the July 20 New York Times by Steve Rattner, President Barack Obama's former so-called auto bailout czar. In it, Rattner insists on aiding the Motor City, however, he did cite self-governance as one of the areas where Detroit residents are responsible.

"I find that really insulting to the people of Detroit. I think there's a serious discussion about the future of cities in a time of deindustrialization. But in many ways, Detroit has been a victim of market forces, and I think what Steve [Ratner] said is so critical. Retirees and workers should not bear this. And it should not be about greedy public unions and fiscal responsibility.
Identifies "victims", blames usual suspects, market capitalism, Wall Street, etc.
"What Steve said in his op-ed was 'the people of Detroit are no more to blame than the victims of Hurricane Sandy, because apart from voting,' you said," Will added. "Well, what did they vote for? For 60 years, they voted for incompetents, malcontents and in some cases, criminals."
Our people, we can relate to them. You wouldn't understand.
Posted by:Besoeker

#1  hint-some cultures are more hardworking than others
Posted by: Paul D   2013-07-29 16:37  

00:00