The People's Perspective on the Economic Meltdown in Detroit, Part 1

Once again, I was not invited to this week's Detroit Chamber of Commerce's annual Mackinac Policy Conference on Mackinac Island. That's all right because I WAS invited to Detroit's Cobo Hall last Saturday to attend the townhall discussion titled, "Meltdown in Detroit: Economic Collapse, a People's Plan for Recovery." It was open to the public; everyone was invited.

Townhall organizers -- led by The Nation magazine -- rounded up an impressive group of panelists to address Detroit's economic meltdown from the perspective of "putting the needs of workers and citizens (not bankers and stock market speculators) at the center of the conversation." How could I miss such an opportunity? So I interrupted my Memorial Weekend fun at the Lansing Cristo Rey festival, grabbed my recording gear, and drove to Detroit.

I am reporting this in two parts as panel moderator John Nichols of The Nation basically went around the panel twice to get the varying perspectives of the six panelists. Each participant spoke briefly during each round. Below are links to Nichols' first pass through the panel. Representative John Conyers made opening remarks and Nichols gave an introduction about the event -- portions of both are provided here, as well. I will publish the recordings of round two in a couple of days.

So now here is your invitation to the townhall discussion on the economic meltdown in Detroit:

Opening Remarks 

by Representative John Conyers (D-Detroit)

For the second week in a row (see my recording from the Michigan Policy Summit), Conyers gives a harsh critique of the makeup of President Obama's administration and, this time, adds commentary on the auto bailout. Watch the video here.

Introduction by John Nichols of The Nation

Nichols, a political writer and author, served as the panel moderator. Here he answers the the question, "How come The Nation is going to Detroit to talk about the economic meltdown?"

First Panelist: Economist Robert Pollin

Robert Pollin, co-director of Political Economy Research Institute and Professor of Economics at the University of Massachusetts, answers the opening question, "What went wrong? Why is this economy so sick?" Click here.

Second Panelist: Author/Activist Barbara Ehrenreich

Best selling author, social commentator, author/activist Barbara Ehrenreich talks about the fundamental, underlying problems with the economy. Click here.

Third Panelist: Union Organizer/Detroit Activist

Elena Herrada

Elena Herrada is a Detroit activist, union organizer, and founder of Central Obrero, a Latino workers center. She is asked, "Is it all the immigrants fault?" and talks about "this economy and what it means to people who actually believe what is written on the Statue of Liberty." Click here.

Fourth Panelist: Detroit Activist Grace Lee Boggs

Author and long-time Detroit activist Grace Lee Boggs, at 94 years of age, answers the question, "Why is Detroit so important?" Click here.

Fifth Panelist: Detroit City Council Member 

JoAnn Watson

Detroit City Council Member JoAnn Watson is asked, "How are you going to rebuild Detroit?" and she talks about a "Marshall Plan" for Detroit. Click here.

Sixth Panelist: Union Organizer/Activist Diane Feeley

Union organizer, activist, and retiree Dianne Feeley answers the question, "What's a 'green economy,' how do we get there, and what does it mean for Detroit?" Click here.

Watch out for part two of this report on the townhall discussion from Detroit.

-- Rico Thomas Rico

Author/Activist Barbara Ehrenreich talking

in Detroit about the Economic Meltdown

Economist Dean Baker Addresses the 2009 Michigan Policy Summit

Economist Dean Baker, the co-founder and co-director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research in Washington, D.C., was the keynote speaker at the 2009 Michigan Policy Summit in Detroit on Saturday, May 16, 2009.  Baker has a Ph.d. in Economics from the University of Michigan and blogs for the American Prospect.  

His recorded speech is provided below.  You can toggle the HD on/off to adjust for better playback with your specific computer.

-- Rico Thomas Rico

Dean Baker,

Center for Economic and Policy Research,

Addresses the 2009 Michigan Policy Summit

Revenge of the EV1

Looking at General Motors, I shook my head with amazement.  How, I wondered, could a company that has the ability to hire the best and brightest people from around the globe perform so badly?  Why are they building big, gas-guzzling vehicles when gas prices are escalating and when the trend – as evidenced by the foreign competition – is clearly moving toward smaller, fuel-efficient vehicles?  Why? Why? Why?

I asked all these questions circa 1976 while still in high school.

Through more than thirty years these same questions have echoed in my mind.  Even when bad signs or indicators popped into our public consciousness, people continued to believe that the auto industry would continue here in Michigan, especially with the Big Three ingrained in our economy.

Ahhh, there were plenty of warning signs.  Here are just a few:

= Bluestone and Harrison published The Deindustrialization of America in 1982.  But how many in the general public read that book?

= Michael Moore released “Roger and Me” in 1989.  Did the rest of the country simply think this documentary was propaganda?

= President Bill Clinton escorted NAFTA through Congress and signed it into law in 1994.  Steadily over time, did people really notice they were getting the slow SHAFTA from NAFTA?

These signs and many more existed over the 30-year period.  All of us who witnessed the auto industry’s collapse – directly and indirectly – will only be left with those memories.  In the end, it will be our duty and responsibility to tell the story.  The truthful story.  From all its varying angles.

Hot Iron, Hotter Attitude

I got a phone call a few weeks ago from a buddy.  As happens these days, the conversation turned to the state of the economy.  My buddy explained with great conviction how the union workers in Michigan killed our auto industry with their high pay and fringe benefits.

Deep breath.  Pause.  Deep breath.

Let me get this viewpoint straight:

= People like my father, a proud union member and person, who poured hot iron for GM for 33 years, drove the company into the ground?

= My father and his union cohorts decided to continue building gas-guzzling vehicles with the GM nameplate through the whole period when mileage-efficient cars were gaining in popularity?

= My father and the unionists killed and destroyed the GM electric car, the EV1, even though it was affordable, functional, and ready for mass production in an oil-dependent auto market?

What else were the workers responsible for?  Ripping off the Enron customers? Running multi-billion dollar Ponzi schemes?  Fabricating illegal wars so Halliburton could get more military contracts?

Trust me, my dear buddy, if my father had been in charge of GM, the company would still be alive and well, and the only people out of work and money would be the corporate cluster f*cks who were so willing to sell us all out for their own personal, private gain.

The Sad Irony

Michigan is left with this sad irony:

= The earliest mass transit and trolley systems were deliberately killed – mainly by the auto companies themselves – in favor of automobile production and jobs. 

= Politicians – including some prominent Senate and House Democrats who remain in office today – made careers out of shielding the auto companies from legislatively-mandated mileage standards in the name of protecting auto jobs. 

= The state legislature refused – and still refuses – to pass auto inspection and emission standards all in the name of protecting auto jobs.

= The corporate press failed its public responsibility in order not to pressure, scrutinize, or challenge the direction or decisions of the corporate auto giants.

= GM literally crushed out of existence a road-ready electric car in favor of gas-guzzling vehicles.

The ironic result is a state with no mass transit system, no adequate mileage-efficient vehicles, no way to get polluting cars off the roads, no financially-healthy newspaper watchdogs, no electric car… and no thriving auto industry with plentiful jobs.

The Revenge

I ascribe all this to the revenge of the EV1.  You can see it, hear it, and feel it any time a politician, a policymaker, a reporter, or a corporate official feigns the need to build an electric car, or electric-hybrid, or the need to invent and build a good vehicle battery.  The electric vehicle was deliberately and consciously rejected to the long-term detriment of the public good – a truth that must be told as we sift through the ruins and history of the auto industry.

-- Rico Thomas Rico

P.S. Read my earlier piece on the electric car here.

Disaster Capitalism: Naomi Klein Talks About The Shock Doctrine

In this day-and-age of economic disaster, you do not want to miss the recent lecture at Michigan State University by author/activist Naomi Klein, who wrote the book, The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism.  Klein provides important insights into the U.S. economic meltdown and its impact across the globe. 

Klein spoke at the MSU Auditorium on Wednesday, February 17, 2009.  Her full speech is provided below.  Shorter snippets of the speech and the Q&A session at the end will be released separately.  Here you can watch all or parts of the speech by using the slide bar that comes with the video.  The video can also be found here.

-- Rico Thomas Rico

Naomi Klein at Michigan State University

17 February 2009

25 Random Reasons I Hate Living in a 3rd World Country

1.  No national health care system. 

2.   Depressed economy that forces people to join the military for promised health care and education money.

3.  A federal government that sponsors torture overseas and within domestic prisons.

4.  Massive potholes in streets and highways that were once the pride of the community.

5.  A duopolistic political system that masquerades as a two-party system.

6.  Having a military that runs secret prisons.

7.  An education system that has for years warehoused multitudes of uneducated students and a government system that hides this fact and offers no explanation to anyone of the long-term ramifications.

8.  Auto pundits, media, politicians, and policymakers grapple with a downsized automobile industry while play-pretending that the electric automobile is not already functional and while also depending on everyone forgetting the EV1 existed.

9.  The military-industrial complex and the prison-industrial complex continue to suck up massive amount of financial resources while anti-government zealots don’t say a peep.

10.  A 14-year education becoming a norm, not because more skills are needed, but because the students no longer get educated in 12 years.

11.  The fact that it is cheaper for our government to kill us or let us die than to have to pay us our old age social security benefits or federal-guaranteed pensions.

12.  As massive government funds are doled out to financiers and industries, pundits holler about “socialism” while ignoring the fact that what is being practiced is “fascism.”

13.  No one calls for a parliamentary system which would enable the voters to toss out a malfunctioning federal administration.

14.  Eco-activists get 22-year prison sentences for burning down empty buildings while we have walking the streets a former President and Vice President and their lackeys who ordered torture, secret prisons, domestic spying, illegally invading non-threatening countries, and bombing and burning of buildings with innocent people in them.

15.  Bridges literally crumble into rivers.

16.  Tainted peanut butter.

17.  Reliance on cheap imported goods made by slave labor in foreign countries, ironically taking us back to our country’s slave ownership heritage.

18.  Honorable Members of Congress haven’t overtly told the public that the same members of Congress have spent all of the Social Security taxes over the decades on military spending.

19.  Nothing serious is done to stop global warming while our polluting habits continue unabated.

20.  Hearing incessant claims by people that the U.S. is a “Christian” country, yet the same people directly and indirectly support government policies that support military destruction and killing, while letting our own populace starve, go without health care, and lack education resources.

21.  Citizens, who after looking more closely at the 9-11 incident, say “I choose not to believe.”

22.   Allowing a roulette wheel of hate variously targeting “boogey-monsters” like illegal immigrants, gays and lesbians, African-Americans, Arabs and Muslims, and others.

23.  Allowing our brand of capitalism to kill the planet.

24.  Having a government claiming it is broke when people demand national health care, education spending, and other social services, yet pulling billions out of mystery orifices when the business community collapses upon its corrupt, inefficient self.

25.   Living with large numbers of people who hide behind a flag in an effort to escape from the inescapable truth that our country is “the greatest purveyor of violence in the world today.”

-- Rico Thomas Rico