The end of the world

By Tom Quiner

Detroit has filed for bankruptcy.

The city is the victim of liberalism, characterized by sprawling decay everywhere. It’s so bad that people flock to Detroit from around the world to see the spectacle, as reported by the New York Times:

“One afternoon at the ruins of the 3.5-million-square-foot Packard Plant, I ran into a family from Paris. The daughter said she read about the building in Lonely Planet; her father had a camcorder hanging around his neck. Another time, while conducting my own tour for a guest, a group of German college students drove up. When queried as to the appeal of Detroit, one of them gleefully exclaimed, “I came to see the end of the world!”

Another city once looked like the “end of the world.” Hiroshima was reduced to rubble in an instant.

The year was 1945. America dropped an atomic bomb on this proud city, leading to the death of 60,000 people and the destruction of the city’s infrastructure.

The devastating impact of the weapon led to the immediate end of the Pacific War, concluding World War II.

When you look at the photos of Hiroshima in the aftermath of the bombing, your first reaction might be that this city will never rise again.

You would be wrong.

Today, Hiroshima is a thriving, beautiful city. It’s population has grown from about 380,000 in 1945 to nearly 1.2 million today. The city has flourished under capitalism and is devoid of a welfare system.

Unlike Hiroshima, Detroit’s population has declined precipitously, from 1.7 million in 1960 to a little more than 700,000 today. The city has been controlled politically by the Democratic Party since January 2nd, 1962, when Jerome Cavanaugh was sworn in as mayor. Democrats have controlled the mayorship ever since.

With no meaningful political opposition, they have been able to implement a specific agenda to improve their city. Their agenda includes high tax policies against upper income earners, most of whom are caucasian; political favoritism toward African-Americans; pandering to unions; harassment of business owners.

How has their agenda worked? You be the judge. Whites fled the city in search of a more favorable tax environment. Whites accounted for 70% of the population in 1960, but only 8% today.

The unemployment rate stands at a robust eighteen percent. Kids have been devastated, as six out of ten Detroit kids live below the poverty level.

This is amazing: out of Detroit’s 140 square mile area, a third of it is either vacant or derelict, attracting tourists from around the world to ogle the failure of liberalism. There are more than 33,000 homes sitting vacant in the Motor City!

Get this: Detroit has 85,000 street lights. Half of them don’t work because thieves have stripped them of their copper wire.

Forty-seven percent of ALL people living in Detroit are considered to be functionally illiterate.

The murder rate is 11 times higher than New York City. And when you do need to call the cops, it takes an average of 56 minutes to get a response. The national average is 9 minutes. Detroit police are really honest about their town; they tell you to “enter Detroit at your own risk.”

I have only scratched the surface at the impact unimpeded liberalism has had on a once proud city.

The cause of Detroit’s decline is obvious: liberalism run amuck.

Hiroshima shows that the solution is obvious: free market capitalism.

Our entire economy is stagnant under the Obama Government. They have embraced the Detroit model of liberal economic policies, resulting in the lowest labor force participation rate since the Carter years.

The entire country is heading in the direction of Detroit, which according to tourists looks like the end of the world. Other major cities are also fighting decay.

Is more and bigger government the solution … or the problem?