In the post industrial era of America political, cultural, and economic realities are unlike anything our country has experienced. The very fabric of life in this era is altered by the forces of technology and the global marketplace. Traditional platforms of interaction with elected officials has been fundamentally altered. The State has now replaced the local elected legislatures ( city councils) and the core of power. The micro polices of local governance have been structurally altered with the micro intervention of the State into the daily operational management of the local public sector.
Into this new platform of political metrics the role of governance has been forever fundamentally altered. The ruling class in partnership with centralized State government has designed and modeled a form of governance which removes local representatives from their local oversight and control of the daily public sector and public services ( to include Educational districts) and replaced them with a new direct State centered paradigm for governance.
The new global marketplace of goods and services require a new type of governance structure which is efficient and measured. This new model is driven not by consensus and policy concerns of the community but by mandates and financial objectives of the marketplace as defined by the central state government and the interests which influence state policy on the local cities.
Policy is no longer driven by the will of the people. What underwrites the role of political systems now is administrative platform designed and shaped by the State and those who influence the state’s decision makers. Local themes and interests no longer have standing nor social or cultural currency.
Civic principles which historically have focused on the community are now factored as economic metrics rather than civic goals. What is more important is not the percentage of voters who cast a vote but the percentage of voters that are in compliance with State driven administrative budgets and fiscal policies.The notions of democracy and the will of the people no longer have any currency in the 'regime change' model being played out in Detroit.
The mandates of the central State gvernment which are created and orchestrated by the ruling class interests have more priority than any civil objectives. The Viceroy(Emergency Manager) is tasked with defined administrative objectives none which have the people's agenda in play. The 'regime change' in Detroit has made moot concerns and notions regarding voters rights and home rule. The state has now remove the layer of local rule and replaced it with direct rule from the central governor’s office under the auspices of a Viceroy.
Into this new era of governance the city of Detroit and the nation have just experienced and witnessed a calibrated 'regime change' in the City of Detroit. A coup has taken place without a revolution by the people or intervention by the military. The State has inserted a Viceroy under the directives of the centralized governor to disenfranchise voting rights and ban home rule. The Viceroy with absoulte authority granted by the State now conducts and controls all municipal business and public services contracts and affairs.
Detroit is no longer a place where public policy is underwritten by elected representatives of the people. The 'regime changes' in Detroit have been accomplished a coup has transpired without a body count, political prisoners or blood in the streets. Residents live under a surreal state of martial law,staged elections with state influenced operatives as candidates for administrative public officials.
Detroit is the template of the post industrial era in America where the global market is the policy driver and not the will of the people.
10 comments:
Mr. Thrasher:
I respectfully disagree. The citizens of Detroit are suffering. It would be immoral for the State not to have taken action when elected officials could not.
As I recall, the Detroit Chief of Police testified that the time for police to arrive in Los Angeles was 7 minutes but 50 in Detroit. Less than 10% of all murders are solved. Detroiters are subjected to violence and murder at a rate which is inconceivable in another large city.
When a humanitarian disaster exists in another country there are calls for action. Send in the troops, humanitarian aid. No one was overly concerned about elected officials in Darfur, Sudan. Suffering is suffering and it is immoral for Detroiters to be subjected to the hazards and hardships of life in Detroit.
The first job of government is to provide security. When Detroit's leadership could not provide this most basic service it had to be replaced. No one asks to speak to their councilman when they are being carjacked.
David Findling
Detroit is not a 3rd world venue as citizens of the state they should expect the state to step up with various services from education to employment.
The overwhelming majority of people in the city do not commit crimes.The police chief inflated his tale of being 'carjack prospect .
Black residents have been slighted for decades even when I was a kid yet no one called on the UN .. Lol lol
Sorry David I can not purchase the propaganda and disinformation about my city.
http://voiceofdetroit.net/2010/12/12/the-crime-of-reporting-crime/
I have to take issue with this. I am black man and voted for Duggan. I looked at the man and his experience, not the color of his skin.
As for the state, do you not understand the depth of indebtedness - due to corruption or stupidity? And it was still spiraling when the state took over.
Would you suggest I am but a mere puppet - or have the wool pulled over my eyes - to vote for a white man?
Marcus...I do not define people nor do I care about your voting preference...
Thank you Greg for this insightful & thoughtful article! It is true that the new model of governance actually ignores the will of the people bosltering the marketplace/ globalization seizing power, decision making & valua me assets. Detroit has been robbed without a gun! And those who prefer to differ will do so; but an inside view validates this fact. Thanks for being an intelligent, courageous & free thinker! Love u for that dude! :-) Even though we occasionally disagree! :-) Happy New Year!Debra Taylor
Oh for goodness sake! You make out as if the days of Detroit's "local control" were not rife with self-interest and the facilitation of such, and part and parcel government, corporate, labor, and political influence group dysfunction. And if such hadn't led to bankruptcy, do you rseriously think that Detroit's slow and massive train wreck wouldn't have continued? Even if you are completely right, and in my experience conspiracies and the power plays of the influential are even worse than can be caught or articulated, so what? In politics like in business, if you go BK those with influence and in power are out -- to be replaced by a new set of such. Congrats, you have missed both the trees and the forest.
Intellectual cowards who post Anonymous comments will always be discounted by met....
This is an excellent article. I am sorry I missed it when you first posted it one year ago. Nevertheless, it remains timely, if not timeless in terms of your analysis. I enjoyed your description of the situation in Detroit, particularly the use of the term "Viceroy" which smacks of the Spanish colonial era in the Americas and beyond. Others have spoken of Detroit as a plantation with Governor Snyder and Kevyn Orr as overseers for the Big Banks and other powerful Wall Street interests. I view it as another manifestation of the late economist, Professor Milton Friedman of the University of Chicago world view. That approach calls for essentially wiping out the middle class, crushing the unions, massive privatization of public assets, and centralizing political power. All of which to one degree or another is taking place in Detroit. I further agree with your position that Detroit is ground zero and what is unfolding there during the State takeover will find its way into the hands of others as a template for many more municipalities across the United States. I am interested in reading your other writings and would appreciate you directing me to them. In the meantime, keep up the fight and the good work.
This is an excellent article. I am sorry I missed it when you first posted it one year ago. Nevertheless, it remains timely, if not timeless in terms of your analysis. I enjoyed your description of the situation in Detroit, particularly the use of the term "Viceroy" which smacks of the Spanish colonial era in the Americas and beyond. Others have spoken of Detroit as a plantation with Governor Snyder and Kevyn Orr as overseers for the Big Banks and other powerful Wall Street interests. I view it as another manifestation of the late economist, Professor Milton Friedman's (University of Chicago) world view. That approach calls for essentially wiping out the middle class, crushing the unions, massive privatization of public assets, and centralizing political power. All of which to one degree or another is taking place in Detroit. I further agree with your position that Detroit is ground zero, and what is unfolding there during the State takeover will find its way into the hands of others as a template for many more municipalities across the United States. I am interested in reading your other writings and would appreciate you directing me to them. In the meantime, keep up the good fight and the good work.
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