Requiem for Detroit

[jakartajive]

Following on from the recent threads about Detroit, I'm guessing many of you caught the remarkable Julien Temple documentary on BBC4 last night.

As chilling, heartening and astounding a piece of TV as I've seen in a long, long time.

Quite how far - and how fast - the Motor City has fallen is terrifying.
Some scenes looked like out-takes from Beasts of The Southern Wild or something.
Great cameos from Mitch Ryder and Brother John Sinclair as well.

Why Obama is worrying about adding a few more explosions to the mass mess in Syria, when there's shit like this on his own back door is anyone's guess.

[mr sayers]

I recorded it and I'm looking forward to watching it.

[eine]

Yikes, watched this and did some Google Maps dilapidation tourism. Didn't take me long!

[ladyboygrimsby]

I recorded it and I'm looking forward to watching it.

Me too. Anyone see the Dagenham doc before it? Thought that was excellent too.

[Filthy Rich]

I enjoyed the programme a lot. Was struck by how much agreement over what went right and what went wrong there was from all the talking heads - doesn't mean it's easy to fix though of course.

[Filthy Rich]

I'm talking about Detroit there not Dagenham but please feel free to insert your own joke about a horrendously violent post-industrial wasteland where forty percent of the population are illiterate.

[Slim Jim]

A truly terrifying look into our future, I'd say. The lords of consumer capitalism care not whether a city lives or dies once it's served its purpose. Smaller examples of the inadvisability of basing your economic future on one industry can be seen in the former mining areas of the North of England and South Wales.

[green man]

Great programme, thanks for posting about it (would've missed it otherwise).

Kind of excited and a little bit scared about playing there in October!

[chimptown]

Why Obama is worrying about adding a few more explosions to the mass mess in Syria, when there's shit like this on his own back door is anyone's guess.

erm 100,000 dead .. maybe he can have a go at sorting both out...

[jakartajive]

erm 100,000 dead .. maybe he can have a go at sorting both out...

Yes. Bombing for peace.
Always a good idea.

Anyway, there's a separate thread, I suspect.

[Filthy Rich]

I was just in Chelyabinsk in Russia a month or two back. Interesting to compare it to Detroit cos it's Russia's fifth city, of a similar size and it owes its previous prosperity to industry, especially factories making tanks and what not during the war. Russia lost the cold war apparently but Chelyabinsk has seen nothing like the collapse that Detroit experienced (although it did get hit by a meterorite) - why?

[eine]

I think collapse of Detroit is a good example of the free market in action. Products that the big three were developing were simply not suited to the market conditions in the US (esp higher gas prices) so manufacture went to Europe/Asia.

However, the US, and especially the Mid-West has seriously benefitted from rise in food prices - which is being exported to Europe/Asia.

Essentially they are trading corn for cars and as a country still benefitting from a free market. They would lose more dollar by establishing protection for the car industry as Asia/Europe would say well you can stick your corn and fuck off.

Thus Detroit falls.

[Rich Hero]

Great programme, thanks for posting about it (would've missed it otherwise).

It's over three years since the first thread about this! I wonder whether the situation has changed in the meantime, for better or worse?

[babycart]

It's over three years since the first thread about this! I wonder whether the situation has changed in the meantime, for better or worse?

Well Detroit went bust in July.
I bet the paintballing and post-apocalyptic film location scouting sectors are booming, though

[Filthy Rich]

"Well Detroit went bust in July."

What does that mean to the man on the street though?
That may sound as though I'm being sarcastic but it's a genuinve question.