Detroit: The Post-Apocalyptic Future of American Cities?
July 23rd, 2009Update: Is This Story Bullshit?
A couple of readers from Detroit have written in and are saying that this story is bullshit and that they they haven’t seen any barbedwired burbclaves.
—End Update—
Via: Al Martin:
Here’s a glimpse of a Turn Key Approach to Urban Wasteland Management ™. Last week I had a chance to talk to a friend who just got back from Detroit and boy did he get an eyeful of America’s Future. After listening to him describe Detroit , it’s obvious that it has all fallen apart. First of all, there’s very little civil authority or regular civil government remaining and in operation. Almost everything has been turned over to these so-called Private Management Companies. And this is how it’s being done. They block out areas, in which 80% or more of the houses have been foreclosed on, which happens to be almost the entire city and county. They have selectively begun to bulldoze the properties which have been foreclosed on. The rest have been boarded up. Then they have turned over management of these 100 block area to private companies which have become defacto governments. They have the literal authority of “governments” and they’re paid a flat fee from the city, county or state to “manage,” as they say, a square block of this urban wasteland.
These Private Management Companies sell themselves as residual property management firms. Most of these companies, as it turns out, are in fact off-shore subsidiaries of Private Military Contractors (PMCs). They provide a catchall service. In other words, they regulate how much electrical power and natural gas flows through these areas. They also act as police force, and they act as management for local civil government.
However this Urban Wasteland Management has been pretty efficient. They want to protect what remaining wealthy areas that still exist, like Bloomfield Hills. These companies come in and effectively build large barbed wire fences, around these mostly abandoned square block areas. Some people are still living in them, by the way, even though most of them are boarded up because they’re no longer bothering to serve process through the entire foreclosure procedure. Oftentimes once the house has been taken back and is ultimately owned by the city or county or some government, they let the people stay there until it’s abandoned and then taken over by squatters. Then they’re given a 72 hour notice to leave, by this private management company – before they come in and bulldoze the house. If you’re not out, that’s it. The bulldozers run. They can bulldoze the place with you in it – with legal impunity.
Is there any confirmation of this, or is this simply a story of a forward looking view? Photos of 10 square city block areas being leveled? Names of neighborhoods? Street addresses or cross streets? Casualty reports from homeless inside the buildings?
Who are the Private Management Companies?
I’m not disputing it, only asking. Lots of things float around both on the Internet and mainstream publications without proper fact verification. I would believe this, but I also don’t want to fall for someone’s fantasy that turns out he just saw a rundown neighborhood.
I have a very large DVD collection since I spend all of my weekends shut-in with Mom. We watched “Grand Torino” with Clint Eastwood last weekend. Detroit is the movie setting. I’m not particularly a fan of CE but this article reminds me of that movie which is timely, informative, and the essence of what is happening to Detroit- a former great industrial city in the US.
Urban Wasteland Management?! What a catchy phrase. Offshore Private Military Contractors razing our cities and houses with people in them?
Isn’t that WARFARE?
Who is funding this warfare if Detroit is bankrupt? The Vatican? GM? US taxpayers?
Am I thinking this is what starts an uprising from the people affected by this? You betcha.
IMHO, the destruction of a American city by an faction that cannot be traced to its funding source is covert warfare.
P.S. My last sentence should re overt rather than covert warfare. So solly.
I can’t speak for Detroit, but this sounds like what goes on down in New Orleans. Rich sectors are protected by the military and the police; poor sectors left to rot.