This time I've translated not a CT babbling, but an article written by a polish libertardian about Detroit.
"Leftist utopia takes a toll
On the question: what countries are usually associated with socialism, the majority of respondents would choose central and eastern Europe countries (...). But very few, if any, would choose United States. Not the whole country, of course, but some cities and states drift in that direction and we have the first victims.
At several right wing sites, like www.dolnoslazacy.pl [ http://wroblewski.dolnoslazacy.pl/4194,syndrom_walbrzycha.html ], appeared a note titled "Wałbrzych syndrome"[I wrote more about Wałbrzych below the article] with a link to YouTube video "Detroit: the leftist utopia" [sorry, but I couldn't find a version without polish voiceover]. The Author probably found certain similarties of those cities, like ruined buildings, dirty streets, increasing crime and social demoralization caused by the social packages. And although the analogy of those cities seems a bit far-fetched, after neglecting differences caused by the history, geography and politics, some similarities exist, but the mechanism of destruction is most interesting. Nearly one milion Detroit is known mainly from it;s automotive industry.
Here were produced the cars which are a symbol of America: Chrysler, Ford, GM. It used to be a city with the highest average income per family, today it is the laughing stock of the country, taking 66 place to 68 possible. But what not everyone knows, it is ruled by socialists from more than 50 years. And this is the reason that Detroit became the city of social rights.
Effects came quickly, and is startet form the "Model city" [translated literally] - the city is centrally managed. 400 millions USD was pumped into one district to create a model city. The result is a city of social programs. Instead of a model city (whatever
it meant), a totally state-dependent city came into being. The government began to decide what, when and where companies might be started. In return, residents were promised education, training, healthcare and many aid programs. It came out as usual with socialists, expensive and sloppy. In education, 11,100 $ is spent per student in Detroit, while the national average is 9,600 $, yet only 25% of students finishes school there. A student in Detroit is more likely to end up in prison than to finish
school. Teacher unions make the situation even worse, by opposing the dependence of their salaries from performance(...). Trade unions also took part in destruction of automotive industry. I.e. Chrysler has reveived several multimillion-dollar grants for dept relief, workers received seven weeks of paid leave every year, banks of employment
were created, to ensure dismissed workers salaries for doing-nothing, the hourly rate of 74$ (average wage in US is 26$/hr.). As a result, American cars were too expensive, at least in comparison with i.e. Japanese. The bankruptcy of factiories caused a rise in unemployment to 50%, an increase of poverty and crime, and for the balance - the fall in property prices. Average home price is 5,700 $, which is not surprising, since as a result of devastation of entire neighborhoods, bears appeared in the city [seriously, WTF?]. Needless to say, decent people moved to other cities. What's next - it's not known, but it is certain that this is the effect of all left-wing utopias, if we will not stop it."
About Wałbrzych: well this city is really horrible. Until 90s, coal mining was the lifeblood of Wałbrzych. After the mines became unprofitable and were closed down, this city fell apart of sorts. It is indeed crime-ridden and somewhat run-down, but it is changin now, because of some new factories build recently. Anyway, comparing it with Detroit is rather dumb.
Author of this article is a doctor in my hometown. He is a qualified doctor, but also pratices natural medicine and acupuncture - does it make him a quack? He's popular in my hometown anyway, if only for his practice. He's also a supporter of Janusz Korwin-Mikke ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Janusz_Korwin-Mikke ), polish version of Ron Paul.
