Michigan, whose unemployment rate has topped 10 percent longer than that of any other state, is about to set another record: its new Republican governor, Rick Snyder, signed a law Monday that will lead the state to pay fewer weeks of unemployment benefits next year than any other state.
Thanks for commenting. I moderate comments, so it may take a while for your comment to appear. You might enjoy my book about Flint called "Teardown: Memoir of a Vanishing City," a Michigan Notable Book for 2014 and a finalist for the 33rd Annual Northern California Book Award for Creative NonFiction. Filmmaker Michael Moore described Teardown as "a brilliant chronicle of the Mad Maxization of a once-great American city." More information about Teardown is available at www.teardownbook.com.
I wish it still was. I'm very saddened by everything that has been happening in the Midwest. Unionization is an essential ingredient for the establishment and maintenance of a middle class in a capitalistic society. Without them, working people will no longer have a say in their working environments, and greed will be the predominant mantra. Not cool, not cool at all.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure that the workers at Toyota, Honda and other non-union shops in America wonder how they have a say in their working environments. As Michael Barone noted the other day, Taylor-driven unionism overreached and destroyed its host.
ReplyDeleteTo answer your question, Gordon, Michigan may not be any more, but Detroit, Flint, Pontiac, etc. still are. And it shows...
Were you here for Joseph Stiglitz the economist who spoke at the UM - Flint Critical Issues Forum Monday? His remarks would have resonated with your project, I suspect.
ReplyDeleteAnd how dare you slip in and out of town without letting an old lady buy you a drink!
I was only in Flint for three days, Macy. Stopped by your office two Fridays ago at about 2pm but you were out. Sorry I missed you. I'm planning to head back in July. How are my two cat friends doing?
ReplyDeleteMacy, Macy, Macy. Tsk, tsk. We've talked about this before. It's not "old lady." It's "older babe."
ReplyDeleteJoey and Cinder like living in their shrinking city as long as they get a half a can of tuna morning and evening -- they say Meow...that means, Hail and Salud, Gordie! I gathered that might have been you that Friday afternoon. My assistant said a handsome young man who "looked smart" dropped by.
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