I was inspired to write this blog after a forum was inadvertently started by the Facebook comment of a friend. I do not live right in Detroit, but if I walk to the end of my street and down two streets on Jefferson, I am in the city. I have a vested interest in what happens to Detroit.
So many people view the auto industry's decline as something outside of themselves that can't touch them either because they don't work for the industry or live in or near Detroit. Those people are sadly mistaken and foolish.
When 3 Million people could lose their jobs, not only will the infrastructure of Detroit collapse, so will the country.
I see the faces of those living in the state that aren't just struggling, but rather are homeless, starving, freezing and hopeless. There are 2 intersections near my home where there are folks begging either for food or work to get food. Yeah, some of them are drunks, druggies, the mentally ill. But there's a new face to poverty.
These kids in Detroit are homeless. Perhaps their parents are drunks, druggies or whatever, but they aren't. It is just a plausible that their parents are the unskilled labor let go by the auto industry. Flint collapsed and Michael Moore made a movie about what happened to those people.
One hideous point always made is about what auto workers make and how it's not fair that "unskilled" people make so much. So how much should those of us in the serfdom be allowed to make? What sort of lifestyle should be an allowable amount? $10 an hour?
Take me for example:
My crime? I was a house wife that got left in the dust with two kids then 7 and 10.
I was a house wife from age 25 to 35. I took care of my home and kids. Then my ex decided he wanted out. I have no skills other than sales. I couldn't keep up with my bills. I lost my house to foreclosure. I made $20,000 a year including child support. Now in 2008, I made the same amount of money and I moved to an apartment.
Then I lost my job. Now I make $1200 a month. Keep in mind, I have a certification as a medical assistant. I can't find a job. I am currently going back to school through a State funded program called No Worker Left Behind. But Michigan is in finacial trouble so the funding could dry up very quickly.
I have a 15 year old car that breaks down all of the time. I can barely afford insurance. My rent is $825 a month. My utilities are $200. Food is $400. I don't even make that much. I also have a cell phone that is $50 for unlimited minutes.
I don't have a home phone, cable, a computer,or internet. I only get new clothes when my tax return comes in Spring. My jeans are literally 12 years old. My kids work in the summer to buy their clothes. They only get new things at Christmas and for Birthdays, and not from me.
The state says that because my daughter has a part time job, I am going to lose my food stamps,and Medicaid. She may be moving out because if she has to give me her money, college is out for her.I am not homeless and I thank God everyday that I'm not, but for those of you in your secure little lives: look around- we're not so different from you. As a retail manager I did have more than one person with a MA come to my store looking for work at minimum wage.The next time you're feeling smug just remember:YOUR TOWN MAY BE NEXT AND YOU MAY BECOME THE NEW FACE OF POVERTY.
