Tuesday, December 3, 2013

In recent news, a judge has granted the Detroit the ability to declare bankruptcy. This, to me, is the least of the worries for Detroit. In the article I read it talks about all of the issues arising due to the lack of funding and money in Detroit. Many of the basic necessities for the city are out of date and city workers such as police and fireman are suffering. In the article it describes how the police drive old cars with no computers, holes in the floor, no air conditioning, and wear bullet proof vests that are out of date. Next, the article discusses how a building caught on fire and the roof collapses, trapping a fire fighter in the building. His tracking device, which was out of date, did not work correctly, making it impossible to find him. He would pass away as the building burned to the ground. The lack of money in Detroit is placing workers and citizens in harms way. I think that the Art reserve must be sold off to raise money. To me this idea of trying to save the art is crazy when things such as fire fighters dying unnecessarily. Something must be done to fix these pressing issues. I think at some point the federal government may need to step in as the citizens of are suffering. At one point emergency response went out for 15 hours. Many citizens could be placed in harms way and a change must be made as the current government in place in Detroit has clearly been careless and ruined the city.

3 comments:

  1. I found the bankruptcy very interesting. It seems a judge will oversee the bankruptcy and the required improvement of public services like the police and fire department. I hope that this goes well and improves the city and its emergency response times. Maybe the city has a chance to revitalize itself and go back to its roots.

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  2. I think the hope is to get rid of some of the debt burden through bankruptcy in order to free up funds for the areas you describe. If the art is legally available to pay off debts, it will be sold, but I think there are substantial legal obstacles to that. Ideally, if they sold of the artworks, it would be to create some kind of long term rainy day fun, not to pay debt. But I think that there are massive legal obstacles to selling the art, so it is unlikely to be a serious option.

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  3. My heart is heavy for those in Detroit. It is not a place to be right now, and we should see some government help. The purpose of government is to protect and people in Detroit's safety is at risk. Selling the Art Reserve is a good starting point , however I do not think we should sell any of the sport franchises.

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