Detroit:The End or Beginning of the Road?
Detroit seemed to be viewed as a dead-end, and a dangerous one at that. Even Detroiters were puzzled but pleased by my visit. I guess it is rather unusual to be a tourist in town.
I heard the author above speak about Detroit on CSPAN2 BOOKTV in the Fall sometime on a Saturday about the destruction and decay of this great American city. His use of the word autopsy is no hyperbolic word-play to catch the eye. The book is one sad story after another, like piling the dead of a plague on top of another, and then setting the rot afire. The book was depressing but did have a good dose of graveyard humor.
LeDuff's essential thesis is that Detroit got fat and happy and corrupt. Then the oil embargo and economical Japanese car imports caught Detroit on the jaw and the punches haven't stopped. Much like what happens to a farmer when he practices mono-agriculture and gets a pest or a disease in the field that wipes the whole crop out, Detroit was built on the frame of the automobile. When that cracked and started to be stressed, the city began its long drive and descent into the pit. Only time will tell if there is a new tomorrow for Detroit.
LeDuff really offers no solutions and I fault him for that. I also was irked that he didn't attempt to find any hope for Detroit. I also was miffed that he didn't respond to two of my direct messages to his Twitter account to meet while I was in town. I am at the point of my life, with enough credibility and confidence, that I typically get replies to queries. The replies may still be no, but I hear back. The silence was a diss in my estimation. So, it was what it was. It was the holidays and he probably had better things to do than meet with me but I think he could have found a diplomatic manner in which to reply, even if he had the time, just to say no thanks. But, beggars can't to choosers as they say. And Detroit is destitute outside of downtown.
So, where do we find hope for Detroit and by implication, for situations which appear hopeless? As a Christian, for me, it is the Gospel which both diagnoses the problems of humanity (sin, both individual and systemic, and all of the apathy, abuse, and inequalities that are engendered by it) and the remedy (radical truth telling, repentance, humility, forgiveness, and loving restoration). It is Good News after all. I don't put much hope on politics, the President, the Supreme Court nominations, the Congress to solve our collective problems. It reeks of idolatry and trusting in Chariots, as it were. Or Automobiles. These institutions have a role to play but only a role.
* Post-Script: Detroit does not have to die. LeDuff's use of the word autopsy suggests that the city is stone cold dead in the morgue of history. I say no, not necessarily so. For there is one who raises the dead and there is life in his name. In one sense we do have to come to the end of ourselves, to realize our prescriptions for what ails us are at best short term fixes. Essentially, our greatest problem is a soul disease, to lose hope, and we must let die to which has to die so that new life can begin. We are not as autonomous as we think we are.
BTW. This is probably my last blog on Detroit.
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