Detroit Resumes Cutting Off Water to 150,000 Residents, Prompting Appeal to United Nations for Help
83 replies, posted
[quote]
Desperate calls for help from the United Nations aren’t just for war-torn and developing nations anymore. The city of Detroit—a city that has been on the brink in many ways—in an effort to balance its books, has begun shutting off water access to city residents behind on their payments. While that may seem like what happens to anyone when they don’t pay their bills, Detroit is a unique case—nearly half of the 323,900 residents who use the utility are delinquent, according to the Detroit Free Press. To make matters worse, Al-Jazeera America reports, Detroit’s average monthly water bill is nearly double the national average of $40. The Detroit City Council approved a 9 percent hike last week.
In response, a coalition of activist groups in the city have appealed to the United Nations High Commission for Human Rights for relief.
[/quote]
[url]http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_slatest/2014/06/23/detroit_shuts_off_water_for_residents_united_nations_asked_to_help.html[/url]
[quote]Detroit’s average monthly water bill is nearly double the national average of $40. [/quote]
Why is this? According to comments on the article it's because Detroit is depopulated?
[QUOTE=lazyguy;45208761]Why is this? According to comments on the article it's because Detroit is depopulated?[/QUOTE]
I would imagine is a number of factors, including sharply declining population density and infrastructure that is falling apart. Leaves the water company a large service overhead with few people to cover the costs.
I say we just get everyone who wants out of Detroit out of Detroit and put them elsewhere.
That place is fucked.
Detroit still has residents?
[QUOTE=gk99;45208903]I say we just get everyone who wants out of Detroit out of Detroit and put them elsewhere.
That place is fucked.[/QUOTE]
If only it'd be that simple.
What's wrong with Detroit anyway, why don't they get a bunch of investment there and make some jobs?
[QUOTE=mdeceiver79;45209035]What's wrong with Detroit anyway, why don't they get a bunch of investment there and make some jobs?[/QUOTE]
It's not worth investing in to at this point.
[QUOTE=mdeceiver79;45209035]What's wrong with Detroit anyway, why don't they get a bunch of investment there and make some jobs?[/QUOTE]
I actually saw a program on the news about some politicians discussing that topic.
Politician A said, that Detroit is shit, and is going to stay shit until the end of the universe if some serious investment doesn't take place.
Politician B said, fuck Detroit they did it to themselves by electing such stupid representatives and they should just put up with it.
Politician C-Z praise B's massive intellect.
Politician A says, ok instead of arguing with you I'll just agree. It is their fault, now are we going to let Detroit stay a hell-hole or invest in them so they can stop draining resources?
B starts ranting about women in Detroit having 30 children and all on welfare blah blah blah blah
[QUOTE=gk99;45208903]I say we just get everyone who wants out of Detroit out of Detroit and put them elsewhere.
That place is fucked.[/QUOTE]
Pretty much. And turn it into a prison for our most dangerous criminals. And send Kurt Russell there.
I keep saying it, America will become a third world country before too long
[QUOTE=mdeceiver79;45209035]What's wrong with Detroit anyway, why don't they get a bunch of investment there and make some jobs?[/QUOTE]
Too corrupt, too much crime, too little skilled workers, too many poor people, the place is like the somalia of the u.s. and its not really going to get better because of the decades of mismanagement and poor planning, I'm not going to blame the democrat lead government but the population essentially elected the same group of people over and over again even as they went to jail, failed to do anything, and worse destroyed long term plans
[QUOTE=Chaoss86;45209177]I keep saying it, America will become a third world country before too long[/QUOTE]
One city =/= A Country
[QUOTE=Durrsly;45209196]One city =/= A Country[/QUOTE]
Sure, but a country just doesn't become a third world country over night, it starts with one city.
[QUOTE=Chaoss86;45209177]I keep saying it, America will become a third world country before too long[/QUOTE]
Then you're completely retarded in both the literal sense of 'third world country' as well as the connotative sense.
[editline]25th June 2014[/editline]
'The world's largest economy will go away before too long!'
I really hope you just suck with time and 'before too long' means 'maybe in the next few hundred years' because 20 trillion dollars just don't disappear over night
I think he was over exaggerating for comedic effect, you don't need to get so worried.
[QUOTE=Chaoss86;45209177]I keep saying it, America will become a third world country before too long[/QUOTE]
you do realize that when people flee from detroit they usually just go somewhere else in America to set up shop
america is big
[QUOTE=fishyfish777;45209332]you do realize that when people flee from detroit they usually just go somewhere else in America to set up shop
america is big[/QUOTE]
heh. My inner smart-ass doesn't think 'setting up shop' is something these folks are capable of in anything but the metaphorical sense.
Detroit of the past few years is basically just one big clown-car of humanitarian crises.
[QUOTE=Chaoss86;45209177]I keep saying it, America will become a third world country before too long[/QUOTE]
Then what will that make the UK, a country that's about to split in half for ethnic reasons?
[QUOTE=Explosions;45209390]Then what will that make the UK, a country that's about to split in half for ethnic reasons?[/QUOTE]
You don't know much about it I guess, there more to it than ethnicity.
[QUOTE=Explosions;45209390]Then what will that make the UK, a country that's about to split in half for ethnic reasons?[/QUOTE]
Is this post satire? Or do you actually believe this?
[QUOTE=mdeceiver79;45209035]What's wrong with Detroit anyway, why don't they get a bunch of investment there and make some jobs?[/QUOTE]
Many factors, such as safety, a lack of infrastructure, extreme corruption, and not much educated work pool. The city is a second-world shithole in a first-world nation. A couple years back the governor turned the local government into a dictatorship in an effort to do away with corruption and balance the city budget, which meant giving huge tax cuts to what little business there was and destroying welfare, social services, and public employee pay and benefits, which ultimately has lead to absolutely nothing but more poverty and shit like this. They're taking a "hard-line stance" by denying much of the already extremely poor population fucking [i]water[/i] for what is essentially the fault of a shitty government and bad politics resulting out of a failing economy since the 1970s. So fuck them.
[QUOTE=Explosions;45209390]Then what will that make the UK, a country that's about to split in half for ethnic reasons?[/QUOTE]
Are you seriously saying this without irony? It's not for ethnic reasons, [B]PAY ATTENTION.[/B]
Wasn't Detroit once a rich city?
[QUOTE=ionuttzu;45209493]Wasn't Detroit once a rich city?[/QUOTE]
Yes. I believe it was the crash of the Car Companies that was the first domino in the whole situation.
[QUOTE=NoobieWafer223;45209541]Yes. I believe it was the crash of the Car Companies that was the first domino in the whole situation.[/QUOTE]
Yep when General Motors started going downhill, everything went south ever since with the other manufacturers in that area following suit.
how about we evacuate the city, build a wall around it, and then throw all our prisoners inside
[QUOTE=Explosions;45209390]Then what will that make the UK, a country that's about to split in half for ethnic reasons?[/QUOTE]
What? Ethnic reasons? You know that the UK is 87% white, right?
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