Detroit Michigan was once known as the Motor City and it was a symbol of American industrial power
now it's synonymous with poverty crime and Urban Decay it's still called the Motor City but it's
not as fitting as it once was Detroit's poverty rate is among the highest in the country with
over 42 percent of its residents living below the poverty line whole city blocks have empty
lots where family homes once stood piles of trash now sit where families used to gather for cookouts
swing sets sit broken and rusted in backyards and are being reclaimed by Nature happiness and joy
have been replaced by depression and failure so what led to the dire State of Affairs in Detroit
in this video we will examine the historical and systemic factors that have contributed to
the death of Detroit there are many reasons Detroit ended up where it is in 2023. today
we're just focusing on the main reasons for its collapse this city was built on the back of the
Auto industry the big three car manufacturers General Motors Ford and Chrysler called this
place home they provided thousands and thousands of jobs and economic stability for Generations in
Detroit the decline of the American Auto industry in the mid 20th century had a devastating impact
on Detroit's economy that's just how it goes when you lose Industries people lose jobs bad things
start happening as the industry shifted towards Automation and overseas production thousands of
jobs were lost factories closed and hundreds of thousands of people were left without work
and I don't think as many people realized that it wasn't just 100 percent Japan started making
good cars and we moved our production overseas a lot of those lost jobs were due to Automation in
the 1940s let's say I've seen different numbers for different assembly lines but let's say the
typical auto assembly line took 50 people to run it in 1945. ten years later in 1955 that
same assembly line may be needed 42 people they had newer technology that replaced some of the
workers by the time you get to the 1960s that same assembly line is working with 25 people now don't
get me wrong that wasn't the only reason Auto industry jobs were lost there are many layers
to this it's like an onion but I think that's one that's just overlooked by a lot of people
I remember Johnny Carson making a joke about the Denver Airport and how they had replaced a lot
of baggage handlers with an automated system in the automated system was losing a lot of luggage
Johnny Carson said robots were stealing our jobs and our luggage and it's just a matter of
time before they program one to do a late night monologue so overseas production automation the
end result was keep in mind it wasn't just the big three auto manufacturers there were hundreds
of companies with thousands and thousands of employees that supported the Auto industry in
Detroit the economic downturn hit everyone in the city the city's black population got hit
especially hard as they were already facing just discrimination in the job market the combination
of systemic racism and economic downturn created The Perfect Storm for poverty to take root in
Detroit every major city has poverty they always have they always will this just turbocharged the
situation that was going on in Detroit as companies scaled back jobs were lost black
employees were laid off at a faster rate than white employees the Motor City hit its population
peak in the 1950s census with almost 2 million residents in the city alone I'm not talking the
metro area the 1960 census shows how the post-war boom that Detroit had been enjoying was coming to
an end fewer cars were being purchased that meant your workers were needed and in 1960
Detroit realized for the first time in its history the population had dropped Detroit lost 10 percent
of its population which was devastating in the coming decades it just got worse they have had
double-digit losses every single census since the 1960 census as we came came to the mid 60s
people had gotten the idea that Detroit was dying people started moving out for better
economic opportunities and as you can imagine this created a Snowball Effect fewer people meant fewer
tax dollars property values dropped which gave them even fewer tax dollars then of course they
had fewer resources available to support those in need abandoned homes and abandoned neighborhoods
became the norm in Detroit eventually the city's tax base had shrunk so much it was difficult for
the city to provide any essential services to its residents as businesses left the city it
became harder and harder for the businesses that were there to get things like loans and support
to keep their businesses going Banks kind of saw everything in Detroit as a no-win situation for
them they didn't want to put any more money into a dying City Detroit once led the nation in home
ownership and somewhere around the 1980s it did a 180 and became the Foreclosure capital
of the United States it's also the illiteracy and Dropout capital of the United States the schools
in Detroit have been underfunded for decades leading to a lack of educational opportunities
for many of its residents so you're poor you can't get a decent education you can't get a
job you're kind of stuck Detroit also has a long history of corrupt government officials I've had
a few go to jail many people including myself have said that Detroit just needs to be mowed
over and started fresh they've tried different things to make the city better the downtown looks
okay these days it seemed to be a little safe but if you go right outside the downtown area
it's another situation it's like a third world country third world country that's not doing very
good but Detroit is not without hope the people of Detroit are hard-working resilient people
they're determined a lot of people have stayed not because they're trapped here because they
love their City not as much the city it's just the it's where they grew up it's what they know a lot
of our cities that we grow up in that we've become come familiar with that we spent our informative
years they're almost like a family member to us Detroit's like that family member that's been
to rehab 17 times we all got one none of us can stand thinking about what that person's become
but we still love them it's their family member they're a community-based organizations working
tirelessly to provide resources and support for those that need it in Detroit and they need help
they have for 40 years fact remains they don't have enough money to fix five percent of the
problems Detroit has in conclusion the death of Detroit is a result of complex intertwined
historical economic and systemic factors basically a whole bunch of crap that happened over decades
and decades that nobody's been able to fix the decline of the Auto industry depopulation and the
systemic issues such as redlining and underfunding schools have all played their role in the demise
of Detroit if you want to fix Detroit you have to fix the poverty crisis if you fix the poverty
crisis the crime rate will go down their crime rate is insane right now in 2023 the total crime
rate is 130 percent above the national average and their violent crime rate is 462 percent above the
national average property crime 64 above the national average and those are all a result
of poverty historically poverty has always been the root of just about every problem any society
has it's like they Branch off from poverty poverty will raise your crime rate poverty will lower the
health of the residents it will lower property values and it will take a toll on the tax base
schools will begin to suffer and fewer police and hospitals will be available Detroit is right
across the river from Windsor Canada and the condition Detroit is in currently I'm surprised
those two Bridges don't look like the bridges from Escape From New York just filled with barricades
and guards now there's a lot more that goes into the demise and the death of Detroit I do
10 minute videos this subject needs a full-blown documentary of Eight Episodes an hour a piece
this is just kind of the basics if you want to read a really good book on the demise of Detroit
there's a book by a guy named Charlie LeDuff he's a journalist and he lives in Detroit and he wrote
a book called Detroit the autopsy definitely a good book to read he's very entertaining
all right everyone that's today's video hope you guys enjoyed it hope you got some
information of it now go out have a great day be nice to each other