MAROONED IN DETROIT FOR TEN YEARS
You learn something after you been stuck in a sewer for ten years. You see disturbing patterns. You see the filth, you see the stupidity and most of all you see all the mistakes that infest your local surroundings. People screw up - repeatedly and with that - you move forward. Call it progress. Call it improvement.
The Erosion Of The Job Culture
There is one good thing that occured in the last ten years. Aside from the rising prices associated with the cost of living the entire economic fabric of S.E. Michigan came toppling down. Now that the dust is settling we can see this state for what it really is. The rose colored shades are off and what we are left with is a clean slate. The first thing you notice is that there are no jobs. There are service oriented positions that will dole out a few bucks but nothing substantial.
Surely there is nothing to get excited about. When you weigh your options it makes little sense to get a formal education from U of M, EMU or State, it just does not matter because its meaningless. If your end goal is a solid 40K a year it makes no difference what frat you go to, what social club you go to, or what college you waste your time and money in.
You are better off selling from the get go. My advice to the young people of Detroit is learn how to sell something and start selling it. Week after week, month after money making month you had better learn how to sell something. And you should take your money and throw it into a smart revenue earning vehicle and double it.
I've been selling Yamaha atv parts online lately, Ive been selling rock and roll music in Metro Detroit, I have been selling Kawasaki motorcycle parts and I have been selling marketing services. Everything is on sale here in Metro Detroit and just about every company I run into is trying to sell something so they do not have to forever close their doors. The whole damn state is falling apart and our Mayor is going to be thrown into prison. Glad Im here folks.
Worse, our radio stations are thrown into 1983 because of this "alternative movement". We are living in very confused times. The media is totally confused and so are its denizens. What we need in Metro Detroit is focus and vision. More importantly than that we need purpose.
I haven't seen that sort of intention since the Ann Arbor Artist Co-op and the MC5. I have not seen that special brand of integrity since Goober and the Peas. My generation was supposed to stand for something and now all we got is Facebook and Twitter. Worse, my generation seems to lack any sense of pop culture sensibility. Beat poetry is looked upon with a haze of nostalgia and pornography is mainstream. Money is looked upon as "trendy" and when you boil it all down we are living in very confused times.
But What About The Big Empty Houses?
Who ever told S.E. Michigan people that they were worth more than what they were earning was obviously lying to them. These empty mansions are all stacked up in a neat little row, friendless, vacant and ready to be loved again. Too bad the people who were shucked out of them are all living in $1,000 dollar apartments. These sad rows look like something out of - Empire of the Sun - and the evil empire are the banks. They're sad too because they have suddenly found themselves in the housing market.
Where are the mortgage criminals? Is anybody accountable anymore? Why aren't they in prison? My God, who constructed this environment. My prior generation really fucked things up in this country. My State of Michigan, the once proud and mighty State is in shambles. Is anyone going to do a thing about it?
What do you do with all of this failure? An MLM is NOT going to pull you out of this mess dear friend. A 10% mark-up and a new church is not going to be enough to clean up this type of destructive past - you need a steamroller, a new brain, and a new purpose.
Strippers Seek Love and Acceptance
WDIV gets a big thumbs down. I recently saw a segment on an uplifting idea. The news media were encouraging professional women to ditch their low paying careers and bare it all on stage to pay the mortgage. Stupid idea. Its not charming. Most of the strip clubs in Detroit are an eyesore filled with depression and doom and gloom. Plus the pay they were getting all giddy about was very small. I think the most they were hawking about on the air was only 60 grand. In todays world that is terrible money. You are better off doing an MLM and working a night job at Wendys. Yes, its grueling and ugly work but at least its morally clean.
But what do I know.....
Im keeping my pants on and have plans to slug it out in this cesspool. I had no idea my state was going to completely come undone. The longer I look at it the worse it gets. I can't take looking at another dilapidated house for sale.
I am looking for the new saviors of this state.
Are The Film Makers For Real?
Are there really flimmakers coming to Michigan? WIll they be able to save this state? Is that a real thing or some twisted media generated fantasy. I met a lot of these "film dudes" and let me tell you something. Its no big bargain. After living in New York City, (The art capital of the world) and Chicago I ran into a lot of media people. The clowns I met in Michigan, (and Yes, I used the word clowns you heard me), I do not feel that these individuals are really the real deal we were expecting. The folks I have met are not literate about film. They have no point of reference when it comes to.... anything, no timeline of directors, genres or anything and yet..... we are supposed to have faith in them.
Thats scary as hell.
I hope the alternative energy people are real. I know that it is next to impossible to get funded for anything. I don't want to hear about publicly traded companies at this point. I am looking for something substantial.
There has to be something substantial coming out of Metro Detroit.
That train is looking better and better to me all the time. Unless something explodes in our city streets, I may be tempted to jump on one.
Posted by Ted Cantu, April 19, 2010
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