• Cities need clean water. The Romans knew this. They also knew that they needed sewage disposal and protection from pirates. Those weren’t welfare or giveaways by a “namby-state”. Public protection was a basic expectation of a responsible government. • Government happens. • Why government happens is a long discussion. On one side is the right-wing theory that powerful leaders naturally emerge. On the left is the theory that people have to band together to do things that everyone needs but cant do alone. One reason to band together might be to build an irrigation works that covers many far-flung villages. (This is the “hydrologic civilization” thesis.) Another reason might be to defend against pirates. A further reason might be to defend against internal pirates, the white-collar types, who prey on vulnerable people here at home. • This leads to Detroit. Detroit collapsed. The state of Michigan has seen this as an opportunity to let corporate raiders, the same types who carve up businesses and sell off the pieces for profit, to do the same with Detroit. The museum of art collection is safe for now; but the pensions and anything else of value is ripe for raiding. • One of the functions of a local government is to provide clean water. Clean water is not charity, or some liberal handout. Clean water prevents cholera and all sorts of other diseases. Cities shouldn’t treat it as a business. • Government shouldn’t be run as a business either.
Posted on: Fri, 27 Jun 2014 21:34:59 +0000
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