The near death of an state in the midst of abundance*

By:Cindy Milstien

For almost a week now, I've been interacting with dozens -- probably hundreds -- of random mid-Michigan folks as I empty out my parents' longtime home, and listening to story after story after story. No matter people's educational level, ability to "present" themselves, background, race, class, etc., there's a whole hell of a lot of hard-hard-luck stories. Almost everyone is living through one, with no chance of any upward mobility, and a grave chance of further downward debility. None of these stories involve self-pity, and everyone was in oddly good spirits, "making do" within webs of family and community that "make do" together.

All I can see is Michigan as some sort of cruel experiment, started decades ago, in how capital/state can abandon millions, and then sit back and see what happens, so that the "lessons" from Michigan can be applied elsewhere. For those who romanticize abandoned buildings, rusted-out factories, and rewilding cities, listen to the stories of those still living within the wreckage. Your heart will break a million times over.

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*The title is mine:PaYmaN PieDaR