Thinking about Detroit: Where did the halftime show, go America?

Last night, 60 Minutes ran a story on Detroit, Michigan, with an update on the city that filed bankruptcy and that has struggled since the big, auto industries fled Michigan to manufacture parts  in overseas locations. It's hard to imagine the blight in one location. The line that stuck with me from the report was spoken by a man trying to refurbish neighborhoods one day at a time with his own means. He said, and I paraphrase here, "If we were hit by a tsunami or a hurricane, the federal government would send its helicopters, rescue teams, and armies to help out. Our tragedy, however, took over 50 years to show its ugly head. The destruction was not over night. We receive nothing."

Detroit, like many American cities, continues to suffer from neglect. The shanty town that is left is disheartening and the images are not the America I've learned to pledge my allegiance to.

I can't help but think about the the 60 Minutes story and, even though I usually multitask when my television was on, I had to give it my total attention. To me, it is a window into something larger in American society -  our nation has forgotten the working people and the industry that boomed post World War II success in the United States to create a middle class, better schools, and hope. Obviously, the dilapidated homes across Detroit are a sign that history has forgotten the very people that helped to build the nation. Where did the opportunities go?

Of course, currently, our federal government is shut down - a privilege afforded because some labor in a game of rhetoric, wheeling and dealing, and posturing. Again and again, however, the people of Detroit (the wealthy included) have had to put forth labor to rectify how we've failed large portions of our society. Banks bailed. Other nations rescued. Our own? Hmmm.

I also think of Cherry Heights in Syracuse and the jobs that many of my neighbors once held at Carrier, New Process Gears, Magna International, etc. I think of the powerhouse of Syracuse University and the cost of attending (catering to particular clientele like most colleges do) - in this sense, like Detroit, Syracuse stands as a location stuck in post-industrial rust between the haves and have nots. Bridgeport, where I live now, is no different. The work for many no longer exists in the very location it once did. A drive through such urban centers quickly help one to realize it isn't NYC, LA, Miami, or Dallas. The  majority of cities in the U.S. are hurting and it is unlikely this will change any time soon, although many dedicated people are trying.

I, along with many, loved Clint Eastwood's It's Half-Time, America when it debuted during a Superbowl in 2012. As inspirational as that call to arms seemed, I'm afraid things have gotten worse and not better. The wealth is here, but it is not evenly contributed - that's for sure.

More importantly, I think about schools, teachers, and opportunities for youth in such locations and the likelihood they are being blamed for the problems in those locations. How do such spaces compete against communities where jobs are plentiful, educated-parents spend $1000s to provide their children the best that money can buy, and who reside within the iron safety net that keeps them protected from the poverty left to urban cores?

 It's frustrating, to say the least.

Yet, I am optimistic without the capital that at least one wealthy man, investing back into the city, has. There has to be a solution. Doesn't there? Or is it likely that more and more of our cities will soon follow in Detroits footsteps?