Sparky
30th September 2014, 12:04 AM
I think this story is important to follow because of its long term implications. The city of Detroit is bankrupt, and has severe revenue problems. They began shutting of water service to tens of thousands of delinquent customers. Customers brought the city to court, but the judge ruled yesterday that he has no authority to end the shutoffs.
The city is in a bind. If they were to end the shutoffs, there would be no incentive for ANY residents to pay their water bills, making the revenue problem much worse.
I wouldn't be surprised if some third party, maybe the federal government, steps in on behalf of the Detroit water customers. I think this will happen once this story gets more national attention. But regardless of who comes to the rescue, a bad precedent will be set. Many cities are in a financial bind; many would then be looking for a bail out.
I see this as being characteristic of the "collapse" that we talk about. I don't think there will be a systemic collapse. Rather, I see an increasing progression of local and regional crises and emergencies like this, involving water, food, finances/debt, health/illness, energy, and other useful items whose availability most people take for granted. These crises will vary in size and scope and duration, and it will be increasingly challenging to resolve them. The "distribution of wealth" that will be required to resolve them will result in a general decrease in standard of living. I think this is what we are prepping for, rather than a systemic collapse. The objective is to minimize our personal impact if/when one of these crises occur in our locality or region, and also to preserve our own situation when the general standard of living begins to drop.
That's why I think this makes for an interesting test case. Let's see how long it takes for the rescue to come, and who takes the financial losses, whether it be taxpayers or bondholders. Let's see if a rescue occurs in an orderly fashion, or is preceded by violence. Let's see what similar crises develop and how they are handled. Personally, I think this country has enough total resources to avoid systemic collapse, but it's going to be about how they are extracted and from whom, and whether they can be extracted and re-distributed in an orderly and timely fashion to avoid revolt. So, rather than systemic collapse, I see a hundred different local/regional crises like the Detroit water situation. I think that's what we are preparing for.
Detroit water shutoffs to continue for delinquent bill payers (http://www.cbsnews.com/news/detroit-water-shutoffs-to-continue-for-delinquent-bill-payers/)
The city is in a bind. If they were to end the shutoffs, there would be no incentive for ANY residents to pay their water bills, making the revenue problem much worse.
I wouldn't be surprised if some third party, maybe the federal government, steps in on behalf of the Detroit water customers. I think this will happen once this story gets more national attention. But regardless of who comes to the rescue, a bad precedent will be set. Many cities are in a financial bind; many would then be looking for a bail out.
I see this as being characteristic of the "collapse" that we talk about. I don't think there will be a systemic collapse. Rather, I see an increasing progression of local and regional crises and emergencies like this, involving water, food, finances/debt, health/illness, energy, and other useful items whose availability most people take for granted. These crises will vary in size and scope and duration, and it will be increasingly challenging to resolve them. The "distribution of wealth" that will be required to resolve them will result in a general decrease in standard of living. I think this is what we are prepping for, rather than a systemic collapse. The objective is to minimize our personal impact if/when one of these crises occur in our locality or region, and also to preserve our own situation when the general standard of living begins to drop.
That's why I think this makes for an interesting test case. Let's see how long it takes for the rescue to come, and who takes the financial losses, whether it be taxpayers or bondholders. Let's see if a rescue occurs in an orderly fashion, or is preceded by violence. Let's see what similar crises develop and how they are handled. Personally, I think this country has enough total resources to avoid systemic collapse, but it's going to be about how they are extracted and from whom, and whether they can be extracted and re-distributed in an orderly and timely fashion to avoid revolt. So, rather than systemic collapse, I see a hundred different local/regional crises like the Detroit water situation. I think that's what we are preparing for.
Detroit water shutoffs to continue for delinquent bill payers (http://www.cbsnews.com/news/detroit-water-shutoffs-to-continue-for-delinquent-bill-payers/)