I've been following Detroit politics since I was in my teens and nothing has changed its trajectory as another rust belt disaster area. I really think this can help.
Laine Colley
April
17, 2014
Detroit Mayor's Office
2
Woodward Avenue, Suite 1126
Detroit, MI 48226
Detroit, MI 48226
Detroit, what the hell are you doing?
You don't need $100 million dollars
from the federal government to fix what is wrong with your town. All
you have to do is give some of your thousands of empty, liveable
houses to homeless veterans and give them something to do such as
help tear down the houses that can't be recovered and plant
milkweed and other vitally important growing things in newly
created green spaces.
Consider the symbolic value of this
design. The veterans have seen and experienced things that most of us
can't imagine. They know utter destruction and carry an image of it
with them. It's why our fluffed-up society has had trouble
reintegrating them. They have a fierce desire to live in a peaceful
place and their presence in Detroit as contributing residents could
shake up the city's destructive cycle while giving the veterans a
therapeutic rehabilitation project. As they help bring the town out
of chaos their traumas could get buried with the rubble of what
cannot be repaired.
Consider it: These men and women have
on their consciences the destruction of cities and the lives of
people in them. Offering them a place in sometimes similar condition
and able to to be rehabilitated in trade for a place to call home
gives them a constructive project that uses their training and
skills. Detroit gains residents who can handle tough neighborhoods
and the veterans gain a valuable codependent relationship with a part
of the world where their bravery is still useful. What they cannot
rebuild abroad they can channel into revitalizing your city and in
the doing ease their battered consciences.
Take the money or don't (though if your
record is any indication you probably will and it'll last about five
months) but seriously consider bringing veterans into your town. They
probably have a better idea of what is going wrong and how to fix it
than you ever will.
Call me. I can help.
Sincerely,
Laine Colley
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