Sick cities

Yesterday I saw Forbes list of America's Most Miserable Cities and got to thinking, there's something significant going on here.

Detroit topped the list since it's governance will any moment now be taken over by the state. (I wish their governor luck since there were two other Michigan cities in the top 10.) Chicago came in at #4 and New York at #10. (I love the boundless energy, excitement and diversity of NYC, but there's no doubt that it is also beset by many seemingly intractable problems.) Further down the list were St. Louis, Atlanta and a bunch of others. 

Apart from the silliness of Best and Worst lists, it seems obvious that most of these cities share a number of traits. Most are in dire financial straits and have lost much of their tax base. Virtually all are saddled with unsustainable public-union payroll, pension and healthcare costs. Their public schools are uniformly underperforming—with only a few exceptions in their systems. High crime is a major concern for most of them. And just about anyone in the middle class with a family who can afford to move elsewhere has already bailed out.

Having the state take over Detroit may prevent its declaring bankruptcy but won't make it a much less miserable place to live for most people. New Jersey took over the management of Newark's schools years ago, and despite pumping vast amounts of additional taxpayer dollars into the city through a number of channels it remains a basket case. Most of their schools are definitely miserable. 

America's cities used to be held in high regard. So what the hell has happened to them? And how do we fix them?

Unemployment and failing schools go together. High rates of illegitimate births are typical of these cities and many more communities not on the list. Crime and drugs are heavily concentrated in urban areas. People point to gangs as a major source of violence. (I once belonged to a gang—the Saxons—and we had a few fights; we even tried to fabricate our own ZIP guns. Hah! But it was mostly a social rite of passage; a brotherhood. We never committed a criminal act beyond street fighting, or wanted to for that matter. We grew out of it rather quickly, too. These gangs have jacked the violence level all the way way up to murder and their members range in age from early teens way into their 20s and 30s—if they manage to survive. These aren't gangs, they are a lifestyle.) 

We could easily find this discouraging. Yet if we give up this will only get worse and will damage us all, no matter where we live. It's already damaged us.

So do we pump even more money into our sick cities? Or do we put them on a sustainable financial path? The answer is obvious though not without pain and discomfort. Politically easy this isn't. That's why political leadership is so important. Without public support nothing will change the trajectory of this suicide bomb.

Are cities exploited and plundered by their surrounding communities and their state, who take more than they contribute? Perhaps. New York City sends more money to the state than it gets in return. But the city is unlikely to change that equation. Newark, yet another basket case, receives far more money from outlying areas and the state than it sends the other way. The simple truth is that all of these cities have to do more with the dollars they do have. Because we've all run out of money. We've finally reached a critical financial tipping point.

Good schools are critical; we can't afford to lose a generation of kids on top of those we've already lost. Our nation's children deserve better. Yet we already spend enormous amounts on public schools. So we need to fix them without spending more money. That's a call for major reform if there ever was one.

Will raising the minimum wage to whatever help spur employment or at least improve the lives of many? The majority of economists don't hold out much hope for either of those outcomes. Most forecast the opposite.

Is there any doubt that violence, crime and unemployment are inexorably linked? Do these stem from a sense of hopelessness, that the future holds no promise? Perhaps. But it goes against all my instincts. I've met few people who didn't dream of good things down the road and who didn't work toward that dream—often against great odds—to create a better life for themselves. Life wasn't exactly easy for any of us and the struggle helped us earn a sense of pride. I recall a study that revealed how some kids who dropped out of school and started selling drugs did so in part because school held no interest for them and dealing drugs challenged them and was more stimulating and interesting. It demanded more of their minds. Maybe failing schools need to expect more not less from their students.

Have cultural factors turned vast swathes of America into an entitlement society? Have we spawned a culture where unwed, serial mating and illegitimate birth is the norm? The illegitimacy rate in the US today is an astonishing 38%—and much higher among some groups. If this isn't a prescription for disaster, what is? When exactly did this lifestyle become "okay"? I vaguely recall in grade school that some older boy, a local basketball star, got some girl pregnant … and all of a sudden they both disappeared. Whoosh. Gone. Not just her, both of them. They were a glaring exception to the societal norm then. Not so much today. Today they could wind up on Jerry Springer along with a others like them. They may even get a show of their own. 

Is it time to adjust the social safety net and public welfare programs and demand social responsibility on the part of would-be recipients? How many illegitimate kids are too many? Do we turn to workfare and possibly restore some measure of pride in those who earn a paycheck while developing marketable skills? Are we doing the unemployed a favor by extending benefit payments? In good old socialistic Norway they discovered that by extending unemployment benefits, folks took longer to find work. And by ending the benefits sooner, the unemployed found work sooner. They adjusted the length of benefit payments accordingly. That didn't go down without some screaming. It took courage. Maybe our political leaders could borrow a little of it.

None of this is news. Our elected political class has played large role in creating this situation. But so do we the people who elected them. The folks in Washington have done much to divide us over the past four years and little to unify us. The next four are already shaping up as more of the same. So I don't look to the federal government or any level of government to solve these problems any time soon. Only we can solve them.

Maybe it's time for us to take stock of ourselves and our country. It's time to look unflinchingly at what we've become. Maybe then we can agree on what we want America to be and set out on a path that will get us there.

One thing's for sure; this ain't it.

I'm really not despondent or discouraged and I don't mean to ruin your day. I'm still a glass half full guy. But I'm sure as hell tired of seeing American cities filling some damn Most Miserable List. Save that crap for Moscow, Pyongyang, Kabul and Mogadishu. We put men on the moon. We can do whatever we set out to do if we get enough people on board. Our parents did it. We can do it. We just need to get going. 

Sound naive and simplistic? You bet. Impossible? Hah!