Men vs Culture: Detroit Feral City

Oct 30, 2009

Detroit Feral City

Some great shots and insightful narration. Lank probably won't recognize much of this since he's only been to Detroit 2.5 times in his lifetime.

9 sucka ass fools had something to say:

Lankowniasaid...: 3.5

good video. I'm really hoping for this whole Detroit revitalized through urban agriculture movement to, um, take root.; October 31, 2009 11:18 AM
jeremysaid...: aside from dooder's earrings, i really appreciated his commentary, especially the part near the end where he said dtw is in a position to reinvent itself since it's been - the part i like - cut loose from the economic system. i've never heard it put that way.

i'm at an internet cafe at 6.00 am watching michigan struggle with illi. awesome.; October 31, 2009 2:07 PM
Lankowniasaid...: There is nothing true about that statement.; October 31, 2009 3:16 PM
jeremysaid...: i think there's quite a bit of truth in that statement.; November 1, 2009 12:29 AM
Lankowniasaid...: why? because there's liquor stores instead of groceries?

because the fed is pouring money into the auto industry?

detroit is as much a part of the
economic system as charlotte, houston, or new york. If it shifts to agriculture, it still be part of the economic system.

this statement seems to imply the system imparts only benefits; November 1, 2009 8:56 AM
Epistemz Dialektixsaid...: Lank makes a very astute point.

Detroit is not distressed and dilapidated because it lies outside of the globalized national economy; its totally fawkt exactly because of its integration into the economy. The forces that spur growth elsewhere, dialectically, have another face that exerts negatively on Detroit.

This is the essence of dependency theory, which explained third world poverty not as the UNdeveloped state of nature in countries that simply had not progressed yet along the modernization path, but UNDERdeveloped states whose dismal socioeconomics were inescapable side effects of the global capitalist system. In essence, underdevelopment is actively developed.

Though this parallel may be difficult to justify as Detroit does not supply primary products and extractive resources to industrial centers. jeremy's contention of a delinked economy is thought provoking, and attractive on its face--but then you wonder how Detroit sustains itself. Is Detroit really verging on being autarkic? Probably the gardening movement would more fulfill the claim of Detroit's divorce from the economic system.; November 1, 2009 11:08 AM
Lankowniasaid...: Right, except that agriculture is still part of the economic system. Unless the urban farmers are going to practice sustenance farming or work on the barter system, they're still part of the economic system just like farmers in the plains or in California.

The City is in decline thanks to over-reliance on one industry on the negative part of the natural product cycle in a capitalist system. You can argue its been "disconnected" from the Auto industry and in the manufacturing sense theres probably truth, but Detroit still has the great majority of its employment coming from the most conventional part of the economic system.

New York isn't disconnected from the mlb system when the yankees lose the world series nor because the dodgers left.; November 1, 2009 12:00 PM
jeremysaid...: I'm sorry, I'm not a developmental wonk, so my lexicon is a bit sparse in this regard.

So, obviously zen. Yes, I get that everything's connected, and for obvious reasons no city is going to be jettisoned from the economic system, absolutely .

What I was angling towards - and again, sorry for my inability to articulate this - is that Detroit isn't much of a national priority as far as development and hyper-growth in GDP are concerned. There aren't massive developmental projects; its only industry (aside from a bridge to Canada) is nearly dead; and yes, there are thousands of liquor stores and no groceries. The city's probably far enough removed from the economic system - at least in the context I use that word - that it can stray from conventional developmental models in order to become something new, something focused more on community than industrialized business. Ja, if they begin growing food then they'll shift into agricultural part of the economic system, but perhaps they should start with feeding themselves before selling pumpkins to the French.; November 1, 2009 10:07 PM
Lankowniasaid...: The auto industry was, besides banking and maybe civil engineering, the 3rd highest priority on the national level and Detroit ( the metro area and the city) was the biggest recipient of that investment.

The reason Detroit can (well, potentially could) stray from standard development models is due to the rate of decline and interconnection of auto-oriented land use with auto-oriented industry.

Here here to pumpkins for france. The interesting thing is if the non-standard development (which is really just a cyclical reversion) will be managed or not. If it is, that would be a unique effort. Otherwise its just standard stuff - individuals responding to decline as best they can.; November 2, 2009 10:29 AM