As my introduction above says, my name is Steven Wauford. I'm a Web Design Student at Wayne County Community College. I decided to start this blog after seeing through my studies how much effect that the recent wave of technological advancement has changed how we as a society view the world at large as well as the world right outside our window. And I think that the time has come for me to chip in my two cents.
You're going to be seeing posts on a wide variety of topics, from movie/music/game reviews, to ideas on political culture around the world, to just inane ramblings about life in general. Some may have relevance to the day some may night. But the important thing to me is that these ideas get out on paper. I'm not trying to be as conceited as saying that I am one of the most creative or innovative thinkers, but clearing my head would really help me becoming a much more confident person. So, I hope that you enjoy this blog.
I am happy that this could be my first post here, because I saw something in the last few days that kind of astonished me. Now, I haven't grown up in Detroit, Michigan. The fact is that I've spent the last four, almost five years in the suburbs, looking at the Motor City like it is nothing more then a very large blemish on the state of Michigan. Heck, the closest i've even gotten to spending a decent amount of time downtown is being on the Wayne State Campus.
The reason for this is because through these last years, I've watched this city, which was once one of the most powerful industrial cities in the United States, fall into a collapsed, ruined shell of it's former self. Whether it was through corrupt mismanagement of an Immoral Mayor, using our cities funds and benefits for his own personal gain, or through major corporations finding that jobs in the United States (Michigan especially) aren't worth sustainability compared to jobs in other countries, I have seen this city fall into its own little circle of hell with no way to begin to rise up once more.
But, the funny thing is, it's amazing how easy a small thing can pull an idea into a person's mind, or maybe even change a perspective of even the most skeptical person. And on Super Bowl Sunday, that small little thing actually changed a perception in me. Not enough to say that the city is a lot better than in recent history, but at least improvement might be on the horizon.
Now, I don't agree that this one TV Spot during the biggest football game of the year should've gotten the amount of press that it did. But, the message it brought across, to the large audience that it got to, is something that should be noted.
For years now, when talking about this city, every paper in the country talked about the fledging auto companies, the violence, the corrupt mayor and the mansion scandal. Nothing was said about the humanity found in certain individuals. The strength found in a large majority of this city to strive to be better. Nothing was said about that, because honestly, that's not what sells. That's the sad truth.
But that TV spot showed the world something else. Yes, it was only an ad for a car, but in that ad they showcased the city, both the light and the dark, and how people are trying to rise up out of their own struggles to bring themselves and this city into a better and brighter era. But it is not something that one or two people can do on their own.
This is something that we all have to come together about, because only together can we make this city a better place. Yes, there are a lot of people that feel down and out, that feel like there is no escape to their every day lives. But this is never the full truth. People are where they are because they choose to be in the ruts that they reside in, and whether they have the strength and courage to get out of those ruts is entirely up to them. And once one person starts moving, other people should be empowered by their example and allow themselves to bring themselves out of their own holes.
But like I said, this is going to have to be a massive effort by numerous people. The citizens of Detroit and its major metropolitan area have to band together in order to fix his beloved city. And I say beloved because in some ways, it holds a special place in the heart of every single person who lives here, no matter how deeply buried that place is.
First thing that needs to be done, is that people have to start paying attention to what is being pulled away. Look at our school system. Just like most schools in the country, the less a school performs academically, the less money they receive to pay for salaries, food, books, and the general education of our cities children. And on top of that, the parents are working two, even three jobs in order to support themselves and their children, which takes time away from actually parenting being done.
That is unacceptable. But it's not the fault of just one, it's the fault of all. As they say, it takes a village to raise a child, and that is as true today as it was two-hundred years ago. There are always resources at our disposal in order to raise children correctly. Whether it be parents, grandparents, neighbors, people have the resources in order to bring up children with a moral code that speaks loud and clear to the future as a code of ethics that we can actually get behind instead of fear.
Plus, the schools that receive the most funding are the ones that are already doing up to the standards that have been set. So since they have proven that they can make due with the funds that they already have, why give them more than necessary in order to keep going? A school that has laid off faculty shouldn't have to go deeper into debt because they can't afford to pay for books, teachers, programs, and everything else. The fact is, that these cuts only hinder the education of the students of this city. Without more funding to places who actually need it, we will be unable to pull the city school system out of the black hole that it has entered.
On top of that, look who people have elected into office in the recent years. The fact that Kwame Kilpatrick got voted into office for another term amidst all the scandals and corruption is beyond comprehension. Heck, the fact that, even though I am a conservative, Bush managed to stay in office without contention is beyond me.
But the story is different with Kwame. During his time in office, has been connected through the news to a rap sheet long enough to stretch from one side of the detroit river to the other. With acts like murder, conspiracy to commit murder, misuse of public funds, obstruction of justice, perjury, conspiracy to commit perjury, it's surprising he lasted his first term in office, much less his second. And the fact that he was voted in a second time, considering that he's fought so hard to make sure people are on his side when he is clearly a snake in the grass, is beyond any form of belief.
So, in this next election, we need to look at who we're voting into office. Our elected officials are supposed to represent our needs, look at the needs of the community, and then choose what is feasibly done based on the resources that their jurisdiction holds, and then gain new resources in order to make their jurisdiction a better area to be in. However, if the person we put into office is unable to do their job, or unwilling to do it, then we need to make sure that we do not vote them in. When in doubt, look at their history in order to see how they will be in their terms in office.
These things are only a small cog in a much larger machine. This machine requires all citizens of detroit, its outlying areas and its leaders to band together and actually work at fixing what we have let fall into ruin. Yes, there are many more problems than what I have just described, but nothing is too challenging for this city. Because no one really knows what the people in this city are truly capable of except for us, and now it is our time to show the world that we can bounce back from the hell that we've let ourselves fall into.
Because, like the script Eminem reads at the end of that TV Spot, "This is the Motor City. And this is what we do."
Photos from:
darkpassage.com
mlive.com
spreadartculture.com
Videos from:
Youtube.com - Chrysler Corporation
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