Better Question, When is he ever needed?
Seriously? Nobody? 41 repliesâŚ
Ok, Iâll do it.
âLate-stage capitalismâ
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The saddest thing I have ever seen is the Flint residents response to being poisoned, I find it unfathomable, I expect them to say âplease sir may I have another glassâ, as they grovel at the feet of capitalism out of control.
What is wrong with them, what have they become, why are they no enraged citizens demanding justice, why are the not storming the halls of power, why are they taking so horribly meekly.
A pretty good source:
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I do love it that people enjoying knowing stuff. Science plus enthusiasm equals awesome.
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And guess what? The same man who was Flintâs EM during all this mess is now the EM of the Detroit Public Schools system! http://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/detroit/2016/01/22/pastors-detroit-public-schools/79171536/
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Have you ever felt - ever - that youâre just tired and canât fight any more, especially under the effects of being poisoned by the water in your hometown?
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I donât understand why small communities have a different standard than large ones. If a small community elects a government that canât get providing water right, why are they more responsible than a large community that elects a government that makes the same mistake?
But you also have to realize that reserves arenât governed in the same way as municipalities, and their system of government is set out by legislation made by Ottawa. You canât leave Ottawa out of the picture when you talk about problems on reserves because the Indian Act still governs a lot of what happens on reserves and because while municipalities get a lot of their funding from provinces to deliver services, reserves get all non-local funding from the federal government. Provinces step in to provide support to municipalities having various crises all the time. The federal government, when faces with water, housing and various other crises likes to point to how much money theyâve already given and call for audited reports of how that money was spent.
But that money - which is the funding for healthcare, education, social housing, and every other responsibility that a municipality would have funded by the province - is less per person than Ontario spends on health care or education alone. And the reserves are already required to submit hundreds of audited reports a year. Reserve governments have to make choices between providing support to people who donât have homes and having a school; between clean drinking water and other healthcare systems. And if they donât have the capacity to create a clean water system, our response is, âOh well, they ought to get their act togetherâ? Is that how we would respond if another small government couldnât get its act together? Is that how we responded to Walkerton?
People say itâs better to get a hand up than a hand out, but with aboriginals living on reserve we give a hand with a middle finger extended. Lots of reserves do fine on their own, just like lots of cities do. But those than donât shouldnât be left to rot in the middle of a wealthy nation, and should be treated at least as well as we would treat any other small community in crisis.
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Itâs still not entirely clear to me why there are still so many people left there after everything else thatâs gone wrong.
This is from September and doesnât even particularly emphasize the water problems:
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Where can they afford to go if theyâre barely making it there?
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Thatâs fucked upâŚ
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People should go to jail for this one. Gov. Snyder and the GM plant manager would be a good start.
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The big cheese is clear, but why the plant manager?
Because GM asked for an exception. Kind of âDUH! If the water is corroding brand new cars off the line, maybe itâs not good for the line workers to drink?â
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Chlorides are harmless to humans in lower concentrations, which are sufficient to cause corrosion of automotive grades of steel.
That nobody realized that they will cause corrosion of pipes is not GMâs fault.
If Iâm going to be honest, Iâm not confident this will change anything in the state government. The western and northern districts of the state have huge sway on the state legislature thanks to the Tea Party and libertarian movements.
If itâs not the Flint water crisis or the DPS situation, its the continued attack on voters and local governments control either through gag orders or blocking municipalities from passing moratoriums on fracking within their borders, itâs passing a road-funding bill that was voted down in a voter referendum anyways. I love the state, but ever more often I get the urge to move away when I can and watch it burn from afar.
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I think you prove my point. Corrosion is corrosion - whether of auto bodies or pipes. Who polluted the Flint River in the first place?
Who better to point out the gaming of water quality statistics than 538?
