Deciding Futures
Every day we are given more evidence of the collapse of the systems of authority that provide the legal framework for our government. In a recent article in Counterpunch Gray Leupp probed this crisis at the federal level. He said, “The definition of legitimacy is ‘conformity to the law or rules.’ What happens when those who set the rules break them, or are perceived by the people they judge as rule-breakers? In this case, the ultimate guardians of the system, who lend it its legitimacy, have been exposed as a nest of liars…What happens when this unquestioned good, this classic 18th century text, this moral reference point, gets exposed, suddenly and shockingly, as a charade? The Constitution, the presidency it established, the legislature that it legitimated, and the judiciary it created—all exposed, especially in the eyes of youth—as sources not of inspiration but of the stench [Justice Sonia] Sotomayor notes wafting through her office.”
A similar situation is emerging on our local level. Last week, under pressure from community members, the Detroit City Council backed off of a decision to give billionaire developer Dan Gilbert another tax break, this time for $60 million. Gilbert is asking for the money so he can complete his massive redevelopment of the former J.L. Hudson’s site. Predictably, Mayor Duggan is backing Gilbert and pressuring the City Council to go along.
Duggan says the project won’t take money away from schools or libraries or neighborhoods and will create 7,500 jobs. He said we all need to understand that “Dan is losing money so the city can make money. That’s the true story of the Hudson project.”
The Mayor went on to explain that there “has really been a lot of misinformation” about the project.
Really?
We have heard these claims over and over again. They go something like this. We have to provide public money to private businesses so that this private business can provide thousands of jobs for Detroiters. Then we will all enjoy the benefits of a “new” Detroit. We have heard this about every development since Poletown. We are still waiting for those promised 6,000 jobs.
It is not mis-information that causes people to resist the giveaway of taxes to private businesses. It is the painful experience. Consider the most recent revelations of the $3.8 billion tax credit deal with General Motors and the willingness of the state to further undercut the capacity of the city to garner tax revenues from employees.
Or consider the recent sales of land by John Hantz. After a long fight with community groups who opposed a massive land grab by Hantz, arguing that he was hiding behind the idea of urban farming to amass land to sell for speculation, he has now done just that. He has sold off less than 10% of his holdings, about 150 lots, for a whopping $2.8 million. He paid about $350 a lot. We are still waiting for those new jobs he pledged to create.
We are also still waiting for those 5 new neighborhoods promised by the Ilitch family.
Our elected officials are facing a crisis in legitimacy. This is not only because the majority of them accepted campaign contributions from Dan Gilbert. It is because they refuse to look at the obvious failure of this strategy of tax breaks for developing our city. We have decades of examples to show that the promise of jobs, the promise of revitalization, the promise of a simple solution to complex problems is all a smoke screen by corporations and their political hacks to steal public money through legal fictions.
Across the city people are emerging to challenge this way of thinking. Direct community action is rapidly becoming the most legitimate way for us to decide our futures.