Unburied bodies tell the tale of Detroit — a city in despair

Unburied bodies tell the tale of Detroit — a city in despair

www.timesonline.co.uk

The abandoned corpses, in white body bags with number tags tied to each toe, lie one above the other on steel racks inside a giant freezer in Detroit’s central mortuary, like discarded shoes in the back of a wardrobe.

Some have lain here for years, but in recent months the number of unclaimed bodies has reached a record high. For in this city that once symbolised the American Dream many cannot even afford to bury their dead.

(visit the link for the full news article)

A very tragic story.

It is quite difficult to fathom the words or even begin to imagine the horror that Detroit is facing. I recall reading a report, which suggested, significant parts of Detroit could be abandon.

The article goes further; describing the unemployment rate is higher than the Great Depression - a near eye watering 30% - and the decline of business adds more misery to this once great city.

A tempest of depression and despair.

www.timesonline.co.uk
(visit the link for the full news article)

I guess this joins the myriad of unpleasant and sad effects on today's society of the economic crash and the jobless faked recovery.

This reminds me closely of a story from early 2009. At least these folks are in a morgue, this guy was stuck in a warehouse to no avail:

story

brill

Originally posted by brill
This reminds me closely of a story from early 2009. At least these folks are in a morgue, this guy was stuck in a warehouse to no avail:

story

brill

I find it sad to think of the little value the establishment place on human dignity even in death..

Detroit definetly has major problems..... It still thinks it is a major city and spends like it. Almost half of it's population has left the city proper. It's hard to have a city function the same way with half the people and taxes......

Detroit needs to downsize, but I don't know if that is even possible. It will takes Billions of dollars to fix Detroit, I don't think anyone is going to give them that.

Detroit up close reminds one more of Africa than America, with the crumbling infrastructure, corruption of elected officials, and a mayor, who until he got arrested, acted like an arrogant African king or warlord. He thought he was above the law. People on the street (80% black population) voted for him time and again in spite of it all.

Detroit is trying, hard, to overcome its dilemna. Basically it is going to have to re-define itself. It has to forget about the car industry that has basically abandoned it.

I don't know if it has hit bottom yet, and it may still have to, but I still have fond memories of the spirit of the place and the many friends I once had there.

I just can't stand listening to Detroit's daily news and haven't for some time. Its too depressing.

According to Detroit daily news, the city council will be bankrupt by January - if $300 million is not located.

reply to post by infinite


That's failrly accurate. Detroit has more outlays than taxes being collected. Never a good situation to be in. It's not like they can print more money like the U.S. Federal Govt.

The new Mayor has tried to trim the budget but is running into opposition from the Unions and others. He is fighting an uphill battle with little ammo in his pocket.

Detroit needs to function like a city of 900K. It is still acting like a city of 1.4 M.

pay attention folks -
this is happening in places you would least expect.
america is not immune -
but because we think it is -
these changes will catch us off guard -
secure up yourself and your families -
stock up on natural remedies and food and water -
learn how to plant a garden -
and know that you can survive whatever comes along.

reply to post by spinkyboo

learn how to plant a garden -
and know that you can survive whatever comes along.

There's lots of room in the city to do this considering all the vacant properties.

Areas where derelict buildings have been torn down and removed are now tall grasslands. Friends of mine used to feed the wild pheasants that had taken up residence in surrounding lots.

On another note, Detroit is home to some of the most beautiful architecture and once stately homes. A tour of various neighborhoods would still be something to see; that is, however, if you could overcome your fear. On the ground the people are for the most part as wonderful as ever, but I do not venture there anymore.

Its a shame really.

edit to add: And no, this is not just about Detroit. In my travels around the states you see it everywhere - even in the small towns where industry has moved elsewhere. Very few places in North America can really be described as vibrant anymore.

[edit on 11/22/2009 by wayno]

While I agree that this is a sad situation, what I find even sadder is the fact that one has to have a minimum of $1000 just to bury (cremate) a loved one.

I'm sorry but death is tragic enough -- regardless of the circumstances surrounding one's death -- if there is anything in life that should be free or provided for -- it's burial.

I'm not saying that everyone should be entitled to an all-out affair for free -- but at the very least there should be an option, such as cremation, that is done for almost, if not entirely, for free.

In the United States, nearly quarter of all corpses are cremated because cremation is seen as way of reducing the average cost of a funeral. Traditional funerals are an expensive affair with costs starting at $5,000 but the average cost for cremation services is one-fifth of that.

Link: www.babyboomercaretaker.com...

With all of the services that we provide to people, I really don't think it's too much to ask that when faced with an overwhelming amount of grief, we are allowed to say goodbye to a loved one and have closure without worrying about the fact that doing so may prevent other family members still alive from eating.

Death has become yet another tool for perpetuating debt.

reply to post by lpowell0627


The county does pay for some funerals/burials but they don't have enough funds apparently to keep up with the numbers dying.

What are they going to do if and when the mutated severe form of flu arrives?

My belief is that the expensive form of burial used today is wrong. What is wrong with being put into the ground in a cloth bag, without chemical preservatives, and just let nature take its course like it did for millenia? Plant a tree over the spot. That would be my preference; unfortunately its not an option around here.

reply to post by wayno


i agree. turn me into back into dirt for the worms and bugs.

Then in June, the $21,000 annual county budget to bury Detroit’s unclaimed bodies ran out. Until then, if a family confirmed that they could not afford to lay a loved one to rest, Wayne County — in which Detroit sits — would, for $700, bury the body in a rough pine casket at a nearby cemetery, under a marker.

The mayor should be very ashamed of himself!!!
What are we talking about? If the entire city department would have their wages cut by 1 percent, there would be more than enough money.
And indeed, what if a disaster happens?

reply to post by infinite


Ho my, infinite thanks for bringing this issue, I almost posted the story back last week when it started to make head lines.

This is so sad and is no only Detroit with the problem is many other cities around the nation.

So sad that no even in death people can find peace.

What Detroit needs is jobs. Plain and simple. People need to be gainfully employed in order for the city to have a renaissance.

The city is a disaster, and looks a lot like a Third World country. Anyone that lives near Detroit can tell you about the sad state of crumbling architecture in the city - everything from houses to industrial warehouses to tall skyscrapers. It's a mess.

It sure would be nice if Washington could direct some of those billions given to AIG and their ilk to our crumbling rust belt. I am sure the cities of Cleveland and Chicago would agree.

reply to post by CookieMonster09


States are starting to run out of unemployment money at least here in GA we has been told in the news that the state only have 130 million left to pay out, some people are going to have a very bad holidays this year.

As someone notes elsewhere in this thread, Detroit has 30% of its population living at or below the poverty level. Food pantries in the cities and surrounding Detroit suburbs cannot keep up with the demand for emergency food requests. The state of Michigan is running double-digit unemployment numbers, and could surpass the 20% unemployment mark in the months ahead. There is no end in sight. The city's budget is in tatters, and the state's answer to the crisis is to raise more taxes. The whole situation has caused a mass exodus out of the state of Michigan - a statewide brain drain of sorts. We can't keep our young people in Michigan - our best and brightest move down south, out west, or the east coast - anywhere but Michigan.

I'm from Detroit, and I can tell you that it's a far, far cry from what it used to be. All of Boston, San Francisco and Manhattan can fit within Detroit's city borders with room to spare. That tells you how much room there is in Detroit, and how spread out the population is. Detroit's population peaked at 1.8 million during the 1950s; estimates today put it at around 800,000, a loss of 1 million people.

The government is trying to function as if the city still has 1.8 million souls. It really needs to downsize the city, close off sparsely populated areas and have people gather in more dense areas to make city services more efficient, because right now, everything but the most severe crimes are either ignored or responded to a few hours later by Detroit police. Some weeks your trash isn't picked up. Street lights don't get repaired for years while the streets and sidewalks crumble. Half of the city is abandoned land reverting to prairie and forest once again.

A nice side effect of manufacturing leaving the area is the Detroit river is healthier than it's been in 100 years. Lots of animals are coming back, like beavers, that haven't been seen in decades. While it's nice to see nature make a comeback, the people are suffering. Unemployment in Michigan hovers around 15%, but Detroit's rate is 30%. High school graduation is around 25% (partly artifically low because thousands of kids are leaving the public schools to go to suburban ones or charter schools, when a kid leaves the district, it adds a tally to the drop-out list).

Why has all that happened? A mix of things. Definite racism that persists to this day. Detroit was a majority white city into the 60s, when white flight really took off, though white flight had been going on since the 40s. Whites left because blacks were moving in from the South. In some neighborhoods, literally, brick walls were built to separate whites from blacks. The racism culminated in the 1967 riots, which, besides physically scarring Detroit, left the imprint that the city was not safe and if you could afford to get out, then you should.

Another reason is the extinction of America's manufacturing industry. We all know Detroit is the automobile capital of the world. It's the birthplace of the middle class. Uneducated fathers could raise a family with 4-5 kids and a wife on a good salary from working in a car plant or a related industry. My dad worked at a Chrysler plant and then a small tool and die shop. When those jobs disappeared, there was nothing left to replace them. The high-tech jobs were in California and the South, and they required educated workers. The financial jobs were in New York. There was no industry in Detroit except for the car industry.

There's also the mass corruption and general idiots in office. Kilpatrick was just one of many morons feeding off the system. There were many lower ones taking advantage of loopholes. During a state-appointed audit of the public schools system, a lot of "employees" turned themselves in when given amnesty because they were pulling paychecks even though they weren't technically working there anymore. There's just no oversight.

But Detroiters are strong and resilient. Many are still there because they choose to be there. When I graduate from university, I'd love to go back and live downtown and contribute to the city's rebirth. It's probably not possible given my now-poor choice of field (journalism), but nevertheless the Detroit papers will be the first place I look for work.

America's economy today runs on the idea of electronic wealth. The stock market creates wealth that doesn't actually exist. The countries gaining wealth today are those that are creating physical goods in factories. China, India. You can't base an economy on numbers on a computer screen and expect to maintain supremacy.