Unintended consequences sometimes make more sense if understood as intended consequences. Consider Detroit. Mass violence and ethnic cleansing chased the productive population out of Detroit forty years ago. They said it was intended going in, boasted about it then and every day thereafter, so a reasonable person would assume it to be intended. Did we or did we not see mobs and demonstrators and non-negotiable demands and confrontations and riots and burning and looting? Businesses didn't leave. Industrious and constructive residents didn't leave. They were forced out. There are too many witness to deny it now.
The wealth of the country's richest city was squandered to the last dime within five years and the refugees are still paying Detroit's bills. Perhaps we're to believe this was an unintended consequence too, it's just the way it worked out. Now that their declared ambition to be Zimbabwe On The River is fully realized:
June 8th - Detroit will run out of cash a week from today if a lawsuit challenging the validity of the city's consent agreement with the state is not withdrawn, city officials said this morning... the city will be operating in a deficit situation if the state withholds payments on a portion of the $80 million in bond money needed to help keep the city afloat. The battle ultimately could lead to an emergency manager if state officials deem the city to be in violation of the consent agreement that gives the state significant control over Detroit's finances.
Hackney and Helms at Detroit Free Press
The lawsuit isn't difficult to understand. Bond payments are conditional on Detroit cutting waste and paying down debt. Detroit is demanding payment without fulfilling those or any other terms. In keeping with the only reality they know, entitlement without accountability, they found a loophole, one they wrote themselves, one that satisfies the bedrock money-for-nothing principle:
The state disagrees. And unhandily for Detroit, the terms require a state-appointed responsible adult to ensure compliance if the city doesn't hold up its end. The usual suspects believe this was unserious eyewash and promise extreme civil disorder if it actually happens. It's no idle threat, rebranding and scaling up the daily carnage is a trivial matter and will be eagerly attended to.... the council suddenly stopped implementing terms of the deal last month after Councilwoman JoAnn Watson asked Crittendon to determine whether the agreement violated the city charter.
Hackney and Helms at Detroit Free Press
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