Land of Oz

The 'creaking' US airline industry

Like much of America these days, the airline industry feels tired, worn down, and old.
That is surprising in a country that often likes to think of itself as the best.
Arguably, it once was, but the airline industry - like the health system, like schools, roads - you name it, feels like it is just creaking along and leaving its passengers ever more frustrated.

That's a recent quote from a BBC reporter.

That should bother you, assuming you're an American, quite a bit. Not that it should surprise you, just bother you. If you read this very often, you'll see I've already talked about the 30% graduation rate in Detroit's schools. Half of this city looks like a set from Dawn of the Dead with abandoned buildings and weed covered lots - and that's downtown. A road here in Saginaw recently won a statewide competition for the biggest pothole. Also here in Saginaw we just finished a trial where a bunch of teenagers were convicted of murdering a 14 month old kid in a drive by shooting. Every street around the area has houses on sale - and some of those have their copper pipe or aluminum siding stolen and sold.

Yeah, we've got people doing good stuff here, but there is so much doom and gloom. It seems like for every teenager who works for Habitat for Humanity there's three others who are dealing guns and drugs. Did I mention the 75 college kids recently busted for drug dealing in one college in California this week? How about the three cops who were videoed beating up some suspect? Yep, we have our postal service running a charity drive this weekend while at the same time they have to stop service to some homes because it's too dangerous to deliver mail. Think about that - it's too dangerous for a mailman to deliver a letter in broad daylight.

What the hell is going on?

Labels: crime, government, gripes, michigan