Document text
0 of 3 Premium Clicks used this month SUBSCRIBE Print + Online Subscriber Activation | Register x Forgot Password | Need an Account? subscribe | newsletter | deals Classifieds Jobs Autos Real Estate NEWS NOW Ashland Calendar, Jan. 23, 2016 ... Herb Rothschild Jr.: Why we love bombing ... City plans for potential flooding ... Ashland Calendar, Jan. 23, 2016 ... Herb Rothschild Jr.: Why we love bombing ... City plans for potential flooding ... COMMENTARY Jeffrey Gillespie: A failure in Flint, Mich. Comment DailyTidings.com Writer Posted Jan. 22, 2016 at 2:00 AM Updated Jan 22, 2016 at 8:40 AM Posted Jan. 22, 2016 at 2:00 AM Updated Jan 22, 2016 at 8:40 AM » Social News "As GM goes, so goes the nation." That quaint, if now rather antiquated, saying was emblematic of the importance of General Motors to the economic health and well-being of the United States as a whole, once upon a time. So it is ironic indeed that in Flint, Mich. — the birthplace of GM some 108 years ago — the infrastructure has deteriorated to such a degree that this past month has brought the astonishing revelation that in a town of over 100,000 already put-upon residents, the water is so poisonous that there is a city-wide danger of lead contamination in the blood of its people. In fact, depending upon whom you talk to, there are already documented cases of nearly 12 percent of those residents having lead contamination levels so high they are considered severe. That means that citizens of the 10th most populous state in the union are at risk for headaches and anemia, as well as toxicity in the heart, bones, kidneys and soft organs and nervous systems; and that's if they're lucky. In extreme cases, seizures, comas and death are entirely possible outcomes in the event of lead poisoning. There has also been an outbreak of Legionnaire's disease in the city; 87 people have been stricken. So far, 10 of them have died. In a town like Flint, the facts of any tragedy might presumably be met with a kind of ingrained stoicism reserved for the blue-collar refugees of a financial crisis from which most in that small metropolis have not yet seen a recovery. In July 2009, at the height of the Great Recession, the unemployment rate in the city soared to 28 percent. As of April 2015, unemployment still hovers around 10 percent, despite significant recovery at a national level. As local government strained over many years to add much-needed tax dollars to its coffers, it made a fatal decision. In 2014, Flint stopped buying its water from Detroit and started pumping it out of its own river — one of the most contaminated water sources in the region, according to ongoing geological surveys. In testing children, lead levels in the blood were found to have nearly doubled during the time in which legislators have been using their adulterated waterways to quell the thirst of local innocents. Politicians are emphasizing the blame game and playing down any actual solutions to the problem. The finger-pointing between the office of Gov. Rick Snyder and local officials in Flint has now reached a fever pitch. Staffers in Snyder's office went so far as to suggest that some in Flint were taking the issue of children's exposure to lead and turning it into a "political football." The cynicism of that logic is spectacular; it implies that the corrupt aspect of the situation is in the politicization of the problem as opposed to the fact that kids are being poisoned in the first place. One hardly has to mention the fact that Flint's demographic profile is predominantly black and disproportionately poor. The situation in Flint is made all the more horrifying in that death by water has come not from some natural disaster a la Hurricane Katrina, but as the result of a kind of bureaucratic avarice produced by irreversible infrastructural decay. The water is poisoned not by bad sanitation or as a result of residue from industrial waste, but by lead from old pipes that has leached into the supply. So, as usual, poor black kids get to die so that the American economy can live without, for example, a modest 0.5 percent transaction fee on stock sales, or other small concessions to help pay for new infrastructure in our country. Welcome to the land of the free — unless you're from Flint, in which case you'd better spend what little money you do have to stock up on Aquafina. Ashland resident Jeffrey Gillespie is a Tidings columnist and freelance writer. Email him at [email protected] . DailyTidings.com Writer Posted Jan. 22, 2016 at 2:00 AM Updated Jan 22, 2016 at 8:40 AM » Comment or view comments Reader Reaction » STAY INFORMED Email NewsLetter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. Southern Oregon Directory Featured Businesses Loading... Business Name address Location, ST | website.com Find Southern Oregon Attractions Bars Restaurants Beauty Salons Entertainment Doctors Medical Specialists Contractors Education Lawn Services Lawyers Shopping Travel Tanning Used Cars Wedding Services ▼ Add your business here + Events Calendar Connect with DailyTidings.com Facebook Twitter RSS Back to top Reader Services Reader Services home Subscriptions Subscriber controls Contact us Submissions Photos Events Letters to the editor Corrections Alerts Email alerts RSS feeds Text Alerts Advertise Media Kit Home Products and services Ad rates Advertising contacts Propel Marketing Mail Tribune Daily Tidings The Nickel Shop Our Valley Blogs Mobile Site Stay Informed Email newsletter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. Your privacy is important, read our privacy policy. © Copyright 2016 Local Media Group, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms of Service | Local Media Group Publications Original content available for non-commercial use under a Creative Commons license, except where noted. DailyTidings.com | P.O. Box 1108, Medford, OR 97501