Karma?

1940's Boston Streetcar Lines

Karma, the law of cause and effect of Buddhist thought, may be relevant in the current state of the city of Detroit, Michigan. However, in this case, it could be seen as Car-ma.

The car industry of Detroit nearly extinguished the life of all the major cities of the United States in collusion with the Eisenhower government of the 1950's. Robert Moses, perhaps the most influential city planner (destroyer?) of the 20th century colluded with General Motors and Ford to pressure the Federal government to build highways to reach suburban developments, which were being built on a massive scale to fill a demand created by cheap mortgages extended to veterans of World War II. These power brokers funded massive advertising campaigns in print and audio/visual media extolling the virtues of suburban life and car travel. It is comparable to the current Apple invasion of media.

Electric trolley (streetcar) tracks, which once connected every neighborhood and district of most major U.S. cities, were ripped up or buried in tar to make way for urban gridlock. City centers were evacuated by the more affluent, who embraced the car mythology. Formerly grand neighborhoods of proud blocks of town homes sank into decay. In many cities, they were ultimately leveled in favor of apartment blocks or commercial buildings. City centers became ghost towns after 5 PM. The neighborhoods which surrounded them became boarding-house slums.

Isn't it interesting? Many of the cities which Detroit sought to destroy in order to make money from the petrochemical industry are now experiencing resurrection. My own city, Boston, is developing its downtown into a vibrant gated community for the well-off. The director of the Boston Redevelopment Authority recently declared that developers in Boston needn't be so restricted by current regulations which demand ample parking spaces as part of any new development. He said the more affluent and young newbies in Boston preferred bicycles and public transit to cars. Too bad they don't have non-polluting electric trolleys on every corner, as their predecessors had.

Also interesting is the homophobia fostered by Detroit's felonious mayor Kwame Kilpatrick (2002-2008), convicted of over 24 felony counts and also convicted of subsequent parole violation. Kilpatrick fomented African-American hatred of LGBT people in the city as part of his election campaign. He campaigned as a religious moralist against gay rights and gay marriage specifically. Kilpatrick also rudely ejected a group of gay entrepreneurs who approached the city in the early 2000's with a plan to develop the downtown into a gay holiday/casino/entertainment destination. He did this as a homophobic religious moralist. Well, now that LGBT people are embracing new forms of liberation, Mr. Kilpatrick is embracing life as a prison inmate.

What goes around comes around? I do not believe there is any karmic judge in the clouds. Santa Claus, who keeps track of naughty and nice, is an imaginary being. I hope we can all agree on that. However, I do believe that bad causes create bad effects which eventually can bounce back on the creator of the bad cause. If you piss into the wind, you get wet. If you shoot with bad aim, the ricochet can kill you.