A Detrroit picture in the NY Times

A Detroit picture tells us what the election is about.

In the New York Times of October 31 on the first business page the gleaming towers of the GM headquarters dominate the picture of Bill Pugliano/Getty Images. In the foreground the ugly overhead electricity poles with their top and middle lines stand out. What is less obvious at first sight is the deplorable situation of the side walks which seem to be non-existent. The housing stock in this neighborhood in Detroit near Dubois is poor, though the picture does not show us boarded-up houses. The picture’s caption tells us that “G.M. has sought help from Detroit pension funds for paying half the mortgage on its headquarters.”

This overpowering corporate influence as evidenced in this picture shows what the elections is about. It is growth versus equity, it is increasing the pie versus the sharing the pie. It is about growthism without much thought to equity. It is about economic concentration without a thought about its adverse social, economic and ecological consequences.