Yesterday I was thinking about collapse. Yes, as I do laundry in my basement man-palace - my contribution to the cause of the 21st Century marriage construct - me and Sam the cat think great pontifications. American marriage, yikes - speaking of collapse - but I digress. My interest here however is the collapse of the Wisconsin economy.
My stand point in history comes from the end-of-the-'Nam-era rubric. You know that time in our sordid history that a bunch of dreamy-eyed nostalgists from Madison look back on now with dreamy eyes. That's ok. Us writers write about stuff we think is important and frequently no one cares about our reflections either.
Anyway, yesterday as I was folding my tattered cloths I use at my part-time, seven-day-per-week, non-benefit, minimum-wage, third-shift, meritless...f....ing Wisconsin-esque job, I was struck with an epiphany. The collapse of the Wisconsin economy is rather disturbingly like the collapse of Saigon.
About this time 35 years ago in February 1975 the looming forces, both human and economic, were steamrolling down on our beleaguered ally South Vietnam and its flagship city Saigon. Its eerily kind of like us here right now; the "new norm" culture of economic misery does not the North Vietnamese Army make, but there is a looming invader at our flagship city's outskirts as well. The Army of unemployed and economically ruined, and the baggage they keep in tow permeate throughout our culture now. And just as the over-running of Saigon was imminent, it true as well with Wisconsin and Madison. Our economic demise is inevitable. And like the people in Saigon going about their business as the enemy forces descended on the city, we too are attending to our banal daily chores. Even as economic refugees flee to Madison as war refugees besieged Saigon, the citizens seem not to take heed; but, there is non-the-less, always a looming subconscious collective innuendo of angst. There is something in the wind. You can almost hear the economic cannons just over the horizon.
Right up until the end of South Vietnam, the die hard supporters of our war there held to their druthers. Ambassador Graham Martin refused to be evacuated from the embassy until the morning of the collapse. And Currently, President Obama refuses to write Wisconsin off as hopeless. At least Wisconsin Governor Doyle has admitted defeat and has already planned his evacuation from the Wisconsin state house. Hey, just like the Vietnamese President did just a bit before Saigon was overrun. Hopefully Doyle's departure won't be from the roof of the Capital via a Huey helicopter.
As the South Vietnamese economy and military machine began to collapse in 1974, we Americans determined the jig was up. No more money or American military personnel was pending for our once-upon-a-time allies. They floundered; and in April 1975 they were overwhelmed by their enemies from the north and the guerrilla fighters amongst them.
Washington however has thrown one last bone at Wisconsin now with an 800 million dollar tid-bit from the "2009 economic recovery act." Something about us all being able to ride from Milwaukee to Madison at 110 miles per hour on a train and then back again for 40 Bucks a pop. Should be up and running by 2013 they promise.
Not to long before the South Vietnamese calamity came to bitter end, and the American national embarrassment thereafter, we still dumped a lot of money into 'Nam. Then as if we all woke up from a nightmare, the money spigot got shut off.
I wonder if we will ever see this rail service come to fruition? It is after all via the compliments of communist Chinese money (the yaun - still with its political funny-man Chairman Mao Zedong adorning every paper bill) propping up our economy that this "recovery" money comes to us. How poetic - that the communist Chinese were one of the nemesis helping North Vietnam back in the day. Perhaps we could interject a "five-year" economic plan in here somewhere just for old-time sake.
We are all excited that money is coming to us so we can build a banal, transportation project - money we basically just made up from that over-rated communist Chinese cash and our own miserable national dept.
The jobs to travel too...they will be there in 2013? Better come up with something good economic soldiers, because if Wisconsin is banking on me traveling from Madison to Milwaukee to work at one of those current "new norm," part-time, seven-day-per-week, non-benefit, minimum-wage, third-shift, meritless...f....ing Wisconsin-esque jobs most of us have now, well you see...there is a problem. You must reflect good citizens, that I only make 30 Bucks a day. Why would I ride a train for 40 Bucks to work in Milwaukee or Madison to make 30 f....ing Bucks a day. But then again a 25 percent loss per day might impress Washington economists currently grinding us all in the dirt.
Poetically, another eerie similarity. The South Vietnamese economy collapsed as well, there plight due to the departure of a majority of a one time American military force of 500,000 men and women. Their absence left a huge economic chasm. Our current plight here in Wisconsin is heavily due to the departure of thousands of jobs to...China. Their absence has left a huge economic chasm.
Wisconsin has collapsed; hundreds of Wisconsin companies have collapsed; thousands of jobs have been lost; thousands more have been outsourced to that same aforementioned China; and, the Wisconsin political rats have jumped ship and are swimming to shore from the sinking Wisconsin ship. Or, they have their helicopter escape planned.
Will the choo-choo ever get built in time to fend off the onslaught of economic hell? With Wisconsin's recent track record, I doubt it. Perhaps if it does get built, we can all ride it out of Wisconsin via the Hiawatha line to Chicago in lieu of escaping in a Huey helicopter to an aircraft carrier waiting in Lake Michigan. Perhaps they will put a carrier out there to save us from this collapsed, dreadful failure of a State; just like they put one out in the China Sea to save a few defeated souls fleeing Vietnam.
Hey, a collapsed dreadful failure of a State, just like Wisconsin, just like the former South Vietnam.
History is priceless.
Wisconsin Military Service Person Special Mention of the Week
(each week Cooldadiomedia mentions a Wisconsin service person killed in Iraq or Afghanistan)
This week's Wisconsin soldier to remember is Sergeant Mark A. Maida, 22, of Madison who died Friday, May 27, 2005 in Baghdad of injuries he sustained the day before when the Humvee he was riding in struck an explosive mine in Diyarah, about 40 miles south of Baghdad. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel mentioned Mark was a 2001 graduate of James Madison Memorial High School in Madison. He enlisted in the Army the same year. He had plans to come home on leave in July to get married. Mark Maida's three-year military term was completed in October, 2004 but he was required to stay in via the U.S. military's "stop loss" program. He already had enrolled for classes at Madison Area Technical College. The "stop loss" program is best defined as personnel who would otherwise leave the military when their volunteer commitments is up, are forced to remain to the end of their unit's overseas deployments and also could be required to stay in an additional 90 days after they come home. Sergeant Maida was deployed to Iraq in January of 2005 with his unit, E Troop, 2nd Squadron, the 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment, based in Fort Irwin, California. The Journal Sentinel went on to say Mark's brother Chris Maida, returned in April, 2005 from a six-month tour in Iraq as a U.S. Marine. At the time of his death Mark Maida was survived by his dad Ray Maida, a retired Madison police detective, and mom Diane Maida. He was also survived also by his brothers Chris and Aaron, and a sister, Juliann Mutch. Sergeant Mark Maida was the 38th Wisconsin military service member killed in Iraq since the spring of 2003.
As of this blog entry's posting date:
95,175 Iraqi civilians have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003.
9,368 Iraqi Security Forces have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003.
4,379 Americans have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003.
972 Americans have been killed in Afghanistan since October, 2001.
317 Coalition soldiers have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003.
630 Coalition soldiers have been killed in Afghanistan since October, 2001.
31,648 U.S. troops have been wounded in action in Iraq since Spring, 2003.
4,923 U.S. troops have been wounded in action in Afghanistan since October, 2001.
101 Wisconsin soldiers have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003.
17 Wisconsin soldiers have been killed in Afghanistan since October, 2001.
139 journalists (several nationalities) have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003.
17 journalists (various nationalities) have been killed in Afghanistan since October, 2001.
Wisconsin military service person special mention of the week, military casualty, and journalist casualty information sources: Committee to Protect Journalists; cnn.com; Milwaukee Journal Sentinel; washingtonpost.com; thehighground.org; Wisconsin Department of Veterans Affairs; iraqbodycount.org; and, icasualties.org.
