Dodging A Bullet

Say what you want about Indianapolis, but there is something of an economy here. Though I worry that Indianapolis may be trying too hard to put all their eggs in one basket with this "Life Sciences Initiatives" business. We are pushing hard to bring medical research and development companies to the area, but is that really going to pay off in the long run? Is this business going to stand the test of time?

Back in the 90's, I had the pleasure of living in the Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton area (aka, Lehigh Valley) section of Pennsylvania. During this time, it was right behind Seattle as being the cloudiest place in the United States. Did wonders for my depression. But the great thing about living there is I got to see first hand what is meant by "Rust Belt." I referred to it as "post-industrial sh#thole", which is a little less euphemistic and a little closer to the truth. Anyone remember Esther Williams? Her bathing suit line was made in Easton at one point. Textiles "Made in the USA" are now made in Guam or the Marianas Islands. Remember Bethlehem Steel? Huge place. Walking around the grounds after it was shut down was like a creepier version of Kurt Vonnegut's "A Deer in the Works." People grew up thinking that they would go go work their for $22/hour just like their folks and that Bethlehem would be around forever. See Billy Joel's Allentown for more on how that worked out.

So I'm reading up today and find out that houses cost less than cars in Detroit. Very sad. To live there is unnerving to say the least. There just isn't anything good coming out of Detroit except arguably musicians (White Stripes, Eminem). And compared to Motown, they aren't that spectacular.

So what does the sad fate of Detroit have to do with Indianapolis? We almost were Detroit. That's why the 500 track was built in the first place: it was a test track for the carmakers here. Auburn, Cord, Duesenberg, Studebaker, etc. However, the railroads worked too hard to screw the automakers, and they moved their operations to a city conveniently located near shipping ports where the shippers were not screwing with the automakers so hard. Detroit is located on an actually navigable body of water. So there went the autoplants.

What happens when healthcare collapses in this country, as it irresistably seems it will? There is too little money to be made in useful drugs to cure cancer or diabetes or alcoholism. There's just too much money to be had in keeping people sick but treating the disease.

Well, you can only go on like that for so long until globalization brings a cure to our shores, FDA approved or not. Someone will make it for cheap, sooner or later.

And what happens when people finally get fed up with paying 50% or more of their paychecks just so they can do more paperwork when their claims get denied 2 or 3 times, routinely? People will just give up paying and only go to the doctor when they are terminally ill. People who wait that long don't usually make it. So I hope they're researching a cure for death, 'cause that really seems to be the only thing they'll ultimately be able to make money peddling.