Letters to the Editor
Leviosaurus
Published Letters: 21 Editor's Choice: 4
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Inexhaustible: That Fatal Michigan Word
[Read the article: Turn out the lights, Michigan]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]In 1984, Bruce Catton's book Michigan: A History was published. The author had died several years earlier. Catton was a Pulitzer Prize winner who had emerged from an unlikely small rural town in the lower peninsula to become the most recognized Civil War historian of his time. Yet throughout his life, his home state and its enigmatic history held a deep fascination for him.
In Michigan: A History Catton describes the timeline of the state as a series of economic waves: Huge and tremendous success followed by abject failure. Even before the economic crash of the 1980's, Catton seemed to hint that the auto industry's boom was destined to come plunging down.
A quick synopsis: The first Europeans to populate the state came for the fur trade. To a trapper's eyes, Michigan was a paradise where the supply of animals and high quality furs seemed endless. Yet end it did - the high prices commanded by fur traders led a rush of frontiersmen to the territory. Soon overtrapping and poor land management depleted the environment. Those remaining found themselves in poverty.
Within a few years the lumber industry took over the territory. The quality of wood grown in the peninsulas was superior to that found most anywhere. Michigan lumber was shipped all the way to the East coast, and from there to Europe. Most buildings constructed in the United States in the first half of the 1800's were built from Michigan lumber. There is little exaggeration in the statement that the entire state was clean cut from one end to the other. It is very hard to find an old growth tree anywhere in the state (even the trees in the 'wilderness areas' are actually second growth.) This is the land of Paul Bunyan and the tall tales of lumber men. Yet the lumber industry in Michigan crashed and the state was reduced to abject poverty again.
That changed when Copper was found in the upper peninsula. The copper boom crashed and was replaced by the iron boom. The iron ran out and farming became the big industry in the state. Settlement of the West ruined Michigan's dominance in farming. Then the auto industry took over.
With it's iron production and auto industry, Michigan was known as the "Arsenal of Democracy". It transformed itself into a war machine in both World War I and II, churning out enough arms and vehicles to supply the armies of half the world. This was the brightest time in the State's history. But to Catton observed this as being simply another of the series of waves the state had undergone.
Each economic wave, from the first trappers all the way through to the iron and farm industries had made the same assumption: that their industry was permanent. The supply endless. The economy inexhaustible. While the state has always been blessed with good luck, shortsightedness has always been its downfall and its curse. To quote Catton: "The idea that abundance was inexhaustible--that fatal Michigan word--dominated thinking about the state from its earliest days."
One of my best friends teaches at Michigan State University. He and I discovered Catton a few years back. Ever since, we've watched the economy of Michigan through this lens and found it disturbingly illuminating. When an announcement such as GM's strike becomes public we will look at each other and nod. We say one word. I've sent him emails consisting of only this word, and he's left messages on my machine which consist of this one word.
"Inexhaustible"
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Lighten up
[Read the article: Romney spokesman: Salvation Army volunteers "annoying"]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Those bells ARE annoying. I'd donate every time if it would only stop them from ringing the damn things.