Grind my Gears: Milwaukee Edition
I normally don't publicly voice things like this, but i happen to think that this is what AshyRadio was meant for. So here it is:
You know what really grinds my gears?
You, Milwaukee. YOU grind my gears.
Why you ask? For the last 30 years, this city has managed to do the equivalent of standing in a toilet bowl during a self flushing contest. Our ability to elect officials that abuse their power and neglect their responsibility to the community that put them in office is second to none, right along with our poverty rate. How did this happen to us? We did it to ourselves.
We continue to stand behind "leaders" that talk a good game. Leaders that say they will improve job opportunity but continue to turn jobs away and create an anti-business culture here in our city. For example, years ago our faithful "leaders" told Buyseasons INC that they could not build a new headquarters in the Menomonee Valley. Why? Because "we don't want THOSE kinds of jobs here". Well let me tell you something. "THOSE" kinds of jobs at "THAT" kind of company years later would have provided over 500 job opportunities to Milwaukee residents. Residents that rely on our failing public transit system. A system that does not travel to New Berlin, the area in which the now twice expanded Buyseasons INC headquarters will be built. And just what business was allowed to build in the Valley in it's place? Seemingly..... none. The Valley is just as empty as ever, minus one Spanish company they managed to get in there. So as your aldermen and council members go around determining what jobs are good enough for you by blacklisting business from relocating in the city, stamping out temporary job services that provide thousands of jobs to the Milwaukee area and worst of all, taxing the god forsaken breath out of the last of the recognizable Milwaukee businesses (Harley, Miller, Midwest Ex.... ooops too late), maybe it's time we start doing our jobs as responsible citizens.
Perhaps we should do more than listen to promises and catch highlights of debates on the news. Perhaps party lines don't mean as much as we thought they did. Maybe a plan does matter. Maybe it is time WE made a difference instead of depending on someone else to fix things for us. Maybe it is time we stopped being so damn lazy and stand up for the place we call home, instead of waiting for someone else to be the catalyst. Maybe it's time to stop saying maybe.
- Ed Cayce
You know what really grinds my gears?
You, Milwaukee. YOU grind my gears.
Why you ask? For the last 30 years, this city has managed to do the equivalent of standing in a toilet bowl during a self flushing contest. Our ability to elect officials that abuse their power and neglect their responsibility to the community that put them in office is second to none, right along with our poverty rate. How did this happen to us? We did it to ourselves.
We continue to stand behind "leaders" that talk a good game. Leaders that say they will improve job opportunity but continue to turn jobs away and create an anti-business culture here in our city. For example, years ago our faithful "leaders" told Buyseasons INC that they could not build a new headquarters in the Menomonee Valley. Why? Because "we don't want THOSE kinds of jobs here". Well let me tell you something. "THOSE" kinds of jobs at "THAT" kind of company years later would have provided over 500 job opportunities to Milwaukee residents. Residents that rely on our failing public transit system. A system that does not travel to New Berlin, the area in which the now twice expanded Buyseasons INC headquarters will be built. And just what business was allowed to build in the Valley in it's place? Seemingly..... none. The Valley is just as empty as ever, minus one Spanish company they managed to get in there. So as your aldermen and council members go around determining what jobs are good enough for you by blacklisting business from relocating in the city, stamping out temporary job services that provide thousands of jobs to the Milwaukee area and worst of all, taxing the god forsaken breath out of the last of the recognizable Milwaukee businesses (Harley, Miller, Midwest Ex.... ooops too late), maybe it's time we start doing our jobs as responsible citizens.
Perhaps we should do more than listen to promises and catch highlights of debates on the news. Perhaps party lines don't mean as much as we thought they did. Maybe a plan does matter. Maybe it is time WE made a difference instead of depending on someone else to fix things for us. Maybe it is time we stopped being so damn lazy and stand up for the place we call home, instead of waiting for someone else to be the catalyst. Maybe it's time to stop saying maybe.
- Ed Cayce
Excellent post.
ReplyDeleteYou make some great points Mr. Cayce.