Will Russia under Putin stagnate as in Brezhnev's terrible reign ?

The time of Brezhnev's period in power was a national disaster and the country has never recovered from it . This article reminds us how awful those times were and suggests that in so many ways Putin is a reincarnation of that cruel dinosaur .



After 2012, Russia May Come to a Similar State as the Late Soviet Union, Experts Predict

By Svetlana Kononova

12/19/2011
Stagnation and a “Brezhnevization” of the economy and politics would shatter Russia’s ambitions to develop as quickly as other BRIC countries – China, India and Brazil, experts from the European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR), the first pan-European think tank, predicted. At present, Russia is exhibiting four trends that have lead some to believe that under Vladimir Putin, the country is slowly sliding back into its Soviet form under the chairmanship of General Secretary Leonid Brezhnev.
“Russia no longer has the optimism of a rising power. The EU has spent the last four years wishfully thinking that Dmitry Medvedev would slowly transform Russia into a modern country. Now Putin is returning to the presidency. Few still have any illusions about resurgence, and many now fear ‘Brezhnevization.’ Regardless of Putin’s assertive rhetoric, Russia is now ‘post-BRIC.’ Although it is not in steep decline, it is stagnating, with widespread corruption, a dysfunctional government and growing dissatisfaction with the ruling elite. Without drastic improvements in the way it is governed, it clearly cannot keep pace with the dynamism and the growth prospects of the other BRICs,” the authors of the report wrote.

Meanwhile, Vladimir Putin’s spokesperson Dmitry Peskov tried to persuade the audience of the Dozhd Internet television channel that the time of General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party Leonid Brezhnev’s rule (1964 to 1982) was a great time for the country. “A lot of people are talking about the ‘Brezhnevization’ of Putin. But these are people who don’t know anything about Brezhnev. Brezhnev is not a ‘minus’ in our country’s history. He was a huge ‘plus.’ He set up the basis for our economy and agriculture,” Peskov said.

Indeed, a new generation that doesn’t remember Brezhnev and knows little about him has grown up in modern Russia. These people can easily compare the remarkable achievements of Brezhnev’s epoch with the trends that will emerge when Vladimir Putin takes up the presidential post once again. These include “alcoholization,” enormous defense spending, controlled media and “dissident” kitchen talk.

The “alcoholization” of the Soviet Union’s population began during Leonid Brezhnev’s later years, in the 1970s. Annual alcohol consumption per capita in the country increased from 4.5 liters in 1965 to 10.5 liters in 1980 – two and half times more than the worldwide statistic. This data didn’t include the consumption of homemade alcohol, which contributed another four to five liters per capita. Official statistics show that there were more than 40 million alcoholics in the Soviet Union, meaning that one in every seven citizens was an addict. The mortality rate, especially among young men, for external reasons – murders, suicides, alcohol-related car accidents – started growing in 1965, and led to the so-called “Russian Cross:” a demographic trend when the number of deaths exceeds the number of births. Many works of art and culture produced during Brezhnev’s era, including Vladimir Vysotsky’s songs, Eldar Ryazanov’s films and Sergei Dovlatov’s books painted a picture of a country in a constant state of inebriation.

Alcohol consumption and the number of alcohol-related deaths decreased during Mikhail Gorbachev’s time, but the progress was temporary. Since Vladimir Putin came to power in 2000, annual alcohol consumption in Russia rose to 18 liters per capita, and the population shrunk from 147 to 142 million people.

Critics often called the Soviet Union “the Republic of Upper Volta with rockets,” referring to the abundance of modern military equipment against the backdrop of ubiquitous poverty, a lack of goods and services and an uncomfortable daily life. Military spending in the Soviet Union consumed about a quarter of the country’s GDP at the expense of consumer goods and investment in civilian sectors toward the end of Leonid Brezhnev’s tenure. The Soviet armed forces were the largest in the world in terms of the number and types of weapons, the number of troops and the sheer size of the military-industrial complex. Schoolchildren were taught how to shoot and to put on gas masks. At the same time, jeans, bananas and chewing gum were attributes of Hollywood films and an unattainable dream for most average residents.

Modern Russia also plans to increase military spending. A survey by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) shows that defense spending in Russia stood at $52.58 billion in 2010. Putin’s decision to increase military spending was one of reasons why former Russian Finance Minister and Vice Premier Alexei Kudrin, who disagreed with the proposal, was dismissed from his job in September of 2011.

Soviet television was one of the main instruments of political propaganda. It worked under tight control and censorship. The main evening news broadcast “Vremya” (“The Time”) only aired positive news – boring reports on the labor achievements of Soviet citizens. Any forms of criticism toward the Soviet government or the Communist Party were strictly prohibited. Moreover, many topics such as sex, nudity, religion, slang, drugs and others were taboo.

In modern Russia, state-controlled television channels are ever more reminiscent of Soviet TV. The main federal channels ignored the mass protests in Moscow and St. Petersburg that took place on December 17, when thousands of people took to the streets of both capitals to show that they disagree with the results of the recent parliamentary election. Previously, the main Russian television channels aired coverage of terrorist attacks on the Moscow metro and at Domodedovo airport much later than foreign television and information agencies.

Kitchen talk was an important part of the typical Soviet lifestyle, and the kitchen was often the only place where it was possible to speak openly. Lies and propaganda at work, on television and in newspapers, and jokes about Brezhnev, the Communist Party and communist idols at home: such an “alternative reality” kept many from going insane. Kitchen talk has now moved to the Internet. Blogs, forums and communities in social networks have turned into “virtual kitchens,” and ironically, the Internet may be what stops Russia from sliding back into the realm of Brezhnev’s Soviet Union in the future.

 

you could remember brezhnev?

you must be way older than me. I was like only 4 years old when he was alive.

 

I may have the vitality and attitudes of a young man , but I can remember Stalin !!!!!!!!!! And I was not a baby when he died .
First visited Russia in 1975 .
Don't tell anybody .

 

Ahasver is this you?

 

Most likely but only this kind

 

Russia needs a completely new system which help to resurrect its manufacturing and economy. Ten years was enough to show that Putin's economical "model" Gaz-Pipeline-West-MoneyHiddenSomwhereInPacific has completely failed.

 

ZOG anti-Putin propaganda again.

1. Alcoholism.
Here is a list of the most alcohol consuming countries(sort by recorded):
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_alcohol_consumption
1. Czech Republic
2. Andorra
3. Estonia
4. Ireland
5. France
6. Croatia
7. Austria
8. Portugal
9. Hungary
10. Slovenia
11. Lithuania
12. Luxembourg
13. Germany
14. South Korea
15. United Kingdom
16. Denmark
17. Saint Lucia
18. Romania
19. Bulgaria
20. Belarus
21. Russia

2. Comparing to "Brezhnev's terrible reign". Brezhnev vs Putin.
Oh my God! Just listen to it. How terrible it was!!! Many people call is the best, this most stable time of USSR.
BTW, stagnation was only due to Socialist economy, it proved itself to be ineffective and got changed to Capitalist. I am trying to understand what author is trying to prove here, comparing Brezhnev to Putin.

3. State controlled TV.
I disagree that it's 100% state controlled. But it is controlled. This is the way it should be. State should control TV, not TV should control state. You can't say whatever, you can't lie.

4. Modern Russia also plans to increase military spending.
What is this? A blame? An accusation? Russia can't do that??? How much US is spending? I think it's 2-3 times more! Gee.

Verdict: PROPAGANDA.

 

US need to get rid of totalitarian control of 2 party system and the candidates shouldn't pay millions $$$ for elections.

And what about Detroit? All jobs are gone to China!
How many years will take to restore job market in Detroit, it ever and how many other cities might face it's fate?

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TLbd9XDgnDI"]Детройт - город-призрак - YouTube[/ame]

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T6WKMNmFsxM"]A Tour Of Detroit's Ghetto - YouTube[/ame]

 

What do you mean, that "I know"? I don't know. I referred to an official Web site. I gave you the numbers. If it's not going to work for you - then problem is in you. It proves that alcoholism in Russia is a propaganda, used by West to put us down. I would say, there is a problem, like everywhere. There are 20 countries above Russia. I've been in Germany and seen much more drunk people on the streets, like nowhere else. Russia has much more natural resources then in other 20 countries and UK, this is why it's important for the West to portray Russia on a bad way, to launch all source of nasty campaigns against us.

It's stagnated all the way, since October Revolution. Again, socialism caused stagnation as a ineffective type of economy, not Brezhnev. Everybody loved Brezhnev time, though.

Your TV is all good Zionist crap. Zionism hurts human beings and destroys countries from the inside.

Where is the number 95% coming from? I think you wanted to say 95% of people are living in good conditions. Do you? Most of my country? Gee. Maybe in some rural areas? I agree, that some rural areas need improvement. We have a big country to take care off, it's not so tiny like UK!

This is a clear BS. You definitely never been there. We all work like dogs a for a peace of bread??! We are all starving??! Jeee. You see how dare they can be? BS.
Stop your MI5 propaganda.

I came to conclusion that you never trust UK. Never. They are hosting the Russian(he is in fact a Jew) thief Berezovsky and they made up such a ridiculous story about polonium poisoning. Just imagine - Russian Putin's agent flies over all Europe with polonium in his pocket and leaving traces all over the Europe!! Jee!! I didn't know that Putin would be so stupid. LOL

 

Andorra?

If one man drinks ten pints a week, relative to population, it would be in first place.

So, if you don't mind, I'll take also the rest of the post with a whisky sour.

 

Martin ,
There is little point talking or educating you , if you don't accept simple statements like those relating to the times I have been in Russia and all surrounding countries . I first visited in 1975 and had a lousy week in St P with the KGB following every step .Since then I have been more times than I can accurately count and as widely as I said in my previous post .
That is why it is irrelevant what you write , because I was there myself and my eye sight is faultless and I have always visited Russian people to mix with other Russians .I don't go as a tourist .

As for the Litvinenko case . Outside of the Metropolitan Police and a few others , I know the complete incident history in the greatest detail .
I can discuss this case for the next six months but I am not going to waste my time by talking too long to somebody as brain washed as you .
The FSB made one huge error , and to an extent they were unlucky .
All previous FSB and URPO assassinations had used Thallium or chemically very close substances . They are detectable from Gamma ray emissions .
Nobody in the world had ever detected an assassination using Polonium 210 before . The previously used spectral analyses simply do not reveal its presence unless tested for alpha radiation decay . Polonium 210 is an extremely rare and obscure substance and it has an amazing " finger print" visibility which enables a scientist not only to identify it without any possible shadow of doubt , but to also identify it by country of manufacture and even by batch number ( if your intelligence is tip top ) !!!!!!! All other detected poisons previously used by the FSB /URPO were detectable from Gamma decay traces .Hospitals were only set up to detect Gamma rays . The equipment to detect Alpha radiation was unavailable .
Frankly , nobody had any idea how Litvinenko was poisoned until close to his death .
One person was responsible for suggesting an alternative test route --- John Henry , a world renowned toxicologist who worked in St Mary's Hospital in London . He was the guy who diagnosed Yuschenko's poison in 2004 just from seeing pictures of him on TV. Details later confirmed in the Lab etc
Samples were sent in the L. case to Aldermaston , the Atomic Weapons Establishment .
The Game was now up .
Once you detect P210 , you have the exact equivalent of evidence that a man wearing permanently muddy shoes would provide .
The traces from Lugovoy , Kovtun and the so far unrevealed third man were visible from Moscow to London (return )on two separate occasions . So detailed , that it is known which plane seats they occupied , where they sat in restaurants , hotels and offices , who and where they visited etc etc .
The evidence is not circumstantial or theoretical .
It is clearly and utterly (*)(*)(*)(*)ing . There is not the slightest possibility of it being wrong . Which is why our Government will never let the case drop .

So Putin did turn out to be an idiot because he gave the order for assassination -- it is impossible for such action to go ahead without the President agreeing -- that is the whole point of Vertical Power .

Incidentally , I don't like your racist stance against Jews and Zionists . If I see you make such anti semitic remarks again , I will ask for your removal from this Forum .
You can hold whatever views you wish about Berezovsky but there is no need to preach anti semitism .It is despicable

 

Waooo, I hear threats and pressure about what I can say and what I can't! You feel weak and can't fight me openly. So, you want me to be removed, hah? As a free men, I can be anti-anything and can tell why. Ok? Remember that. We live in a free world.

You don't sound like the one who was in Russia recently, especially like you said that majority of people are starving and work for a piece of bread. It's nonesence.

You are the one who is brainwashed. I am a free person and I have a right to be against anything and anybody, not matter their sex, religion, sexual orientation, race, nationality. This is what I call freedom. Who defined these rules? You are not free. See? I proved you that you are brainwashed.

This is another prove that you are the one who is brainwashed. If I stand for my country and my people, that means that I am a fascist???! I don't want my country to be Zionist controlled and gradually robed and destroyed, then it means that I am antisemit? LOL! I am pretty much familiar with this Zionist propaganda - to suppress will of indigenous people to fight for their own country. Soon all Brits will cease to exist drowning in this massive immigration to UK and mixing. You don't call it a Genocide? Silent genocide of course. Don't attempt to pull us with you into an abyss using your ideas of "freedom and democracy"!

Regarding the "polonium case" we have to look who is benefiting from it. Who? Berezovskiy. Russia wants him and UK hosting this criminal. Again, bringing it from all over the Europe on a regular plane sounds too stupid for Russian special agents like this. They wanted it look like this, I agree.
According to this article, Berzovsky removed Litvinenko himself and he is involved in a murder to Politkovskay.

It's a machine translation.

You wrote a lot, but with a little seance. Quantity doesn't mean quality.

 

You are living in noddy land .Totally brain washed .
And when you bring in Anna as a target of Berezovsky , it just shows how little you really know of what went on , in what is presumably your own country .
Just look at the stances taken by the various parties against the war with Chechnya and then tell me again how you figure that it would even cross Boris' mind to want to see Anna executed .
Kadyrov gave the job to his cousin Adam Delimkhanov , as he does for so many acts of international terrorism .
Don't you know about anything that happens on your own doorstep ?

 

I noticed there was total silence on your part about Litvinenko
You will have to get an expert to help you out on that matter , because , to your horror , you have found that I know more about the case than anybody in Russia below the top ranks of State Security and Government --- and probably most of them also !!!
Even I was somewhat surprised to be given the news below , which was released within 24 hours of my Post here .
It seems that the British Government has decided to tighten the screws a little further , now that cracks are appearing in Gazprom HQ and that the Gang Master himself is being pressured by ordinary Russians , sick of the stench of corruption .
Notice how Cameron has delayed proceedings until after the March election so that he can review how the balances of power in Russia have shifted following fresh information on Putin's position !!

A coroner in London, who is leading the inquiry into the murder of a former Russian dissident Alexander Litvinenko, has published a statement on his intention to conduct a full and comprehensive investigation of all the circumstances of this murder with the assistance of witnesses and classified materials from Metropolitan Police.
Royal coroner Andrew Reid said that the continuation of the inquiry would start no later than April 2012 and that he would have at his disposal the materials from previous police investigation into Litvinenko's murder with polonium 210.

Witnesses will be police, experts, relatives and friends of Litvinenko, including a Russian exiled tycoon Berezovsky. Testimonies by video link from Moscow will be provided by Putin's nuclear terrorists, FSB officers Andrei Lugovoi and Dmitry Kovtun.

Close friend , Alex Goldfarb, will also be a witness at the inquiry, said:

"For us, and the widow Marina Litvinenko, this decision is important because there will be a trial, a public session that will consider two basic versions of the murder of Litvinenko. One of them is our version, according to which the murder was an act of terrorism by the Russian state with participation of Putin; the attack was carried out by Lugovoi and Kovtun.

And the second version - the version of the Russian side, which is pushed forward by Lugovoi, says that it was Berezovsky or British secret services, who masterminded the attack".

It is to be recalled that Marina Litvinenko, the widow of the murdered Russian dissident Alexander Litvinenko, gave an interview to Georgian Pik TV in connection with the fifth anniversary of his death on November 23, 2006 from poisoning by polonium 210,

The widow said:

"We all understand that such a rare poison as polonium could not be used without involvement of interested top government circles. That's all. This is the answer to all the questions".

For its part, the TV Channel said:

"Answer to all the questions are sought by the best brains in Scotland Yard. During the past five years, the investigation into the polonium murder never stopped. British detectives reconstructed in detail the events of the ill-fated day, and the prosecutor's office officially named the alleged killer back in 2007 - Russian parliament deputy Andrei Lugovoi.

It was not difficult. Radioactive traces have been found all over London: in the streets, in the hotel where the Russian lived, in the plane, which he took to come from Moscow to London.

One more piece of evidence points at the murder as an act of state terrorism. It was Russia - the world leader in the production of polonium.

Litvinenko's struggle with radiation sickness was watched by the whole world.

 

I already explained my view on Litvinenko-Beresovsky issue on my previous answer.

Answering your quesiton:

The answer is no. More likely it will prosper, like it did before under his "regime":

 

BTW, I see that UK newspapers are poring tons of dirt on him:

Vladimir Putin's world is falling apart

First of all, where is an indication that it's falling? And secondly, Putin is supported by majority of Russians, why they call it "Putin's world"?
Reading that you understand that UK is very fearful, that Russia is getting stronger. What is wrong to appoint friends or people who are standing for Russian people, so called "aggressive nationalists"?

But don't worry, Russia didn't reach the US state of the world control. Were do you see Russia deploying military bases around the worlds or conducting wars to change some unloyal governments?

 

Something more to add. I've never seen in "free, democratic" West the official powers, like Obama or Bush in US, would talk with people like Putin did, by taking the phone calls for 4.5 hours. Some questions were pretty unpleasant, like what does he thinks about being hissed off on a stadium, unfair elections, etc.

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C4ErHHWgoRI"]Ð(*)азговор с Ð’.Путиным.Прямая линия.Прямой эфир. 04.12.08.Part 1 - YouTube[/ame]
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NSKLD4rYpts"]Ð(*)азговор с Ð’.Путиным.Прямая линия.Прямой эфир. 04.12.08.Part 2 - YouTube[/ame]
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QSASJPhYyHE"]Ð(*)азговор с Ð’.Путиным.Прямая линия.Прямой эфир. 04.12.08.Part 3 - YouTube[/ame]

Did your "free, democratic" press ever showed it to you? You might try to search for translated version, but I doubt that it was ever translated...and even discussed.

 

You are unbelievable .
The whole thing has always been choreographed and rehearsed and was even more so this year .
The session has further ruined Putin by his comments and patronising way of talking to people .
All analysts agree that this PR stunt bombed badly for Putin this year .I think if you assume that I have all information that you get at my finger tips , you won't be far wrong .
Many times I get information that you never see and probably never will .


Here's a typical summary


“Come to Me, Bandar-logs”

Annual Call-In Telethon with Putin Yielded Few Concrete Answers


12/15/2011
With few doubting the outcome of the March presidential elections, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin today appeared on a four-and-a-half hour question and answer session on live television, where he fielded questions from a studio audience in Moscow along with satellite links from regions are far flung as the Caucasus and Vladivostok. The high-profile show this year offered some entertainment and even possible concessions on the premier’s part, but failed to convince experts that much of anything new can be expected over the next several years.
At noon today, Vladimir Putin walked into a Moscow television studio with a quick check of his tie, just as he has nine times before during the yearly “Conversation with Vladimir Putin,” which is broadcast live on state television around the country. Many wondered how the premier-cum-presidential candidate would respond to allegations of falsification in the December 4 Duma elections, personal slights such as the alleged booing at Olympic Stadium last month, and the tens of thousands of protestors who came to Bolotnaya Square last week.

When the question about protests came, Putin was ready, although he spoke haltingly: “I actually saw on the television screens people, young people in particular, active, with their own position, which is formed distinctly and clearly. This makes me happy. And if this is the result of the ‘Putin regime,’ then that is good.” People should continue to express themselves in all spheres, he said, as long as it is legal. And to “rip the ground from under those who wish to delegitimize the elections,” he suggested installing video cameras with online feeds in polling stations across the country.

In the past, the televised ritual has focused heavily on social questions such as pensions and housing, but Pavel Salin, of the Center for Political Assessments, noted that the rise of opposition politics in recent weeks has forced the Kremlin to change tracks. “Putin is no longer speaking with a politically passive public – politics are coming to life,” he said. “Yet for the time being, I didn’t see any huge changes in Putin’s rhetoric, nor any serious concessions.”

Yury Korgunyuk, from the INDEM think tank, agreed: “The issue [of protests] simply can’t be ignored,” he said. “When there were just 100 protestors, you could send in the OMON [riot police]. It’s over… yet they’ll continue to make aspersions that people were paid to be there, that they’re ineffectual, et cetera.”

The question of reinstating the election of governors has become a perennial one at the Q&A sessions, yet this year Putin showed he might be willing to make some slight changes here. Currently, governors are appointed and dismissed by the president, though most agree that Putin’s influence far exceeds that of President Dmitry Medvedev, who was mentioned only a handful of times during the discussion. The issue reflects Putin’s narrative for the country in the past decade: in 2000, there was a possible civil war brewing in the North Caucasus and criminals in every region, he noted. To protect the government against local gangsters seeking to fix elections or misuse the immunity given to them by government service, direct elections had to be removed, he continued.

Putin said he would be willing to establish a system whereby local governors were nominated by parties in local parliaments and then would be run through a “presidential filter.” “Might this lead to some more competition? A little, maybe, but Putin’s goal here is to maintain an extremely small circle of possible participants in the political process,” said Salin. “If there is a ‘presidential filter,’ then he will still be able to limit the number of people involved.”

Korgunyuk agreed, noting that during Putin’s next term, any concessions to the protesting public would be linked less to a possible change in Putin’s political worldview than to a possible weakening of his power. “These are the concessions of a weakening dictator,” said Korgunyuk.

The session touched on international politics, as well, with Putin employing hawkish rhetoric in response to Western criticism. In particular, he noted the United States’ tendency to act unilaterally and also claimed the United States electorate was tired of playing the role of “international gendarme.” Asked about U.S. Senator John McCain, who earlier tweeted: "Dear Vlad, The Arab Spring is coming to a neighborhood near you" during the post-election protests, Putin responded, “Mr. McCain fought in Vietnam – he has enough blood on his hands. It must be impossible for him to live without these disgusting scenes anymore,” continued Putin on the former POW.

Internet users kept up a satire-laden commentary during the event. Russian Twitter users drove several Cyrillic language hashtags into the worldwide trending list, including #Putin and (the more popular) #Botox, a nickname based on rumors that Putin had received cosmetic surgery. Responses to the speech were largely sarcastic: at one point Putin told those who didn’t recognize him as a leader, “Come to me, Bander-logs,” quoting Rudyard Kipling’s The Jungle Book. One Facebook user responded in Russian: “We heard you Kaa… but it seems you didn’t hear the people…”

 

raymondo, I don't find you comments neither interesting, nor challenging.
I am done with this, unless you will come up with something more interesting.
The only one conclusion I can draw from this that who is heavily brainwashed. It's you. You are contradicting yourself or you keep insisting on something, which doesn't have any ground or prove, starting from simply "Will Russia under Putin stagnate as in Brezhnev's terrible reign?".
I would recommend you to save your face by stopping this retard-like writing.

 

Martin
Like most FSB conditioned Russians , you run out of words when confronted with facts and figures .

 

raymondo, you, like the most UK Zionist-controlled journalists and politicians, never run out of bare-worded bulls*hit, which is poring due to a greed and a jealousy to a great success & progress of others countries.

 

Detroit USA has a differnt past than the rest of the USA. A long and depeted one. It was a boom town up to the 1960s and race riots, the Vietman war, and cultural clashes destroyed their culture, It was not untill Lee Iocoa of the 1970s when Detroit had peaked as the master of the world automotive industry. However, the mid 70s came the higher quality of the Japanese autos and their fuel efficient small cars that destroyed the reputation of the US auto industry at a time when there was a a fuel crisis. Since then Detroit with it's high crime, and unemployment, declined significantly to be the worst State in the USA. And it has been on the bottom pretty much every year sicne.

During the 1980s Detroit sunk further in economic poverty and crime. As a culture it has never recovered. And their economic problms persist. Durring the 1980s and 90s autos from Japan were built in the Southern states of the USA giving Detroit more competition and setting them back more economically. If you go to Detroit you will see empty massess of factories that were once auto manufacturing plants.

During the 1990s when USA was on a boom Detroit was still on the bottm and never realy experienced the economic boom. As they are the only state in the USA that has a declining population every year for the past 30+ years. With Nevada and Mississippi near the same high crime poverty and low economic growth category, for the past 3 years.

But they still build the military hardware like the M1 and other vehicles for the US military. And today in the 2000s the economic problems continue.

Detroit was, and will all ways be filled with poverty and crime, as that is part of it's culture and history for the past 50 years. And that is unlikely to change in the future.

Detroit is not an example of economic success, but a blue print for economic failure.

 

Clint ,
Team GB --- thanks to Margaret Thatcher ---was re-invented , when it was realised by our cultural elite ( Zionists in Marten's sad and mad world) that we neither had sufficient natural resources or had the productivity efficiencies to match other and emerging economies .
So we became a country still shooting way beyond our size and numbers , by majoring on service industries and working in niche and otherwise specialist markets .
Nobody has had the vision to see places like Detroit in these terms ( Marten will have some crack pot Zionist plot theory instead. But we need not bother about insane ramblings).
It's as simple as that .
Creativity , innovation and thinking outside of the box . Not American talents generally .
So get yourself some outside experts . Try the British -- the masters of being small but doing big things .