{"id":879,"date":"2014-11-05T00:00:13","date_gmt":"2014-11-05T00:00:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/mission-and-identity\/?p=879"},"modified":"2019-09-18T16:50:04","modified_gmt":"2019-09-18T20:50:04","slug":"nov-5-elections-a-bankruptcy-exit-plan-detroit-rebirth-and-the-history-of-technology","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/2014\/11\/05\/nov-5-elections-a-bankruptcy-exit-plan-detroit-rebirth-and-the-history-of-technology\/","title":{"rendered":"Nov 5 – Elections, a bankruptcy exit plan, Detroit rebirth and the history of technology"},"content":{"rendered":"

Wednesday November 5 – \u00a0Scholars rarely sin by commission, by deliberate cheating the evidence<\/p>\n

Lots going on these days in Motown. \u00a0 For the country, mid-term elections playing out as the half-century \u00a0after Cold War’s simplicities is only half over; a country roiled and contentious about changes that defy simple answers. \u00a0For the city \u2014 and my university in it \u2014 what looks to be the conclusion of a most improbable Detroit bankruptcy exit plan fresh with innovation and hope in the teeth of a half century of wounds inflicted by technological changes with its array of innovators, profit takers, an sometimes ruthless banging on the bottom 80%.<\/p>\n

For me these days bring a lifetime of history-of-technology soul friends \u2014 some age peers, some way younger \u2014 \u00a0gathering for this year\u2019s Annual Meeting of The Society for the History of Technology. \u00a0That begins tomorrow. \u00a0I\u2019ve offered a 6 hour drive-around tour \u00a0which we are calling \u201cDetroit Ruins Clich\u00e9s and Detroit Rebirth.\u201d <\/b>\u00a0 I\u2019ve promised places in bad trouble, where some of the city\u2019s c. 75,000 decayed buildings are, and places of rebirth. \u00a0We will pick up lunch at the Russell Street Deli in Eastern Market and eat it on Belle Isle. \u00a0Things like that.<\/p>\n

Then we have\u00a0Friday afternoon\u2019s public announcement of Judge Stephen Rhode\u2019s verdict on Detroit\u2019s exit plan. \u00a0That looks more important for the US in the long haul than this morning\u2019s US election results. \u00a0One hears tales of other cities under water with pension debts \u2014 Chicago, Philadelphia, the State of California . . . . \u00a0“How did Detroit pull this off?” \u00a0 \u00a0If you haven\u2019t seen Columnist Dan Howes Oct 17 one-page read on what\u2019s happened here, you maybe should, to help understand the significance of Judge Rhodes announcement this Friday.<\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.detroitnews.com\/story\/business\/columnists\/daniel-howes\/2014\/10\/17\/tough-detroit-creditor-turns-downtown-investor-speed-end-bankruptcy\/17394713\/<\/a><\/p>\n

Finally, for us historians of technology, \u00a0this is also the first annual meeting ever when Tom Hughes \u2014 mentor to me and many of us \u2014 no longer walks the earth.<\/p>\n

Too much to encompass here. \u00a0 I will just celebrate the beauty of what scholars do when they ask demanding questions of the human condition, the beauty of thousands of women and men who have imagined and negotiated Detroit\u2019s shocking, creative plan for rebirth, \u00a0the beauty of students on campus facing the challenges that their teachers, beautiful too, \u00a0place in front of them; \u00a0the beauty of Tom Hughes who did that for me.<\/p>\n

Have a good day. \u00a0Supposed to be rainy during my 6 hour tour tomorrow so I\u2019m making the best of the sunshine now.<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s Post\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

“When you listen to someone and it is evident that your listening is helping them at a deep level;
\nyou have an immediately satisfying experience. It is a good thing you do when you listen to one person. However,
\nscholarship is not like that;
\nyou work a long time not knowing whether what you are working on will be any good or very important, not until long after.<\/p>\n

***************<\/p>\n

Historians do not ordinarily sin by commission,
\nby using fraudulent evidence or shoddy arguments.
\nMostly historians sin by omission,
\nby the questions they do not explore and the evidence they do not look for.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tom Hughes<\/strong>
\nto me as a graduate student, c. 1976,
\narguing that I might choose to invest myself in the history of technology as a profession<\/p>\n

\"Tom-Hughes\"<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Wednesday November 5 – \u00a0Scholars rarely sin by commission, by deliberate cheating the evidence Lots going on these days in Motown. \u00a0 For the country, mid-term elections playing out as the half-century \u00a0after Cold War’s simplicities is only half over; … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":139,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[11641],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/879"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/139"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=879"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/879\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":881,"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/879\/revisions\/881"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=879"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=879"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=879"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}