"Forward!" to Decline

Wisconsin is a dying state. This may sound severe, but let us explore briefly some of the evidence. First is population. The number of births in this state does not really keep track with what we need for population growth to hold onto any political representation at the national level. In terms of young and middling aged folks, the numbers moving in and out tend to be a draw. You could call this stability rather than stagnation, were this not for the fact that the only increasing part of our population is the retired and elderly. More people on fixed incomes, fewer children to educate, a declining and less diverse economic base all follow from this reality.

A less diverse economy stems from the resistance to change embedded in the local culture. Former governor Thompson attempted to address this reality in his last year before moving on to a presidential cabinet position. He called for a major investment in biomedical and genetic research along with applications of these for clinical treatment. He suggested that Wisconsin needed to change its image if we wanted to attract more investment. Popular response was swift and negative. If people do not like who we are, went the refrain, then that is too bad for them.

This attitude contributes to our current dilemma. With emphasis on factory work and family farming in an age of service sector growth and corporate farms, what hope is there for young people of talent, intelligence, or ambition? Our largest export continues to be our children. We lost our global advantage in stem cell research in the 1990s. There has been no effort to regain it. With all due respect, artisan cheese is no substitute for medical or scientific innovation. All told, our state ranks low for entrepreneurial investment and job creation. And in large measure, it is our own fault.

While the Democrats under Doyle managed to keep us in a holding pattern, the current Tea Party policy of retreat and retrenchment has proven a huge failure, only accelerating our decline. Withdrawing tax dollars from circulation has not created jobs. It has reduced money in circulation and the well-known ripple effect (known formally as the multiplier effect) means fewer dollars to demand goods and services from the private sector. Wages and demand continue to shrink.

We are left with a colonial economy where our raw materials, natural resources, and labor provide ready use for folks with cash in hand. These large investors do not reinvest in the state, but take their profits with them. They do not help with education, medical, or social needs of the populace. They do not care about any impacts on the water or air needed for those left behind. Wisconsin is a market for finished goods, simply another resource for exploitation to enhance the wealth of others.

Declining numbers among the young residents here, the stagnation in market values for homes compared to national trends, the increase of the elderly, the refusal to innovate or alter our basic economy all suggest that Wisconsin is a nice place to retire, die, or vacation. Take your pick.

--Lincoln Log