David Simon, creator of The Wire, speaks on culture, Baltimore city
"It's about the triumph of saying you've solved the problem when you haven't even addressed the problem," he said. "Any place that's experiencing the problem of 'two Americas' is watching The Wire."
He went on to offer a stark diagnosis of Baltimore - a city of crumbling row houses and a flourishing drug trade alongside pricey development projects and condos.
"You're going to have to go back the last 30 years and undo this disaster brick by brick," he said, calling the rapid deterioration of the city's poorest neighborhoods - and the devaluation of its middle class - a "slow motion holocaust that happens generation after generation after generation."
"The middle class that was really the backbone of the consumer class that made us great after World War II, that's what's under siege," he said.
He also offered a strong indictment of the drug trade - one of the central themes of his work - calling it "the worst subversion of our judicial system you could possibly have."
"Your chance of being the victim of violence in this city if you're white is no different than Omaha, Neb.," he said. "There are two Americas."
"There's no politician that has the courage to do what needs to be done to get rid of these draconian drug laws," he added.
Simon's speech was a drastic departure from the previous MSE speaker, Christopher Hitchens, who spent the majority of his speech berating religion.
Simon spent a significant amount of his speech answering audience questions about Baltimore, especially regarding Gov. Martin O'Malley, who was previously the mayor of Baltimore.
O'Malley will be the next speaker for MSE, followed by newly-added Howard Dean (D-Vt.) and actor Danny Glover.
It is a rarity for the symposium to be able to bring in acting politicians, as they tend to have conflicting schedules. O'Malley and Dean, as active politicians, will be speaking at no cost to the school.
He went on to offer a stark diagnosis of Baltimore - a city of crumbling row houses and a flourishing drug trade alongside pricey development projects and condos.
"You're going to have to go back the last 30 years and undo this disaster brick by brick," he said, calling the rapid deterioration of the city's poorest neighborhoods - and the devaluation of its middle class - a "slow motion holocaust that happens generation after generation after generation."
"The middle class that was really the backbone of the consumer class that made us great after World War II, that's what's under siege," he said.
He also offered a strong indictment of the drug trade - one of the central themes of his work - calling it "the worst subversion of our judicial system you could possibly have."
"Your chance of being the victim of violence in this city if you're white is no different than Omaha, Neb.," he said. "There are two Americas."
"There's no politician that has the courage to do what needs to be done to get rid of these draconian drug laws," he added.
Simon's speech was a drastic departure from the previous MSE speaker, Christopher Hitchens, who spent the majority of his speech berating religion.
Simon spent a significant amount of his speech answering audience questions about Baltimore, especially regarding Gov. Martin O'Malley, who was previously the mayor of Baltimore.
O'Malley will be the next speaker for MSE, followed by newly-added Howard Dean (D-Vt.) and actor Danny Glover.
It is a rarity for the symposium to be able to bring in acting politicians, as they tend to have conflicting schedules. O'Malley and Dean, as active politicians, will be speaking at no cost to the school.
Viewing Comments 1 - 2 of 2
Bob Andelman
posted 9/30/07 @ 1:22 PM EST
You might be interested in an audio interview with David Simon, in which he talks about Baltimore politics, "The Wire," and "Homicide" at the Mr. Media web site. (Continued…)
Hongkuan Li
posted 10/01/07 @ 3:34 PM EST
The surroundings of Johns Hopkins today is largely the same as that of Columbia University in NYC some 15 yrs ago.
Each city has its own story, but almost all failed cities are due to the failure in politics. (Continued…)
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