Its absurd to make it out like Michigan is all assembly line workers & trees.
Everyone in the state got pretty well screwed by the Auto industry problems, whether they were involved or not. That's not anything new. I would hardly call it shocking or surprising that the people in this state are screwed for a long time because of how things shook out. There are a lot of people here that are pissed off about it too.
Pretty much everyone I know had to leave the state, against their will, to find a job. They are not the dumb & illiterate, but the people that went to a good university & got good grades in a useful college major. That's pretty bad when you do everything you are supposed to do and still get screwed. Its not as if they really wanted to leave.
I live in Metro Detroit (Birmingham to be exact) and have traveled all over the US. I can't think of any other areas where I can have my pick of lakes to live on - Orchard Lake, Cass Lake, Upper & Lower Straights, Lake Fenton, etc. etc. and still be able to commute into a major city with less than a 45 minute drive. Based on this, I can think of many worse places to live.
Eric