Posted on 11/26/2005 11:28:15 PM PST by flixxx
Once Upon a Time in America Why GM and the UAW's postwar economic vision failed.
BY MICHAEL BARONE Sunday, November 27, 2005 12:01 a.m.
The end, or the beginning of the end, of a familiar and comfortable world: That's how General Motors' announcement last week of massive layoffs and plant closings, following the bankruptcy of Delphi last month, strikes one who grew up in the Detroit area in the two decades immediately after World War II. In that world, it was easy to imagine you were at the center of the economy. Detroit was then the fifth-largest metropolitan area, the home of the Big Three auto companies and the United Auto Workers--national institutions of the greatest importance.
(Excerpt) Read more at opinionjournal.com ...
Concur
They have all their lives invested in the Big Labor myths.
"I had the most ridiculous conversations this weekend with older people with no clue about economics.
To me, it is typically the boomers and those a bit older that are absolutely clueless about why things are happening and that it is not all doom and gloom."
"Concur
They have all their lives invested in the Big Labor myths."
Yep, us oldtimers aren't very sharp when it comes to economics...if we were we wouldn't be selling our houses for such inflated prices to the generation that is about to start paying us our Social Security.
Who needs a house when you can give up your freedom to become a resident in a nursing home ?
You will be served by a younger person who knows how your generation burdened them.
We live like a nation of kings, we can get practically any product or service we desire with a couple of clicks on our keyboards. The stores are loaded with every conceivable type of food, there are restaurants that will cook in every style known to man. We can leave out the door and be in any city is this country in a matter of hours. We are so well off that it is actually difficult to describe.
I can clearly remember growing up in the 1960s and while I never considered myself poor, my kids think I'm making it up when I tell them I never went to a sit-down restaurant until I was 16 years old and played outside all day because there was absolutely nothing to do in the house during the daytime. Even the one black-and-white TV we had only showed soap operas and game shows until about 4PM when the cartoons would finally start showing up on UHF stations.
It takes more than sales skills to sell a Malibu that is worth $3000 less than a Kia Optima, but is priced at $3000 more.
A recent car-buying expedition left me appalled...and fully appreciative of why Detroit is in trouble.
Given the following choices...
1. A new Kia Optima for $15K
2. A year-old Ford Taurus with 25K miles at the same price
3. Or a new Chevy Malibu for $18K
...guess what I bought.
BTTT
How many more Xerox repairmen does this nation need? I noticed that you emphasized the word "prompt" when you listed the attributes your children need to succeed. I have extensive experience with customers who want prompt service, and it is impossible to keep them all satisfied because there are often times when two or more require prompt service simultaneously. I think the repairman's life isn't quite the bed of roses you describe.
"To me, it is typically the boomers and those a bit older that are absolutely clueless about why things are happening and that it is not all doom and gloom."
"Concur..."
"Who needs a house when you can give up your freedom to become a resident in a nursing home ?
You will be served by a younger person who knows how your generation burdened them."
It seems to me that you hadn't thought things through when you wrote "concur". Do you expect a vastly different end?
This is a no-brainer in a capitalist society.
He who pays the bonus gets the service first.
I've charged upwards of $300 an hour for immediate, off-hour network security service. If it's important enough to call me at 2 AM, it should be important enough to pay triple-time.
Two customers that both want service at the same time? Which one brings you more revenue?
Enjoy it while you can. My business is suffering from too much competition, if I can't get there right away, someone else will...and for less money. There's your no brainer.
Well, there's service and there's service.
To be a competent network security guy you need to be an expert in a dozen different network fields. Not okay, not middlin'. An expert. That takes about 10 years of experience. School larnin' won't get it.
If someone price shops me, they aren't going to get the same kind of service. They'll get hosed. And then they'll come back.
It's happened before. They come back because I provide a level of service that can't be bought for less.
"We live like a nation of kings, we can get practically any product or service we desire with a couple of clicks on our keyboards. The stores are loaded with every conceivable type of food, there are restaurants that will cook in every style known to man. We can leave out the door and be in any city is this country in a matter of hours. We are so well off that it is actually difficult to describe."
Your castle is kept running by an army of workers, your highness, and they aren't all as well off as you seem to think. And as for being in any city in a matter of hours, that is probably true, providing that one doesn't live more than ten miles out of town. Your view reminds me of the French queen who said:"Let them eat cake!"
Of course, the issues that plague GM are just a microcosm of the same issues that plague the U.S.
The level of service provided on the Titanic was also without peer, I've heard.
"Of course, the issues that plague GM are just a microcosm of the same issues that plague the U.S."
Too true, and yet some of us applaud GM's downfall. The marriage between GM and the UAW was arranged by Big Daddy Government, and lest any of us gloat, that same government bestows its favors and takes them away as politicians see fit, all of us are subject to its whims.
And yet, Nader has never been taken to task for the lies he put forth in his book, "Unsafe at Any Speed".
Its not all people, just way too many that buy into the utter nonsense that has been crammed down peoples' throats for too long.
To har people complain about gas prices while buying Starbucks is a joke!
There is more opportunity than ever in history. However, lazy bums who want a "safe" job are going to be left behind. Those that have initiative will get ahead, those who want a "job" will not.
I blame a large part of the problem on our education system. It refuses to teach kids about individual thought and initiative. I know many many plumbers and blue collar people who make a mint because they had the initiative to go into business for themselves while many college educated people are lazy bums waiting "for a job" that they think they are entitled to.
The unions should all be busted because they retard initiative and hard work. They reward laziness and drive the cost of things to ridiculous prices. Imagine how much a corvette would cost without the labor union premium on the price of the car? How many porsches do you think would be sold if the price of a new vette were say 35K versus 50K????
Yeah, and more people can afford cruises than ever before and quality of the ship unheard of.
Some people just cant see that things are not all bad.
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