Once Upon a Time in America: Why GM and the UAW's postwar economic vision failed

How do you define: "standard of living"?>>>>>>>>

"Very good question, judging by some of the replies you received, a lot of Freepers judge it by how many cheap color TVs they can afford so that they can sit on the couch and watch reruns of junk while growing ever fatter. I have some other ideas about standard of living and I don't see it improving, I see it as declining for most Americans."

So do I. I think that government regulation of our lives is constantly increasing with the resultant lowering of our "standard of living". All branches of government are financially stressed to pay for the armies of regulators and their enforcers. I live in an area that has state police, county police, town police, and village police, plus federal and local park police, county sheriffs, state and local environmental enforcement police, fire marshalls, state and county truck inspectors, and possibly others that I'm not even aware of. (until I do, or fail to do, something that they are tasked with regulating)

I received a flyer from a local legislator inviting me to suggest a law and he would try to get it passed if it had merit. I replied that he and his fellow legislators should stop passing laws because the end result will be that all of us citizens will eventually be made criminals by the multitude of complex regulations they are engendering. The legislator replied to me with another form letter thanking me for my suggestion and vowing to try to get it enacted.

"Some people just cant see that things are not all bad."

Yes, but some can't see that there are two sides to every coin.

You applaud initiative, and rightly so, but there have been many folks whose initiative and hard work was rewarded with failure.

I'm well aware that unions have been guilty of many sins, but so has management. Folks who can't see one or the other side of that problem, and refuse to have compassion for their fellows, be they workers or bosses, are blind or hard hearted, or both.

Working hard and working smart are two very very different things.

I have friends who started businesses with little or no realistic thinking. They worked their butts off but failed for a variety of reasons. They did not realize the overhead costs, potential income revenue or lack thereof, etc etc.

I believe that most people are conditioned to be lazy by the government and by big corporations. Cushy corporate jobs and gov't welfare jobs are one in the same. They reward laziness and not rocking the boat.

The unions in Detroit should be busted 100%. They are a relic of the past with no relevance. The big-wigs at GM are no different that politicians who are spending like drunken sailors.

Your view reminds me of the French queen who said:"Let them eat cake!"

I guess it all depends on your point of view.

I grew up with very little, worked my way up the ladder. I am not rich, but I have a lot more than what I started with so I feel blessed for having had the opportunities.

I imagine people that started with a lot and have not progressed much, or have gone down some feel victimized.

I'll agree with that -- when I have to leave for Europe in four days for a week's coverage of the 24 Hours of Le Mans and I need my computer fixed to take along with me, I'm quite willing to pay the piper and be grateful.

There's an old joke about a plumber who came in and twisted a handle and charged $100, and the housewife who complained, "You only took a minute to fix that and you charge that much? Give me an itemized bill!"

And the plumber wrote, "Twisting handle $5. Knowing which handle to twist, $95."

P.S. As to how many xerox repairmen are needed, I would say from my own experience (we have eleven floors with 4 xerox machines to a floor) that the answer is "ABOUT THREE TIMES AS MANY AS WE HAVE NOW."

We'll know in three years if the Kia was the right choice. I spent a long time in the truck leasing business, and learned first hand about the concept of "Total Cost of Ownership". There's the initial purchase price, cost of money, cost of maintenance (both the out of pocket for items not covered by warranty AND the cost of downtime when a free repair has to be dropped off, etc.), and the value at disposal.

Good luck with your purchase.

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