Tuesday, January 24, 2006
The Creeping Advance of Socialism
My friend "S" and I had this recent exchange of e-mail regarding the announcement that Ford Motor Company was going to close many plants and lay off many employees.
S wrote: Rather then always bashing Bush and his corrupt party, let’s explore something else.
I own two Ford products. One is a 1998 F-150 pick up truck with 4wd. Its odometer is about to turn 100k miles. The second is a 2003 Lincoln Towncar with 45k miles. There was a time that I would not own a Ford and loved GM products. Today, Ford builds a better product and maintains a better inventory of spare parts then GM. The spare parts are not always made by Ford.
Ford has lost market share for the past ten years. Furthermore, they have restructured themselves twice in the past four years. Each restructure has cut thousands of jobs and project 30,000 this year.
A Conservative might say it is the result of union benefits. My opinion is old Henry must be rolling over in his grave. The man did not like "bean counters." He wanted a better and cheaper product for his customers. He was willing to pay more to his workers to obtain these goals. Now the company that did just that, is about to go under by violating his principles.
The part that kills me is to see educated men think in a box. Our own company would think that cutting employees would make profits soar. If they did not, then do it again. I understand that Ford's production capacity is around 70% and foreign competition production capacity in this country is near 100%. How can these educated men lie to themselves and pump up their hubris attitude?
The latest Economist magazine mentions the change over of the Greenspan economy at the end of this month. There are a number of concerns. In fact the magazine's front page shows Alan running track and handing off a lit stick of dynamite for a baton. None of the potential problems mentioned are even being considered by our politicians. Why should they? Our president does not understand them. So why should the nth descendent of Henry Ford understand?
S wrote again: The town of Hapeville, GA. was on tonight's news. A Ford plant was built there at the end of WWII. The plant is going to close. Hapeville is the high school where I attended. I remember the trains bringing in car loads of chassis frames for the plant which could turn out cars by the minute.
Since you are from Michigan, I am certain there are other Ford plants there scheduled for closure.
I remember that a number of classmates who did not go to college hoping to get jobs at the plant. Since the town was next to the Atlanta airport, the airline jobs also were popular for the locals.
Our own company is now a mere skeleton of it's past. I remember thinking how obvious it was that the management had closure on their mind two years before retirement.
I am glad that I am not one of the baby boomers hoping to retire in the next ten years.
I wrote: In a way the promised downsizing of Ford and GM is good news, if you believe, as I do, that things have to get really, really bad before the public gets off its collective ass and rises up and demands that something be done. We've got to make retirement pensions something that everyone can have and that are portable from one company to another and are administered by a single non-profit organization, paid for by a fee or "tax" levied on all employers, great and small, with augmentation by the federal government. Repubs will scream "creeping socialism," which it is, in fact. However, "creeping" socialism is the best kind of socialism, the kind that I favor.
S wrote again: As our population grows, land becomes scarce and people must share, socialism must creep into our lives. Even the most rancid conservative must eventually accept it.
I bet William Clay Ford will not give up his salary for five years to turn around his company. I bet his great grandfather left enough money in trust to support the family for five years. It would not surprise me a bit that Bill gave himself a raise. Henry Sr. must be having problems. Like our president George, great grandson thinks he knows best. After all he never worried where the next meal is coming from and if his kids or family will get proper health care.
What scares me is how socialistic I am becoming as I get older.
S wrote: Rather then always bashing Bush and his corrupt party, let’s explore something else.
I own two Ford products. One is a 1998 F-150 pick up truck with 4wd. Its odometer is about to turn 100k miles. The second is a 2003 Lincoln Towncar with 45k miles. There was a time that I would not own a Ford and loved GM products. Today, Ford builds a better product and maintains a better inventory of spare parts then GM. The spare parts are not always made by Ford.
Ford has lost market share for the past ten years. Furthermore, they have restructured themselves twice in the past four years. Each restructure has cut thousands of jobs and project 30,000 this year.
A Conservative might say it is the result of union benefits. My opinion is old Henry must be rolling over in his grave. The man did not like "bean counters." He wanted a better and cheaper product for his customers. He was willing to pay more to his workers to obtain these goals. Now the company that did just that, is about to go under by violating his principles.
The part that kills me is to see educated men think in a box. Our own company would think that cutting employees would make profits soar. If they did not, then do it again. I understand that Ford's production capacity is around 70% and foreign competition production capacity in this country is near 100%. How can these educated men lie to themselves and pump up their hubris attitude?
The latest Economist magazine mentions the change over of the Greenspan economy at the end of this month. There are a number of concerns. In fact the magazine's front page shows Alan running track and handing off a lit stick of dynamite for a baton. None of the potential problems mentioned are even being considered by our politicians. Why should they? Our president does not understand them. So why should the nth descendent of Henry Ford understand?
S wrote again: The town of Hapeville, GA. was on tonight's news. A Ford plant was built there at the end of WWII. The plant is going to close. Hapeville is the high school where I attended. I remember the trains bringing in car loads of chassis frames for the plant which could turn out cars by the minute.
Since you are from Michigan, I am certain there are other Ford plants there scheduled for closure.
I remember that a number of classmates who did not go to college hoping to get jobs at the plant. Since the town was next to the Atlanta airport, the airline jobs also were popular for the locals.
Our own company is now a mere skeleton of it's past. I remember thinking how obvious it was that the management had closure on their mind two years before retirement.
I am glad that I am not one of the baby boomers hoping to retire in the next ten years.
I wrote: In a way the promised downsizing of Ford and GM is good news, if you believe, as I do, that things have to get really, really bad before the public gets off its collective ass and rises up and demands that something be done. We've got to make retirement pensions something that everyone can have and that are portable from one company to another and are administered by a single non-profit organization, paid for by a fee or "tax" levied on all employers, great and small, with augmentation by the federal government. Repubs will scream "creeping socialism," which it is, in fact. However, "creeping" socialism is the best kind of socialism, the kind that I favor.
S wrote again: As our population grows, land becomes scarce and people must share, socialism must creep into our lives. Even the most rancid conservative must eventually accept it.
I bet William Clay Ford will not give up his salary for five years to turn around his company. I bet his great grandfather left enough money in trust to support the family for five years. It would not surprise me a bit that Bill gave himself a raise. Henry Sr. must be having problems. Like our president George, great grandson thinks he knows best. After all he never worried where the next meal is coming from and if his kids or family will get proper health care.
What scares me is how socialistic I am becoming as I get older.
