By: Allen Wells
For over 70 years the UAW has held the major U.S. automakers hostage to their collective bargaining in the name of fairness and workers rights while slowly and inexorably whittling away at the U.S. automakers dominance in the world market. This arrogance is indicative of the attitudes of the now defunct Industrial Age. It yet remains to be seen if “the BIG THREE” will survive or if they will become victims in the scrapheap of history like their predecessors Packard and most recently Oldsmobile.
The fact of the matter is Ford, GM and Chrysler do not need half the workers they currently employ. The technology available today can virtually build an automobile “untouched by human hands.” We have 30,000 – 60,000 future unemployed automobile factory workers “almost unemployed”, simply because they should be unemployed. The sad part is we have a choice – lose the workers or lose the automakers. Hard choices, hard world.
Peter Drucker aptly named the new millennium the “Information Age”. This is the age of freedom, of personhood… how do you attach collective bargaining rights to information? This “new” age is an earth shattering blow to the “status quo”. Those still caught (trapped) in the old Industrial Age jobs and work force are as doomed as the dinosaurs were in a different age. Should we feel sorry for these “left behind” workers? I say we should not feel sorry, certainly we should feel empathy for anyone out of work or in a dead end job, but not sorry. So goes the economy.
In the information age we all have opportunities… more than ever. There is more money, more opportunity and more ability to succeed than ever before. We are now entering the age of the true world economy. Digital masterpieces are on every corner. Will America continue to lament the loss of Industrial Age jobs, or move into the new millennium with force and purpose?
These are questions that must be answered, thoughts that must be considered and paths that must be traveled. The average American must understand, the Industrial Age is over. This is an age of bytes and chips. The old rules do not work in the new society.
No matter what company or organization the Federal Government bails out… the end of the error is near…
It's true that there are digital masterpieces everywhere. However, whether anyone is willing to purchase these digital masterpieces is a different story.
ReplyDeleteThe new world economy is one based on "what the government will do for me" and "what can i download for free." Instructions on how to perform every service imaginable, from taxes to remodeling, is available for free online. The recording industry is long gone, with movies facing their ultimate demise as well. Creativity in the information age means wide exposure for all new artists, with little or no compensation.
The automakers will creep along and survive by being bailed out. But make no mistake, this is nothing new. Amtrak has been bailed out for decades, with taxpayers subsidizing their annual loses without blinking. The same goes for American farmers, and on and on. It is clear that America has never actually had true capitalism. What a shame.
Yes times have changed indeed. The good ol' days can for once truly be spoken about with cruel honesty, for what we had in the past, even when ugly, was truly beautiful compared to what is happening and what is soon to come. An America bombarded by populism, where consumers sue small businesses into oblivion. Where those with dreams wither and die for fear of actually pursuing their passions. Government regulations will strangle the very freedom we supposedly hold so dear.
Everything that is happening is what the American people wanted. I am not angry at Obama, as he was very straightforward about who he was. He believes in altruism. He believes in Robin Hood. He believes in income redistribution. Problem is…Where in the past Americans with low to average earnings didn't scorn the well to do and understood that they created jobs, the same people now want all rich people to be brought to their knees. Instead of the guillotine, the capitalists will find themselves outnumbered and boxed in from the social bureaucratic system.
Today it's the assault weapons ban. Tomorrow it's your ability to own property. It's a slippery slope when the Government weaves its tentacles into our world. The ugliest segments of our country shall rise in a complete revolt against ingenuity.
This is what we face under the Presidency of Obama, the malicious Democrats and the incompetent Republicans. The only question is, when will the end come? Will the lights simply dim?
Or…Is there a leader? Someone to lead us into terra incognita? If so, show yourself, destroy our fears and release your mask.
By WhoIsJohnGalt2009?
Obama announced the end of the US occupation from Iraq by August 2010, leaving a 50,000 residual force. First of all, 50,000 is still a lot. Secondly...do we not even get any oil out of this? What a ridiculous war. Bush started it, you would think the next President would at least secure us oil rights. Pathetic indeed.
ReplyDeleteIt's not about oil... it's about helping our fellow man. We have committed the funds and resources to Iraq so this can be the Middle East' first democracy. I mean, isn't this what President Bush told us?
ReplyDeleteFunny. The Middle East has been fighting for thousands of years, and will continue fighting for thousands of years. The State of Israel is just scapegoat. If Israel didn't exist, the different factions would fight over other things, such as Sunni's and Shiite's fighting over their own territories. There will never be peace in that region of the world. If Bush truly believed democracy would be spread, then he really is a moron. We can't even bring peace to certain neighborhoods in the US.
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