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Deja Moo (or, I've Heard This Bullshit Before)
Submitted by Michelle L on Wed, 2008-11-19 12:30.
I've decided that American industries need an intervention- you know, the kind they show on television wherein some poor, addicted sap is waylaid by their family members and told basically, "Shape up or ship out". In a move that should surprise no one, the Big Three Automakers have come begging for a bailout and are using their most potent weapon; dire threats of further economic collapse and job loss, as blackmail. The reason that this is the very essence of non-news is that not only has the government bailed out one of the industry thugs before, but anyone with two brain cells to rub together can figure out that a business model based on products with engineered obsolescence and manufactured in an environment of out-of-control pensions and locked-in union contracts is going to be at the mercy of market trends. It is no secret that the Big Three has long been behind the ball insofar as alternate fuel/high-mileage vehicles for quite some time; preferring to reap huge profits on the SUV/pickup market at the expense of redesigning for fuel efficiency. A perfect example is this past summer when gas prices shot up to the stratosphere and dealerships were scrambling to get rid of the land yachts that consumers were bypassing in favor of imports that made their gas dollars go a tiny bit further. And this wasn't the first time it happened; there simply has to be some members of the board in these companies that remembers the gas crisis of the 70s and what effect it had on large non-energy efficient automobiles. All of this reminds me of what is euphemistically referred to as a substance abuser (cause calling them junkies would hurt their self-esteem and all) and the universal fact that you never, ever give them money. No matter how pitiful they or their poor children are, you try and help them in ways that avoided handing them actual currency because everyone knew what the cash would be used for. Instead you brought them groceries or shampoo or whatever was needed and hoped they didn't find a way to barter it for their fix. Most of us have had at least some dealings with someone who are controlled by their addictions. They need the drugs,alcohol, or in this case, money and power and will speak and act in manipulative ways to get what they want when they want it and have zero compunction about finding manipulative ways to avoid the consequences of their actions. They will usually speak and act in pleasing ways to avoid conflict, but their goal is still to manipulate people into giving them what they want. Not unlike the junkie that steals money from their child's piggy bank to buy their drug of choice, these Big Three companies are stealing from the taxpayers and future taxpayers in order to sustain their abusive lifestyle and avoid the consequences of their actions. Another catchphrase in the field of substance abuse is enabling; which in this case would be all the politicians who take enormous contributions from the automotive industries and then pretend to be shocked that there might have been some teeny-tiny strings attached to the contributions. After all, their constituents would be out of work if the factories shut down and might look less than favorably on candidates that are no longer able to bring home the bacon...then OMG, there would be out-of-work politicians! So the politicians legislate in ways designed to overlook the flawed business models and kowtow to union officials while convincing their constituents that this is in their best interests. Makes calling in sick for your hungover spouse pale in comparison doesn't it? Ultimately, in these substance abuse programs both televised and otherwise, the abuser is given two choices: either clean up your act or eventually die. That's it, no wiggle room. Even the nicest, most compassionate mother/doctor/lover/employer will eventually tell them to hit the road- the gravy train has left the station. Because at some point everyone gets tired of being used, some take longer to get there than others; but (except for possibly masochistic personality disorder types) people want balance in their lives. And anyone who has dealt with abusers know that word gets around about an easy mark; hand out cash a few times and soon you'll have every crackhead in the neighborhood coming around looking for scratch. Which makes me wonder where this will all end- if taxpayers continue to bail out any and all industries that are having cash-flow problems, who might we see trying to stick their hand in our pockets? After all, both Wal-Mart and Target have come out with financial reports of lower quarterly earnings; how dreadful would it be if Americans were not able to buy cheap Chinese crap this holiday season? Just as various schools of thought consider substance abuse to be only a symptom of other underlying issues (depression, impulse control, etc.) which cause one to go from user to abuser; perhaps this financial panhandling is merely a manifestation of an underlying desire for ever more government control. And by removing the injection of taxpayer money to irresponsible companies, we avoid potential government takeovers of previously-free markets. What delicious irony that the same government that spawned the "Just Say No" program now finds itself unable to say "no"! Michelle L's bio:I am a 54 year old with a 9 year-old daughter... so obviously I'm bats**t crazy. I am also mother to a 27 year-old son and a 22 year-old daughter who have both forgotten more than I will ever know. I come from a time of rotary dial phones and black and white television who, inexplicably, has both a Twitter and a Facebook account. I am a lover of freedom who has little patience with politicians in general and especially those with wide stances and narrow minds. |
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Automaker Execs Arrive In Private Jets
In what can only be seen as rubbing salt in the wound:
Executives Arrive In Private Jets
It reminds me of seeing Hummers at the local food stamp office :)
Auto maker Bailout associated with the War in Iraq too
If they would just file chapter 11 that would be a perfectly acceptable bailout. It would help them get all of their ducks in a row and get their act together. Giving them money for screwing up is just throwing good money after bad. What makes anyone think the money will be put to proper use? Chapter 11 would force them to put it to proper use. I can't think of a better way to straighten it all out.
I thought it was funny that all these other ppl and industries started stepping up with their hand out. Instead of a hand out; give a hand up. Chap. 11 is a hand up.
The oil industry and subsequent marketers of products that use it need to get with the program and get real. The US auto industry is simply going to have to make some major adjustments. The big wigs need to get real with their own personal income, and the ppl that work for them need to get creative; learn to find other lifestyles, income, etc.... A job is not the only way to make money. Anyone who relies solely on one factory job 'til the bitter end to make their only source of income is sitting on a time bomb. Sooner or later anyone might not have a job the next day. Everyone knows not to put all of their eggs in one basket. Whether they do or not, is their choice. The factory workers can get government relief if they must, but the industry has been having red flags for years. For the last stragglers that havn't read the writing on the wall and kept their heads in the sand, well they need to get jiggy with it.
At the beginning of the 1900's, the farm industry was starting to falter as the manufacturing industry was starting to crank up. The ppl that didn't get some kind of income to supplement their farming and read the writing on the wall suffered from their own refusal to learn to move with the times. The farming industry is crucial of course, but we moved from that to manufacturing. Manufacturing has been loosing ground for many years, and the service industry, entreprenuer and communication age is now cutting edge.
Faith Popcorn is a famous predicter of market and industry trends. She has consistently been right for many years. Many years ago she predicted amoungst other things that more and more ppl will be working and shopping from home (oil industry is affected, and environment is assisted).
She also said ppl will be buying and doing more things from their friends, network marketing for example. I know network mrkting has it's issues, but it can be an additional income stream to many.
Robert Kiasawki wrote- Rich Dad, Poor Dad. He said the key to wealth is multiple streams of income or not putting all of your eggs in one basket. This is another trend.
The auto industry at large needs an over haul like nothing else before, but not at the expense of American taxpayers. It was bad enough when we were forced to give those 50 bank execs $5oomil. a piece. Now that is just ridiculous. No wonder other countries think we are Morons sometimes. Approx. 250 yrs or so ago Thomas Jefferson wrote that we better not let the banks run our money system or this will create a false aristocracy and leave the American ppl homeless. He was so right.
I believe in the power of prayer, concentration on solving specific problems with prayer, and asking for all things only if it is for the greatest good of the whole. If it is for the good of the whole, when you ask, you shall receive. If is is not, you won't receive, but I'm certain that you will be shown another and probably a better way. That's what the auto factory workers should do, if they aren't already, and be hedging their bets by integrating many various forms of incomes large and small and hedging their bets. I believe any family should have a minimum of at least 4 different viable incomes. This is an entrepreneurial mindset and easy enough to adopt. For those that insist that it isn't are just being stubborn and refusing to read the writing on the wall and get jiggy w/ it. As taxpayers, that is not our fault. Let them claim bankrupcty chap 7, 13 or whatever if they must and even get on welfare for awhile 'til they get things straightened out, but lets not throw money into the obvious giant black hole of the auto industry.
One of the ways to wage a war is to simply keep attacking a country, like a pack of hyenas, while it keeps throwing money at it and drains their resources. A good example of this concept is illustrated in the movie Charlie Wilson's war based on a true story with Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts.
The USA is on the verge of this and we need to nip the bud of letting hyenas drain us. That means industries like a foolish self centered head in the sand for too long Auto industry too. As far as the war goes, watch Charlie Wilson's War movie or go to IMDB and read all about it. I believe scaling down, becoming more covert, simplifying and policing and guarding the situation is warranted at this juncture. As a country we can become much smarter about these things.
I believe love is by far the most powerful thing in the universe. First we have to each and every one of us learn to love, first ourself and be in harmony with our self and our environment. Next we can and must love everything else. We must learn to love EVERYTHING, for everything comes from the same source- spirit, and it is for teaching us to be happier. Running from bad to get good is a viscious cycle. It get's one nowhere but frustrated. Remaining calm and looking for the good in everything is easy and works. One moment of anger can wipe out massive amounts of patient loving acts and goodwill. Every single being in our world needs to lay anger down. It is a despicable thing and only makes things worse. That doesn't mean ppl shouldn't speak out for whatever change they want. They should just leave anger out of it. Passion is okay, anger is not. Try living without it and watch how beautiful your world can become. Our world. No one wins the game until we all do. Let's all live that way and remember that. We're all in the same boat after all.
Thanks for reading...
Cynthia Etcheverry
www.funbycynthia.com/blog
> http://groups.google.co.uk/group/holistic-quantum-relativity-hqr?hl=en
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