US average workers are not the problem, although many of them are protected by the unions, but the upper management in US is. They are making silly money. Those CEOs with losing terms cashing in millions of dollars of bonuses are the difference makers. As for bluecollar workers, yes, they make much more than those in China and India, but they make less than their counterparts in Germany or Japan. But those management, comparing to their counterparts in Germany and Japan, they make a lot lot more. You see Japanese automakers build planets in US and Canada, wages of average workers and unions are not problems for them, but those management, who really think they are elite business people are. Outsourcing is hurting direct outcomes for some workers, but that's not the only problem. Outsource is not really that profitable right now. I've heard a lot in IT industries, especially in those big name corporations, the quality of outsource work were really dismal and it's not as cost-saving as the rosy pictures shows in the beginning.
When I think of protectionists, I usually think of people like Pat Buchanan and pork barrel politicians who use subsidies and tariffs to influence his voting base. I believe similarly as what you wrote, but in order to retain higher quality services, IMO we'd need to improve the education infrastructure (easier and cheaper access for a second degree) and possibly introduce a national health care plan to reduce the burden of entitlements on prospective corporations.
It really all boils down to greed. The unions started out as a benefit for the lower class workers who were being taken advantage of in the early 1900's by the so-called robber barons. Then they rose to so much power they became corrupt and over inflated the wages of the workers they were put in place to protect. The CEO's of the auto manufacturers are charged with making as much profit for their respective company as they can. Once the free trades acts were passed under Clinton there was a loud sucking sound from the jobs being sent overseas by the auto makers. Ironically enough as the American auto makers sent their manufacturing overseas the Japanese auto makers were beginning to build plants here in the US due to the high cost of shipping the pre-built cars overseas and the import tax assessed by the government. I could go on but you guys get the point I'm sure. Its an interesting thing though.......people tend to kick and scream when you take something away from them but when the dust settles they tend to adjust and turn out ok. There is a certain amount of greed on the workers too since they have evolved into a certain standard of living. Taxes go up, cost of living goes up, so naturually the wages must go up too. Bottom line is the market will adjust itself eventually....not sure what this has to do with a national health care system? Which by the way would be an awful idea for everyone. Don't be fooled by the carrot being dangled in front of you. You will pay for it one way or another and give up your choices in the process. Not to mention the quality will go down dramatically in the process.
Yes, it must be greed that makes workers attempt to maintain the standard of living that their Great Depression era parents worked their collective butts off to give them. They want to remain middle class, or they aspire to be middle class. And that's greed? Oh, brother. Keep D&D Civil.
Actually, now they are tending to shift their operations towards Canada - Alabama has lost out on a number of new Toyota operations to British Columbia, with Toyota citing the better educated workforce in BC- The legacy of Alabama's sh-tty schools coming home to roost
Sadly they don't even realize what their working conditions will be like. They naively think that because the work hard or have a college degree that their employer will treat them well. Many of the non -unionized employers in the country treat their workers somewhat decently because they want to keep unions out.
Unions need a major overhaul ~ the product the US autoworkers produce needs a major overhaul as well. _____________ The US used to manufacture all the TVs ~ guess who makes all the TVs now?
US automakers have been on the fall for years now. They just aren't that competitive with European and Japanese cars. Both of which are generally structurally and more efficiently built. When I was buying a car this year, I went through consumer reports and tried to find just ONE American sedan that could compete with a honda civic type car. In the end no American car ended up getting half way decent ratings in terms of reliability and fuel efficiency and could still compete with the Japanese price wise. Meanwhile the Japanese had three vehicles which fit my description.. Honda Civic, Toyota Corolla, and the Mazda 3. I ended up going with the Mazda3 but this just serves to highlight the disaster that is American automakers. There's just no reason to buy American cars that don't compete with the Japanese anymore. And in terms of luxury cars, the Americans have absolutely nothing. No brand competes with upper end European and Japanese cars. The only thing we have are trucks and even the Japanese are slowly getting into that market. Unions have pretty much been forced to take the fall for bad decisions by leaders of the various American automakers and it is going to have to continue if GM, Ford, etc.. are going to live on. It's sad but I believe that we're seeing the slow grinding fall of American autonation. Michael Moore's documentary exemplified that. (regardless of whether you like him, he does a good job of showing how it is changing middle America) Detroit is slowly falling apart and degrading and this will only speed up. There's almost nothing anyone can do except hope the major companies decide to shape up and finally modernize. Otherwise, goodbye GM and Ford.
yea i know the mazda3 is built on the ford focus chasis. But here's the difference. My car isn't a piece of junk that'll break down and the mazda3 has the best gas mileage in its class. Americans may be able to design the basics but the japanese own us in every way when it comes to the finished product.
for all the talk about american cars being crap - , I heard on the news in China in june, GM surpassed Volkswagen to become the foreign automaker with the highest market share.
Ford F150 = KING OF THE ROAD. Ford F-series has been the top selling vehicle (car, truck, whatever) in the US for over 10 years running. Carry on.
Anyone who thinks European cars are 'higher quality' than GM are smoking something. Go re-visit the JD Power ratings for qulality, and don't be shocked when American cars are at the top of the list. There is no question the Japanese build high-quality vehicles (although Honda is by and far the best in that aspect, while Toyota cars are mechanically sound but haven't had a good experience with them as far as interior quality is concerned), but GM, Chrysler, and Ford (particularly GM) have for the most part caught up. What's left is for consumer 'perception' to change, which would take years to happen once the word got around that American cars are not trash anymore. It's all your perception, nothing else. The facts don't exactly back up the argument that American cars are 'TRASH' or rank so far behind the competition that it would be silly to even consider them when compared to the Japanese imports, er, domestically-made imports.
I do not have that much experience with different cars. All I know is that the Saturn I bought is a piece of junk now. I am going to get either a Honda accord or Toyota Camery next year to replace it. My Camary have not had an mechanical problem through eight years. My sister's Tarus have had major repair and it was bought after my Camary. My mom's previous Tarus was a piece of junk too (she now drives a Toyota).
IIRC, the lady in the scene later admitted that she had never done that before and only did it because Moore asked her to. I think it was also proven that she had no ties to the factory closing, but I'm not sure. Currently looking to find links.
The car I just bought was my first Japanese car. I've driven a Chrysler, Ford, and Chevy. I've had problems with all three but I suppose I can agreee with you that they've improved. But that doesnt change the fact that they still consistently rank lower than the Japanese in most categories (reliability, fuel economy, safety, and sometimes even performance...) Also I agree that Euro quality isn't that great but they have no competition. America for some reason just doesnt produce luxury cars which gives Europe a free pass (minus some competition from Japan).
The most reliable car my dad ever drove was a 96 Camary. He also had a 74 Volvo that lasted only about 5 years. My parents bought an Olds 88 in 1990 and the transmission went out after 3 years, right as the warranty expired. She now owns a 01 Regal and my father owns an 01 Explorer and both cars have held up nicely. I say all that to say this, there really is no point in going with personal experiece because each car that rolls off that line is individual and it also has a lot to do with individual driving habits and how well you take care of the car. How many of these old people do you see driving around town in their cars that are 7 years old and they only have 50K miles and they look brand new? But I do believe the magazines like Consumer Reports are very accurate.
