Moore never claims she has a tie to the factories in the movie, if I remember correctly. I think it was meant more as a sign of how bad the economy had become in general. I did a search and couldn't find anyone contesting the validity of the rabbit scene. I'd be interested to read anything you can provide claiming otherwise. Thanks.
but I would not buy another Saturn unless after this experience. The same way I will not ever buy a HP after my experience with their tech support last time.
sickens me that the white collar guys come out of these things with hundreds of thousands of dollars left in the bank... and they look to cut pensions and medical benefits of the guys who worked there for years...who are counting on those pensions and benefits to survive. disgusting.
A while ago in Hangout flamingmoe pointed to me this article on the trustworthiness of JD Power: J.D. Power cozy with winners
I have my used Tacoma for 4 years now and I haven't had a single problem. I'm only buying Toyota for the rest of my life.
bigtexxx says I am wrong, and I am hoping that I am wrong, but I firmly believe that this is the direction we are heading towards: working longer hours for much less pay/benefits in order to compete in a 'global economy' with Chinese laborers and Indian engineers. It's a race to the bottom...
hundreds of thousands? What decade are we talking about - these days the comp packages are in the 7-8 figure range. Does anybody know how much Japanese auto co. execs make in comparison to their workers? I would suspect it's a lot less, no?
well that makes sense, an unprecedented rise in the stock market, stock option heavy compensation packages = huge boom, followed by 2000 bust. That doesn't really go to my question though as to how much Japanese CEO's get paid, I'd really like to know.
Not a complete answer, but I am sure you can get the full article in some public library: http://cbr.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/35/3/68
Maybe we should all drive American cars? We'd save those workers and we'd cut the trade deficit in half.
Most Americans stopped being loyal to "Made in America" products a loooong time ago, and in turn the corporations starting looking for cheaper labor markets overseas. In short, there is no loyalty anymore, just 'universal culture of consumerism': looking for the best deal on a good product, regardless of anything else.
If you're concerned about American workers, then you'd buy American - right? So saying no one cares isn't really a response. Some people in this thread seem to care. I wonder what kind of car they drive? Also, I don't think its true that Americans don't care about their economic future. Cutting the trade deficit would be a nice thing to do. I have a Mustang and a Blazer, btw. Ok, I also have a Jeep which I guess is German now but I don't think I'll be buying a foreign car again. Just doesn't seem to make sense to send money to another country.
They Toyota I bought was made in Kentucky and Honda is made in Ohio if I remember correctly. Doesn't my money help American workers? The GM and Ford cars are made in Mexico and Canada in many cases?
I don't know ! I would imagine it would be better to buy a Toyota made in Kentucky than one made in Japan. Is that better than a GM or Ford made in Mexico? Not sure, but to speculate maybe if more GM's and Ford's were bought they could afford the higher wages of American workers?
Why did everyone ignore the health-care angle ? The thread starter was right on the money. There is no cost accountability in health care. Costs increase at a ridiculous rate. The user tries to get the maximum proceedure on someone else's nickel. The insurers pass the cost along, and make greater percentage on greater premium. Providers have no interest in lowering prices, and resort to cost-shifting if insurers try to squeeze the balloon at one end. Companies can't afford health care. The level of benefit drops every year and the co-pay goes up, because they can not project user costs. A union contract that guarantees rich health-care benefits locks the company into paying for an ever-increasing service demand with no way to project or control or earn an offset to the expense. We really need a base-level, federal, universal health care. We should agree to provide x-level minimum care to the citizenry through local clinics. Now, if people want luxury care, they can get that, too with the insurance system. We could even have a federal or state health insurer, like the worker's comp fund. Worker's comp is a good example of an economy that didn't work wholly private and that needed a government standard and means of funding. Trying to mix base care and luxury care just pushes everything to kill our economy.
Hayes, I am with you man, I agree. I am just saying that it doesn't register with most Americans the effect 'buying foreign' has on our economy (long-term more so than short-term). But I agree with you it does make a difference, but I honestly think that even if most people knew that, it wouldn't change their buying habits very much.
Excuse me if I have no sympathy for uneducated workers who aren't happy making $50k a year with an absurdly generous pension package. Yes, please strike so the company can go bankrupt and you can fry donuts for 90% less pay. Reality check on aisle 3.
Look there's no point in condoning inefficient car companies by refusing to buy foreign cars. American car companies are never going to shape up if you refuse to buy better made foreign cars. Look I dont like the idea that old brand names like chevy and ford might die off but my experiences with their cars have just been too terrible to bear.
