No Money for Auto Industry

12Dec08

So the people who engineered ecological monstrosities like the Hummer are not going to get their hoped-for corporate welfare package. Breaks my heart, that.

I’d say the defeat of the latest attempt to make US taxpayers pay for the sins of blatant corporate mediocrity and greed deserves a little celebration…


Filed under: america, communications, corporation   |  2 Comments
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2 Responses to “No Money for Auto Industry”  

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  1. 1 micheallawrence on December 12, 2008 said:

    I understand that the executives are responsible for the mismanagement of the industry, but what about the thousands of people employed by the auto industry…Why punish them?

    Reply
    • 2 dwcama on December 13, 2008 said:

      I hear you. People are losing their jobs across the board and that is regrettable, to say the least. One of the paradoxes that I’ve discovered during the course of my career is that plenty of good people work at some of the most heinous organizations (e.g. Big Tobacco), especially in the developing world, where good jobs are scarce.

      But this cannot dilute the fact that cigarettes are an addictive and murderous product, one that we could all very well live without. (Or the fact that strictly speaking, there would be a lot of jobs lost – again, especially in poor nations – if organized crime were somehow magically snuffed out overnight.)

      I have friends and family in the finance and automotive sectors, and I truly feel for the worry and hardships that they are facing. But speaking as an American citizen, I cannot condone state massive support for financial industries that have done their utmost to deceive and enslave the weakest parts of society in a downward spiral of debt while profiting hugely from their misjudgement and misery; any more than I can support state aid for a cartel of automakers that has consistently opposed and killed much needed innovation and regulation that would protect our environment and – in the end – our selves.

      I recommend the documentaries An Unreasonable Man (covering Ralph Nader’s crusade to introduce safety standards to a hostile auto industry) and Who Killed the Electric Car (self explanatory) for background info.

      Reply

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