Hello readers my name is James and I'm guest blogging for The Daily Wood today.
Perhaps in the future I'll be able to share more of my views with you all.
I'm a college graduate in the study of Ornamental Horticulture, a resident of Metro Detroit, and
a Cherokee Native American. As my field of study, and state are affected by current sociopolitical
issues, I feel this is a perfect oppertunity to share my thoughts and my personal recollection of what
I've experienced and learned.
For as long as anyone can remember, Detroit and for the most part Michigan as a whole has been
known for one huge industry, Automobiles. The city gained monikers such as "The Motor City."
Hot Rod cars dubbed as "Detroit Muscle." The story of Detroit really is the story of the "Big 3."
Where the auto industry goes, Detroit goes, this is an undeniable truth. As a one trick pony
everything depends for the most part on the success of these three companies. When they had
the huge blowout, the city sunk hard. You really don't get a feel for it until you see former
business professionals collecting job applications from fast food places. The modern city was
built for two million people, however at this time there's less than 800,000.
The bailout is and will always be seen by Michiganders as a double edge sword. It was entirely
essential to keep Gm/Chrysler/Ford afloat, however nobody denies that the companies deserve to
fall under. The raging fire of approving people for vehicles they could not afford was just a common practice.
The city and it's auto companies were for so long under the illusion that the industry was its golden goose egg.
However when stocks started diving, people were buying less, saving more. It only adds to the irony that when it came time to collect the money for the loands they handed out, they were met with pockets that were already slim, but were now empty. This spelled the downfall of the former Auto Industry, it was soon a realization to themselves that things were bad, very bad. People were laid off en mass. Then later on during the bailout, an enormous amount of more hourly workers were sent home. A huge chunk considering just citizens working at auto factories, but often left out are other companies that entirely depend on those workers. Not third party parts manufacturers, we're talking resturants, grocers, movie theaters, you name it. So many people worked in auto factories that when the layoffs came, so did layoffs at the aforementioned places, and in many cases companies had to shut down. Their customers now had no income.
Unemployment was already strapped before all of this happened, so it came as no surprise that when the city
office buildings were flooded to apply unemployment, there was little to nothing to give. This has triggered an ongoing exodus from the state. A large amount of people have left the state entirely for places that are doing much better, in hopes of finding work again. the interesting thing is that long ago when the auto companies needed a very large amount of workers, many of their future workers came from the south. Here we are today, people leaving Michigan to live down south where prospects are better.
The Documentary "Requiem For Detroit" (The Documentary), shows how this was decades in the making and the result of the lack of respect the companies had for the economy. The big question here is an obvious one that's been asked before. "What do we have to do, to ensure something like this doesn't happen again?" In my opinon, it's accountability. Now, the "Big Three" have obviously changed a lot around, and are behaving much more responsibly and with the watchful eye of the government,
behaving with much more accountability. But, this isn't the only industry that could have something like this happen. What sort of measures should be taken? Many folks felt that the government shouldn't of touched the auto crysis, some people feel that they shouldn't have a failsafe for companies that fall for bad habits. Others feel that its a necessity, to ensure that community's or whole states even, are able to continue on without striking families into severe proverty. Is there a right decision? Should the government have tighter measures put in place to keep companies in line? Should they bail them out if they do deviate from the guidelines set?
This is truly an issue that strikes the heart of many people, this in my mind will no doubt grow to be a bigger issue in society's mind.
I'm interested in hearing opinions from others about this topic, feel free to leave a comment.
Every industry is so heavily regulated and has been since the early 1900's. I think that that auto industry is a poster child for government oversight, look at all the standards that a car has to meet in order for it to be approved by the government for production. It is true that the ownership of the "Big 3" got complacent with their product and employees which is why we had seen them continually produce a subpar product while the import industry was booming. I really think that they took for granted the fact that since they were American companies that people would be biased towards their product. The point I am getting at is that although a company maybe a huge employer they still play by the rules of all businesses-produce a quality product or suffer the consequences-in this case I guess it would have been bankruptcy. The "Big 3", minus Ford to an extent, have sold their souls to the devil (for lack of a better expression). What incentive to businesses have to produce a good product if the idea is always in the back of their mind that if they fail "well the government will just bail us out". The employess are unfortunatly the ones who will suffer the consequences of bankruptcy ie. job loss but really thats the name of the game, its no fault of their own but it is also out of their control.
ReplyDeleteYeah I remember being heated when they were on their way to talk to the government about their restructuring plans. Each took their own plane, their own cars. Sure its their right to do so, but if I was one of the officials there I'd ask them why they didn't just all go together, and make a quip of "or would it be too hard for the 3 of you to settle on what car to take?"
ReplyDeleteA few of the big shots even took bonuses during this time period which boggled me. Their companies were going down the proverbial shitter. I think the in house loan system each company had really played a big part. A guy working at a grocery store with 2k of credit debt would get approved for say a 30k car. With insanely high APR. The person would end up unable to afford said cars, and the company would just have to eat it and restock it as a used car where it would just sit.
I can understand a dealer also trying to get his paycheck. Working in direct sales like that is rough, and I know that the companies push the dealers into strategies. But none the less both the automakers and dealers should have shown more responsibility on that front. If you know the person is a bad candidate for credit on that high priced, show him the econo.
Your words on the slippage of quality are spot on too. My father would preach to buy American, while I really didn't have the guts to do it because I didn't want to have a vehicle I'd be taking into the shop at 50k miles regardless of how well I took care of it.
The city had some part in it too, resting on their laurels of having those 3 companies. So when everything crumbled, it really made people think about the industry in michigan, at least I'd hope that's what went through everyones mind. There's been intiatives for solar companies to mvoe here, as well as movie production but I think it's going to take more than that to get the city and really the whole state back into some sort of stability.
I really don't doubt the resilience of people, especially people from blue collar hard working cities. Pittsburgh was in the same boat in the 1970's as Detroit is now. When the steel industry left Pittsburgh was decimated but over the next decades we righted ourselves and became huge players in the healthcare and technology industries. I have faith that the people of Detroit will end up on their feet and be better off than they were when the big three were at their peak.
ReplyDeleteyeah yeah I hear ya. Both instances would serve as great examples of why diversity is such an important thing.
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