Now that the Americans have fixed the economy by spending 700 billion dollars bailing out helpless victims of the economic crisis (namely, huge banks), they are going to start throwing billions of dollars at the auto industry. Smart idea. Why flog a dead horse when you can line its pockets with taxpayer's money?
It's not like the auto industry has done anything to create this problem. Who could have seen that shaping your entire business around the sale of oversized gas guzzlers could be a bad thing? Who knew that ridiculously cheap oil might not last forever? Certainly not the forward thinking auto industry.
Besides, hasn't the auto industry always been there in the past to help us? Those little fits of economic blackmail? The threats to move plants to or from Mexico or the U.S. or Canada or China or wherever if more subsidies aren't provided? Well, that's just a misunderstanding. They don't want to bankrupt communities. Rather, they just want to enrich the good hardworking folks in the boardrooms of some far off city. What's so wrong about that? It's kind of like Robin Hood in reverse and we all know Robin Hood was a good guy.
What has the auto industry ever done to hurt us? Nothing really. Just a few minor misunderstandings:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unsafe_at_Any_Speed
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_American_streetcar_scandal
Personally, I say we take the hit. Let the auto industry fend for itself for a change. You know we are in dire straits when even the auto industry is talking about a move away from oil. That's kind of like Keith Richards waking up one day and not reaching for a vodka and orange juice for breakfast - a noble thought but probably a few decades too late to do any good.
Can we really trust our future to an industry that has been governed by greed and wanton self-indulgence for so long?
Instead of bailing out a failing industry one more time, lets spend the money on things that will help us, like transit and more liveable cities. If we spent wisely, we may even have some money left over to help the arts (because the mental environment is almost as important as the physical one).
Just don't tell Stephen Harper that as he has yet to find an arts program he couldn't gut.
4 comments:
"That's kind of like Keith Richards waking up one day and not reaching for a vodka and orange juice for breakfast - a noble thought but probably a few decades too late to do any good."
--well put!
I have a hard time mustering up any sympathy for the auto industry as well. Sure it's the one place where a person with no education and barely any IQ can make an excellent salary for mindless work, but what does that say about the foreign physicians who are now mopping floors at hospitals?
John - it was a line I could definitely not pass up, a sudden fit of late night inspiration.
Barbara - agreed. Toronto has some of the best educated cab drivers in the world. Then again, I used to work Oakville Yard, bring rail cars to and from the Ford plant. I saw the sort of mind numbing work they do and I wouldn't do it for all the tea in China. India too.
You're on a roll, Remi. I couldn't agree more!
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