It's A Scene From Atlas Shrugged: Fedgov To Auto Industry, "Cooperate Or Die"
Posted by freedomforall 8 months, 2 weeks ago to Politics
Excerpt:
"Both Ford and GM were co-opted after the near-collapse of each back in 2008-2009. The price they both paid to stave off collapse was their cooperation with the forces that have been at war with everything Henry Ford (and Alfred P. Sloan) set in motion more than a century ago. The industry was not reorganized. It was reconstructed. Kind of like the South – by the North – after the South failed in its bid to separate itself from a “union” that was held together by force rather than affection, let alone consent.
As it remains, today.
VW was reconstructed, too. And it is now very cooperative. The industry as a whole has become extremely cooperative. This turnaround has not been as abrupt nor as obvious as a parking brake 180 performed by pulling up on the brake lever (which almost no politically correct new cars have anymore) so as to lock the rear wheels and then by cranking the steering wheel hard over, so as to get the car to come around and end up facing the opposite direction.
But it amounts to the same thing.
The industry no longer seems much interested in selling vehicles to people who want to buy them and can afford to buy them – the two things that are necessary to sell a vehicle and without losing money on the deal. The industry seems very interested, on the other hand, in complying with whatever fatwas are hurled by the regulatory ayatollahs who control the federal apparat. Superficially, this makes a poltroonish kind of sense – in the sense that poltroons don’t like to make waves.
They love to be seen as . . . cooperative.
But when cooperation is suicidal then other motives are probably in play. They include not being personally affected by this cooperation; indeed, profiting from it. When you are paid $20 million in one year – or for that matter, $10 million – then you know that it won’t be difficult for you to pay $160,000 for a device. Or, if you prefer, a vehicle such as the brand-new 1960s Mustangs made by small-batch manufacturers that are exempted from all the “safety” and “emissions” regulations that ran the 1960s – and 1970s and 1980s and 1990s and 2000s-and-up – vehicles (and engines) off the road.
Just like those who can afford to fly privately do not have to deal with being groped by low-IQ government goons.
You’ll have no worries – so why would you worry about whether others do?"
"Both Ford and GM were co-opted after the near-collapse of each back in 2008-2009. The price they both paid to stave off collapse was their cooperation with the forces that have been at war with everything Henry Ford (and Alfred P. Sloan) set in motion more than a century ago. The industry was not reorganized. It was reconstructed. Kind of like the South – by the North – after the South failed in its bid to separate itself from a “union” that was held together by force rather than affection, let alone consent.
As it remains, today.
VW was reconstructed, too. And it is now very cooperative. The industry as a whole has become extremely cooperative. This turnaround has not been as abrupt nor as obvious as a parking brake 180 performed by pulling up on the brake lever (which almost no politically correct new cars have anymore) so as to lock the rear wheels and then by cranking the steering wheel hard over, so as to get the car to come around and end up facing the opposite direction.
But it amounts to the same thing.
The industry no longer seems much interested in selling vehicles to people who want to buy them and can afford to buy them – the two things that are necessary to sell a vehicle and without losing money on the deal. The industry seems very interested, on the other hand, in complying with whatever fatwas are hurled by the regulatory ayatollahs who control the federal apparat. Superficially, this makes a poltroonish kind of sense – in the sense that poltroons don’t like to make waves.
They love to be seen as . . . cooperative.
But when cooperation is suicidal then other motives are probably in play. They include not being personally affected by this cooperation; indeed, profiting from it. When you are paid $20 million in one year – or for that matter, $10 million – then you know that it won’t be difficult for you to pay $160,000 for a device. Or, if you prefer, a vehicle such as the brand-new 1960s Mustangs made by small-batch manufacturers that are exempted from all the “safety” and “emissions” regulations that ran the 1960s – and 1970s and 1980s and 1990s and 2000s-and-up – vehicles (and engines) off the road.
Just like those who can afford to fly privately do not have to deal with being groped by low-IQ government goons.
You’ll have no worries – so why would you worry about whether others do?"
Can we also agree that most if not all Revolutions are begun by intensely determined minorities? But these Revolutionists can only succeed if and only if they either catch fire with a sympathetic majority or are not opposed by a lethargic majority?
I would contend that there not enough people willing to oppose or who are capable of opposing America’s final collapse into darkness.
I don’t know how long it will take but I’m certain that, in the near future, Americans will have no memory of elections nor of the sense of freedom or joy of being able to jump in their cars and travel anywhere they wanted to as long as they could afford the price of gasoline.
as long at the TV works, food is available, the cell phones are working for the phone zombies, no one will act to stop what is going on
all the deals made by union bosses and the car companies did not help either as both sides knew they would be dead or retired before their greed murdered the companies
Must be rust-free or very close to it.
Everything else can be fixed.
1) A pickup. I-6 or small 8, standard preferred, but will take an automatic if everything else is good.
2) Mid-sized sedan, two or four door. Again rust-free or close to it. I-6 or small eight, automatic preferred, but not a deal breaker.
Leaning towards GM, but condition is everything.
Many things drive this range year:
A 12 volt system with a generator makes it just about EMP proof.
With a few exceptions, this 10-year span of cars are about as complicated as an anvil.
As long as they remain structurally sound, they can be maintained indefinitely.
within each manufacturer, many parts are common across the line, fuel components, charging components, brake hardware, electrical....
I learned how to drive on these old rigs, they are more of a challenge in adverse conditions and emergency maneuvers, but that's how we became better drivers.
Seat-of-the-pants learning.
All this computer-driven junk made cars easier and safer to drive... but at what cost?
If it gets to the point big brother can simply command your car not to run outside a given area or track you via a GPS signal, do you really have a better car?
There is one foreign car I would include in the list: One that I used to own and regret selling it.
1967-1/2 Volvo 144S. 4-speed + Overdrive, Positraction read end, twin SU carburetors, four-wheel disc brakes. (in Arctic White)
When I sold it, it had 380,000 on the clock. at 350K I bought a Volvo factory remanufactured long block for under $1K.
I'm still kicking myself for selling it.
(And likely to have better low rpm torque.)
That's why there's no hope for this country.
That's not what the Deep State wants because it still leaves the people
with a way to travel and potentially to escape tyranny.
The Deep State crushed VW because their diesels were too efficient,
not because they were polluting.
Thanks for posting, FFA!
But more to his point, it's a pretty drastic and violent way to accomplish a change in direction, and his comparison seems accurate to me.
That's an even more ballsy move.
but the car must be well balanced and have enough power to pull it off.
A late 60's BMW 2002tii is ideal.