Socialism American-Style and Post-Modern Industrialization

This will probably be the twentieth mention of this particular episode of This American Life I've made in the last two weeks. The show - a recount of the NUMMI auto plant in Fremont, CA that was one of the first to integrate Japanese business ideas into American manufacturing - easily put to rest a good swath of unresolved bar arguments surrounding unions, progress in manufacturing, and what Socialism American-style actually means.  A few of these arguments ended in very stupid ways, in the way over-emotional arguments over inconsequential matters tend to end.  There may have been some yelling even though I probably argued both sides at some point or another, but the essential points of the whole argument go like this:

Unions are the death of progress.  They prevent companies from firing the incompetent, and everybody just looks out for their pensions.

Unions are necessary. See: early industrial American history and slave labor capitalism for a refresher.

Really though, here's an example of [inherently stupid/evil person/company failing preposterously] and they can't be fired/fixed.  And it's solely because of the practice of the Unions.  Maybe they were good at a time, but we're past all of that now.

Not really past all that yet.  See: [various slave-labor like practices in current companies (Wal-Mart tends to come up a lot)]

Well, when China owns our currency outright, then we'll know who to blame.

So we should lower our standards until we're competitive with China?  I don't think you would want that.

There's also side arguments into the incompetency of the American auto industry as a whole ("they designed shitty, inefficient, ugly cars for how long and the unions are to blame for their downfall?") and the D.C. school system, but you get the gist.  Then you listen to the American Life episode, and it all makes sense. 

I don't want to give too much away, but it will suffice to say that it's not unions.  It's the corrupt marriage of jail cell mentality and socialist thought.  Sort of an everybody-for-themselves ideology where unions are there only to enable petty self-interest. 

It's quite possible to manufacture things of quality without unions where people are happy and well paid and everything's hunky-dory.  Unions become the antidote for inequality of pay and working conditions, but it doesn't affect personalities. 

—April 15th, 2010

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