When and how did you get orange pilled? My experience was during the great financial crisis when one of my friends in the automobile business shared some experiences he was having with the government and his business. They mirrored some of the things happening in medicine at the same time.
I got this from a good friend in Industry. It encapsulates my emotions on our economy and America. Under Obama I am worried that capitalism will fade and communism will flourish. I am sickened at how he has handled the bailouts. I also think his appointment of Geitner was and is criminal now that we know Geitner was responsible legally and morally for Lehman’s failure and in the end the cause of us having to bail out AIG. I am disgusted with America. The change we got was new shit from another cesspool. I cant wait to vote again. I wish it where tomorrow. In two years Congress is going to look alot different. You can bank on it. And for those of you who have not googled the tirade that I saw live on CNBC of Rick Santelli a Chicago bond trader on the floor of the MERC please watch it here. This is the largest transfer of wealth in mankind going on. They blamed Bush for Iraq, well Congress spent 1000 Iraqs in a day for the benefit of bankers in 2008. They have ruined our future with this spending.
This is an actual note GM sent out to their suppliers.
Dear Employees & Suppliers,
Congress and the current Administration will soon determine whether to provide immediate support to the domestic auto industry to help it through one of the most difficult economic times in our nation’s history. Your elected officials must hear from all of us now on why this support is critical to our continuing the progress we began prior to the global financial crisis………………….As an employee or supplier, you have a lot at stake and continue to be one of our most effective and passionate voices. I know GM can count on you to have your voice heard.
Thank you for your urgent action and ongoing support.
Troy Clarke
President General Motors North America
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Response from: Gregory Knox, Pres.
Knox Machinery Company
Franklin, Ohio
Gentlemen:
In response to your request to contact legislators and ask for a bailout for the Big Three automakers please consider the following, and please pass my thoughts on to Troy Clark, President of General Motors North America.
Politicians and Management of the Big 3 are both infected with the same entitlement mentality that has spread like cancerous germs in UAW halls for the last countless decades, and whose plague is now sweeping this nation, awaiting our new “messiah”, Pres-elect Obama, to wave his magic wand and make all our problems go away, while at the same time allowing our once great nation to keep “living the dream”… Believe me folks, The dream is over!
This dream where we can ignore the consumer for years while management myopically focuses on its personal rewards packages at the same time that our factories have been filled with the worlds most overpaid, arrogant, ignorant and laziest entitlement minded “laborers” without paying the price for these atrocities…this dream where you still think the masses will line up to buy our products for ever and ever.
Don’t even think about telling me I’m wrong. Don’t accuse me of not knowing of what I speak. I have called on Ford, GM, Chrysler, TRW, Delphi, Kelsey Hayes, American Axle and countless other automotive OEM’s throughout the Midwest during the past 30 years and what I’ve seen over those years in these union shops can only be described as disgusting.
Troy Clarke, President of General Motors North America, states: “There is widespread sentiment throughout this country, and our government, and especially via the news media, that the current crisis is completely the result of bad management which it certainly is not.”
You’re right Mr. Clarke, it’s not JUST management…how about the electricians who walk around the plants like lords in feudal times, making people wait on them for countless hours while they drag ass…so they can come in on the weekend and make double and triple time…for a job they easily could have done within their normal 40 hour work week. How about the line workers who threaten newbies with all kinds of scare tactics…for putting out too many parts on a shift…and for being too productive
(We certainly must not expose those lazy bums who have been getting overpaid for decades for their horrific underproduction, must we?!?)
Do you folks really not know about this stuff?!? How about this great sentiment abridged from Mr. Clarke’s sad plea: “over the last few years …we have closed the quality and efficiency gaps with our competitors.” What the hell has Detroit been doing for the last 40 years?!? Did we really JUST wake up to the gaps in quality and efficiency between us and them? The K car vs. the Accord? The Pinto vs. the Civic?!? Do I need to go on? What a joke!
We are living through the inevitable outcome of the actions of the United States auto industry for decades. It’s time to pay for your sins, Detroit. (You need to fail with the banks right now, in my opinion)
Henry Ford had it right when he asked for a new monetary policy based on energy use in December of 1921. Labor use is a form of currency. It is a currency based upon energy use. Labor is a proof of work function. It mimics the laws of thermodynamics. Henry Ford discussed how energy currency could be backed by energy measured in kilowatt-hours (kWh). He also discussed with the New York Tribune that the currency would “be issued only to a certain definite amount and for a specific purpose. He wanted to kick start this idea at the Muscle Shoals dam in Alabama. The Muscle Shoals section of the Tennessee River is treacherous but it produces a lot of energy as the dam provides electrical power, flood control, and a water supply. Ford realized he could use this energy source to build a more efficient currency.
It has always been understood that Henry Ford was well ahead of his time. We need the Big three to remember the lesson Ford gave us in 1921. Ford took shots at the banking cartel in 1921, which are basically the same financial institutions and family members running the world’s finances today. “It’s simply a case of thinking and calculating in terms different from those laid down to us by the international banking group to which we have grown so accustomed that we think there is no other desirable standard,” Ford stressed.
I attended an economic summit last week where brilliant economist, Alan Beaulieu, from the Institute of Trend Research, surprised the crowd when he said he would not have given the banks a penny of “bailout money”. “Yes, he said, this would cause short term problems,” but despite what people like politicians and corporate magnates would have us believe, the sun would in fact rise the next day… and the following very important thing would happen…where there had been greedy and sloppy banks, new efficient ones would pop up…that is how a free market system works…it does work…if we would only let it work…”
But for some nondescript reason we are now deciding that the rest of the world is right and that capitalism doesn’t work – that we need the government to step in and “save us”…Save us my ass, Hell – we’re nationalizing…and unfortunately too many of our once fine nation’s citizens don’t even have a clue that this is what is really happening. But, they sure can tell you the stats on their favorite sports teams…yeah – THAT’S really important, isn’t it…
Does it ever occur to ANYONE that the “competition” has been producing vehicles, EXTREMELY PROFITABLY, for decades in this country?… How can that be??? Let’s see… Fuel efficient… Listening to customers… Investing in the proper tooling and automation for the long haul…
Not being too complacent or arrogant to listen to Dr. W. Edwards Deming four decades ago when he taught that by adopting appropriate principles of management, organizations could increase quality and simultaneously reduce costs. Ever increased productivity through quality and intelligent planning… Treating vendors like strategic partners, rather than like “the enemy”… Efficient front and back offices… Non union environment…
Again, I could go on and on, but I really wouldn’t be telling anyone anything they really don’t already know down deep in their hearts.
I have six children, so I am not unfamiliar with the concept of wanting someone to bail you out of a mess that you have gotten yourself into – my children do this on a weekly, if not daily basis, as I did when I was their age. I do for them what my parents did for me (one of their greatest gifts, by the way) – I make them stand on their own two feet and accept the consequences of their actions and work through it. Radical concept, huh?… Am I there for them in the wings? Of course – but only until such time as they need to be fully on their own as adults.
I don’t want to oversimplify a complex situation, but there certainly are unmistakable parallels here between the proper role of parenting and government. Detroit and the United States need to pay for their sins. Bad news people – it’s coming whether we like it or not. The newly elected Messiah really doesn’t have a magic wand big enough to “make it all go away.” I laughed as I heard Obama “reeling it back in” almost immediately after the final vote count was tallied…”we really might not do it in a year…or in four…” Where the Hell was that kind of talk when he was RUNNING for office?
Stop trying to put off the inevitable folks … That house in Florida really isn’t worth $750,000… People who jump across a border really don’t deserve free health care benefits… That job driving that forklift for the Big 3 really isn’t worth $85,000 a year… We really shouldn’t allow Wal-Mart to stock their shelves with products acquired from a country (China) that unfairly manipulates their currency and has the most atrocious human rights infractions on the face of the globe…
That couple whose combined income is less than $50,000 really shouldn’t be living in that $485,000 home… Let the market correct itself folks – it will. Yes it will be painful, but it’s gonna’ be painful either way, and the bright side of my proposal is that on the other side of it all, is a nation that appreciates what it has…and doesn’t live beyond its means…and gets back to basics…and redevelops the patriotic work ethic that made it the greatest nation in the history of the world…and probably turns back to God.
Sorry – don’t cut my head off, I’m just the messenger sharing with you the “bad news”. I hope you take it to heart.
Gregory J. Knox, President
Knox Machinery, Inc.
Franklin, Ohio 45005
I love Gregory J Knox and I wrote him a letter to tell him how I felt about his response. If I ever need something he makes, I will buy it.
^^^^^That was posted on my FB page 2/21/2009.
Mr. Knox was my Satoshi before Satoshi existed.
SUMMARY
Embrace the suck of adversity. Never be afraid of speaking wht you believe to be the current truth to your audience. Begin to step out of your shell and accept your success. Your reality is important to share with the world. You don’t need to write or speak well, you just need to “connect well” with your audience. Sometimes that audience will be your friends, family, or an audience of 50,000, or maybe just you and your doctor in an office. Knox is a friend of mine who’s experiece during the financial crisis brought the real problems of America into a clearer focus for me.
You need to learn to connect your ideas to them effectively to change your reality. I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel by how you connect with them. It is always a good day to be grateful for all of life , grateful for large blessings and small.
When we find our path, we must not be afraid of the unknown. Many adverse experiences in life pre condition our minds to be ready for a new way to adapt. We need to have sufficient courage to endure our own mistakes or those our government makes. Disappointment, defeat, and despair are the tools we must use to show us the proper trail to blaze. When we speak from the heart, people will begin to meet you where you are today. Today, begin to speak well because your tongue will learn to deliver the message of your heart. That message will resonate to your audience and it may ready them for the coming storm.
Leave me a comment below about how you where orange pilled.