When we all have to work for 3.00 an Hr.!

[Mike Wilson]

2006-08-18 12:23:30 The Living Shadow:

avatar



Hey Ford,



Lower Your Prices Substantially. You want to make a big effect on the consumer? Yeh, it will create competition. But, that is what it is all about.



Pull out all the stops, Ford.



It is about Price !!! LOW LOW PRICE !!



Can you cut the prices in half? How about 1960's prices?



Man, shake it up. Be a leader, if you want the gold ring.



And don't forget the jingle...Low prices are worth singing about.



Good Bad Block Report Overall Rating:

 

[Mike Wilson]

When we are all working for $3.00 an hour, when the Bush Administration, and his (their)

Republican-Held Congress, has their way; Who can afford a $350 a month vehicle

payment, when we cannot afford to buy a loaf of bread or a gallon of milk to feed our

children?!?!

What in GOD'S name are they thinking?...

They just don't care!!!

 

[J Piroth]

What? I'm lost.

 

[Michael Cacioppo]

I second Piro...."what?"

 

[Bill Lukus]

I think he just got back from WALMART !!

 

[EddieS'04]

:huh:

 

[Johnny O]

Pittsburgh Magazine reports that in 1969 the median income for my county, adjusted to today's dollars, was $142,000. Today after all the steel mills are closed it's about $40,000.

I blame the leftist greenies and their environmental regulations. Lost all the good-paying blue collar jobs to imports, and the Dems (supposed friends of the unions) wouldn't do anything about it either.

My county's 2000 population, 181,000. In 2005 it's 173,000. On my 8 block long street there are 9 houses plus 1 vacant church for sale. Been for sale for a while. Ain't no housing bubble here.

 

[C B]

Oh please. Bashing Bush and Republicans because of the cost of cars and the loss of low skilled factory jobs? JohnnyO's got it right. You're pointing your finger at the wrong party and drinking the usual class-envy victimology kool aid. And the unions continue to use all those dues to help elect Democrats who always promise a boatlaod of environmental regulation and other laws to suck the profit out of manufacturing cars (or anything else) in this country. Oh but we are all victims and need to be protected from big-bad rich people. Again, pleeeeease. That dog don't hunt no more. Those rich people helped drive unemployment below 5% and increase tax revenues for the Gov't. Also I got a tax cut. That helps mr buy milk and bread and pay my ST loan.

 

[Dale Carlson]

Fellas,



It's all about economics, leadership, and management. The government is the government - it is what it is, no matter who's in the driver's seat.



Here's the deal: If you sell what people are buying, you CAN be successful. That's partly about economics and partly about leadership, because leaders need to have vision and they need to decide what to sell. Poor leaders don't have vision, and usually just keep trying to do what they've always done. This is especially true in the auto industry where you have to be looking at least 3-4 years into the future and thinking about what consumers are going to buy. And I say "CAN be successful" and not "WILL be successful", because managers have to make sure that the stockholder issues, the labor issues, the engineering issues, the production issues, the environmental issues, and the regulatory issues (among the myriad of other issues) are actually administered to. Mis-manage those things and you end up lying to stockholders and stealing from pension funds to cover your behind - even when sales are good. Good managers understand those things are just a part of the environment and work to include and integrate those issues in the overall strategy. When times are good, great managers make their companies lots o' cash (and invest it in/for the future), and when times are bad, they keep their companies afloat.

 

[TomT]

Well said kefguy although I do agree our government has let us down. Not just Republicans either. None of our politicians have vision and all are working for their own private interest rather then whats good for the country. You talk about tax cuts? I question why our taxes are so high to begin with. I see our own government selling out to foreign investors. I see a present president that does not care about what the nation wants and a former president that was a crook before he ever took office. None of this is going to stop until we quit voting for lawyers and other unscrupulous people to lead us.

 

[J Piroth]

Nobody HAS to work for $3.00 an hour. If what you're qualified to do is only valued at $3.00 an hour, learn to do something else. Get a higher degree. Learn a new trade. Move to a place where your current skill is more coveted. There are always options as long as you're willing to adapt and adjust.



There are workers all around the world willing to do more work for less pay than Americans are accustomed to. If we prohibit our companies from tapping into that resource, the companies themselves will fail and we'll be in an even worse situation. What we need to do is to fix our educational system from the ground up, adapt our workforce to capture the jobs of tomorrow and stop pining for days gone by.



The alternative would be to implement a global minimum wage so that all corporations were competing on level ground, but since we can't even all agree to stop killing one another, I don't think that's going to happen anytime soon.

 

[Dre L]

This administration blows.



Banjos.

 

[Thomas Rogers]

Just took a break from my PT job to cruise the board and see there is a bunch of political axe grinding going. Oh well, some of you can blame BushCo for your problems, but for me, it's back to work making 30 times $3/hour in the safety of my basement!



Guess I am one of the lucky ones. Sure, I grew up in a depressed area (rural upstate NY), and neither of my parents graduated HS, and I could have just been happy with the status quo (cheap beer, enough money to deer hunt now and then, and NASCAR). But, instead, I put myself through college and now make good money.



It wasn't my parents; it wasn't Reagan, or Bush Sr., or Clinton or Bush Jr....it was me!



And, for those that want to succeed...YOU are the key. For those looking for someone to blame...well, YOU have yourself.



TJR

 

[Fred]

Bravo TJR!!! You hit the nail on the head! Anyone in this country that WANTS to apply THEMSELVES and is willing to stop the whining can succeed. No one is 'holding' anyone back or down.

 

[Dre L]

Except the current administration.



<object width="425" height="350"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/2tisINbtAM8"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/2tisINbtAM8" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="425" height="350"></embed></object>



[Broken External Image]:

 

[Mike Wilson]

I'll just sit back and wait to hand out the "I TOLD YOU so's"!!!!



What the other countries are and have been doing, is "Slaving" their people to

work in abhorrent, unsanitary, and unsafe conditions for years, hell, decades.

Our fantastic government has recently found a way to tap into this market, under the

guise of NAFTA, and more recently CAFTA, promising growth for this country while

raising the standard of living in all others. If any of you have fallen for this sorry ruse,

I have some ocean front property for sale in Kansas!

And TJR, it sounds like you have one of the better jobs/careers on this board. Don't

think for a minute, that "The Man" is not trying to figure out a way to take it from you and

outsource it to India or Pakistan. College Degree, Higher Learning? Talk to most any

college graduate nowadays and ask them what their job prospects are. Most all will tell

you that during job interviews, some mention has been made in regards to salary, that they

will have to accept lower, or much lower than they anticipated, due to the competition,

especially in the Tech Industry, from countries such as India, Pakistan and China.

Just because I am from the South, does not mean that I am politically ignorant.

We'all have them thar' sattelite t.v. dishes and access to that thar' intreenet,

and such the like that y'all have up north!

Most of us do prefer beer to champagne, and Nascar to a night at the opera, but by no

means let that fool y'all!

I bet Thomas Jefferson is rolling in his grave right now, with all of the things that are

going wrong with this country!



By the way, rolling to the LEFT, as he was a Nascar fan, also!!!

 

[Thomas Rogers]

TracNBlack...I am in the tech industry. And, I am 40 years old, and have created a standard of living for myself and my family that many would deem impossible in today's tech industry, especially living where I do (Philly 'burbs aint Silicon Valley or Boston). Yet, I have done it.



How do I do it?



Well, I recognized one thing early in my life, and that is that HARD WORK is the ULTIMATE COMPENSATOR. All one has to do is be willing to work harder, longer, smarter, and with more pride in the end product and respect for the "customer" than the "other guy". If you think this way then you can't help but be successful. There's no substitute for that, and there will ALWAYS be opportunities in America for those that think this way and follow this belief, and those opportunities mean success. Sure, there will be difficulty along the way. I have been part of a failed startup; I have been laid off; I have been in the industry when pay cuts were rampant; all examples of when to pull oneself up and try again, do something different, swim WITH not against the current and tides of change.



I FIRMLY believe we make our own “luck” and the opportunities are there.



Also, I don't believe in "The Man"...or at least not the same one you do. "The Man", to me, is ME! I am in control of my destiny, and I am NOT bending over for any boogie man in the closet. If I get bent over, well I'm the one that did that to myself!



TJR

 

[Mike Wilson]

TJR,

I agree 99% with your opinion. However it is the 1% that has me worried.

I have a 4 year degree and 2 year apprentice degree in Automotive Technology and Service.

I am currently one of only twenty people at my plant certified in I.S.O. Quality Standards,

I.S.O. Q-9001-Q-9005. Have had an additional 2 years of classes and re-training to keep

current on all of the latest Quality Standards and Measurements. I am told every day

that there are people in India and China waiting to take over my (our) jobs if I do not work

harder and smarter! I go to work every day, take pride in my job, and workmanship, yet

I have this monster breathing down my neck, every day!

"One of the I.S.O. Principals is "Quality Creates Customer Enthusiasm"!

Talk about "Titles" at work... I am considered a "Quality Control Technician/Engineering

Liason", and I still get the "Hot Breath" down my back every day!

Luck is for the lottery, and by the way I am NOT a gambler. I think I knew what you meant

by that, though!

 

[Tom Schindler]

What the other countries are and have been doing, is "Slaving" their people to

work in abhorrent, unsanitary, and unsafe conditions for years, hell, decades.

Our fantastic government has recently found a way to tap into this market, under the

guise of NAFTA, and more recently CAFTA, promising growth for this country while

raising the standard of living in all others.

tracnblack, I suggest you read the book titled Confessions of an Economic Hitman written by John Perkins. Excellent book and I recomend everyone to read it. For me, it closed many gaps in why our country is in the shapre it is in and it isn't going to get any better. Middle East, South America, Iraq, Iran, Saddam Hussain, Osama bin Laden, Fidel Castro and others are covered in that book. You really need to read it. It will send chills down your Spine. It even touches base with the Monarchy we have in the White House.





Tom

 

[Thomas Rogers]

TrackNBlack,



Our country went from an agri-based economy to one based on industrial and manufacturing. Then, the shift was from industrial and manufacturing to a service-based economy. And, now, we are seeing the shift from service-based to knowledge working.



So, yes, as the global workplace continues to get larger and more and more services can be done electronically and with less intimacy, those in the service and consultancy industries should be very concerned. But, do not be afraid. Concern is the recognition of things that may occur. Fear is the negative fixation of those same things. Concern can lead to positive actions that help to deal with potential future problems. Fear on the other hand is usually rooted in Uncertainty and Doubt…the FUD factor.



If competition for your job increases to the point where it isn't secure or it becomes a lower-cost commodity then I say you must "morph" your job. Figure out how to use what you know, add to it if needed, and serve a niche.



Case in point, I have found that I shouldn't pursue larger customers for my services; and by larger customers I mean fortune 500 size. Why? Because they have the infrastructures and budgets to solve their IT problems through a mix of internal resources and outsourcing, and most have all but abandoned the use of independent consultants. These size customers "used" to account for a large base for hiring independents, but not anymore. I have found that it’s the smaller companies...those making $10M to $200M a year in revenue that are of the size that is a sweet spot for needing my services. They don't have their own IT folks in large numbers, and they don't have the size and clout to work with outsourcing firms in a way that assures they get good talent and good results. In other words, they are DYING to find consultants that are very good, that they can trust and that have their interests in mind. They want a relationship with intimacy, and it means top dollars for those that deliver that to them.



As federal regulations continue and as even smaller and smaller companies seek ISO certification maybe you can serve them? Take what you know and be a bigger fish in a smaller pond. The big ponds seem to attract all the schools of fish and there just isn’t enough food for everyone in the pond.



TJR