Nationalism and Hell
NY Times Spread on Economic Class Divisions
Yeah so, NYtimes has been having this spread on Class divisions. Its not very scientific but it is very interesting. They talk about people how have risen through the classes, those who have fallen, different types of forming classes, how its less able to define, immigration (my favorite) class, hyper rich, and how how literature displays it. They add on articles every few days, and there are lots of interactive little things to do ;) Check it out.
As mentioned by Stephen in my GM vent, Toyota is thinking about price hikes to keep nationalism hate down. An article giving more detail is below.
And as we were walking through the plant, I remember the guide kept cautioning us to not get offended by the fact that some of the workers were glaring at us because of Rick wagoner's speech the day before. But honestly, I don't understand why people take their hate out on the small fries. They have no idea and they just use their hate to harm others.
I sometimes wonder how one can be so loyal to the point of being oblivious. I remember there was a girl who lived in my hall, who's dad works for GM. We were talking about ferraris and how yeah...one to own would be nice. But I cut in and say oh I rather have a honda/toyota hybrid. And she shoots back, well she wouldn't ever want to own a foriegn car.
yes....we sat in silence there for a minute and then slowly pointed out that ferraris were foreign cars.
She gasp, stuttered and turned, and then revealed that well...she only considers japanese cars foreign cars. Oh lets backtrack some more shall we.
It's sad that toyota has to come out about this in such a fashion. That they have to worry about a backlash against themselves. The US national pride will not stand up in the face of growing economy globalizm and to use it to stop it is like pounding nails into our feet. Its extremely painful and in the end makes it so that we can't move.
Toyota Fears Backlash Amid GM, Ford Woes
Financial Times
By James Mackintosh June 9, 2005
Toyota , Japan's biggest carmaker, fears a protectionist backlash from the US if financial troubles worsen at General Motors and Ford, the leading American vehicle manufacturers.
Hiroshi Okuda, chairman of Toyota and head of the Japan Business Federation, said "nationalistic sentiment" could be stoked by the problems at the two US industrial icons, both of which have been downgraded to junk bond status.
GM on Tuesday announced that 25,000 US jobs, one in five of its blue- collar workforce, would go in the next four years.
"Many people say the car industry wouldn't revisit the kind of trade friction we saw in the past because Japanese automakers are increasing local production in the US," Mr Okuda said. "But I don't think it's that simple.
"GM and Ford are symbols of US industry, and if they were to crumble it could fan nationalistic sentiment. I always have a fear that that in turn could manifest itself in policy decisions."
However, GM and Ford yesterday said they did not want trade restrictions. This stance contrasts with the anti-Japanese lobbying of the early 1980s that led to a voluntary agreement by Japanese carmakers to curb exports.
The US market share of GM and Ford collapsed from 65 per cent in 1982 to 47 per cent last year as Japanese carmakers, led by Toyota, sold better quality cars at lower prices.
Fred Bergsten, director of the Institute for International Economics, a Washington think-tank, said the focus of the car industry's lobbying was on the exchange rate of the yen to the dollar, not on imports.
"Most of the auto companies themselves are now so international it really does militate against their pushing in a protectionist direction," he said.
Toyota , Honda and Nissan, the leading Japanese manufacturers, all opened factories in the US in part to prevent a repeat of the 1980s arguments over imports.
Toyota has also been running patriotic US television campaigns since last summer to promote its credentials as an employer of 31,420 people in the country. DaimlerChrysler, the German owner of Chrysler, America's third-biggest carmaker, is running a promotion in Washington to stress its US roots.
Mr Okuda's comments came as Kirk Kerkorian, the billionaire investor, aged 88, received a lukewarm response from GM investors to his attempt to buy a big stake in the carmaker. He had hoped to increase his holding to 9 per cent, but his offer of $31 a share proved too low.
GM yesterday repeated its call for Japan to stop intervening in the yen/dollar exchange rate. "We are happy to compete with any automaker around the world but the issue of currency manipulation is still an important issue for us," it said.
Yeah so, NYtimes has been having this spread on Class divisions. Its not very scientific but it is very interesting. They talk about people how have risen through the classes, those who have fallen, different types of forming classes, how its less able to define, immigration (my favorite) class, hyper rich, and how how literature displays it. They add on articles every few days, and there are lots of interactive little things to do ;) Check it out.
As mentioned by Stephen in my GM vent, Toyota is thinking about price hikes to keep nationalism hate down. An article giving more detail is below.
And as we were walking through the plant, I remember the guide kept cautioning us to not get offended by the fact that some of the workers were glaring at us because of Rick wagoner's speech the day before. But honestly, I don't understand why people take their hate out on the small fries. They have no idea and they just use their hate to harm others.
I sometimes wonder how one can be so loyal to the point of being oblivious. I remember there was a girl who lived in my hall, who's dad works for GM. We were talking about ferraris and how yeah...one to own would be nice. But I cut in and say oh I rather have a honda/toyota hybrid. And she shoots back, well she wouldn't ever want to own a foriegn car.
yes....we sat in silence there for a minute and then slowly pointed out that ferraris were foreign cars.
She gasp, stuttered and turned, and then revealed that well...she only considers japanese cars foreign cars. Oh lets backtrack some more shall we.
It's sad that toyota has to come out about this in such a fashion. That they have to worry about a backlash against themselves. The US national pride will not stand up in the face of growing economy globalizm and to use it to stop it is like pounding nails into our feet. Its extremely painful and in the end makes it so that we can't move.
Toyota Fears Backlash Amid GM, Ford Woes
Financial Times
By James Mackintosh June 9, 2005
Toyota , Japan's biggest carmaker, fears a protectionist backlash from the US if financial troubles worsen at General Motors and Ford, the leading American vehicle manufacturers.
Hiroshi Okuda, chairman of Toyota and head of the Japan Business Federation, said "nationalistic sentiment" could be stoked by the problems at the two US industrial icons, both of which have been downgraded to junk bond status.
GM on Tuesday announced that 25,000 US jobs, one in five of its blue- collar workforce, would go in the next four years.
"Many people say the car industry wouldn't revisit the kind of trade friction we saw in the past because Japanese automakers are increasing local production in the US," Mr Okuda said. "But I don't think it's that simple.
"GM and Ford are symbols of US industry, and if they were to crumble it could fan nationalistic sentiment. I always have a fear that that in turn could manifest itself in policy decisions."
However, GM and Ford yesterday said they did not want trade restrictions. This stance contrasts with the anti-Japanese lobbying of the early 1980s that led to a voluntary agreement by Japanese carmakers to curb exports.
The US market share of GM and Ford collapsed from 65 per cent in 1982 to 47 per cent last year as Japanese carmakers, led by Toyota, sold better quality cars at lower prices.
Fred Bergsten, director of the Institute for International Economics, a Washington think-tank, said the focus of the car industry's lobbying was on the exchange rate of the yen to the dollar, not on imports.
"Most of the auto companies themselves are now so international it really does militate against their pushing in a protectionist direction," he said.
Toyota , Honda and Nissan, the leading Japanese manufacturers, all opened factories in the US in part to prevent a repeat of the 1980s arguments over imports.
Toyota has also been running patriotic US television campaigns since last summer to promote its credentials as an employer of 31,420 people in the country. DaimlerChrysler, the German owner of Chrysler, America's third-biggest carmaker, is running a promotion in Washington to stress its US roots.
Mr Okuda's comments came as Kirk Kerkorian, the billionaire investor, aged 88, received a lukewarm response from GM investors to his attempt to buy a big stake in the carmaker. He had hoped to increase his holding to 9 per cent, but his offer of $31 a share proved too low.
GM yesterday repeated its call for Japan to stop intervening in the yen/dollar exchange rate. "We are happy to compete with any automaker around the world but the issue of currency manipulation is still an important issue for us," it said.
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