Is it possible to live in America without a car?



Brent P wrote:

> manufacturing to Japan. US companies lost market share when they
> produced ****.


Indeed. It took Japan for Detroit to build a better car!

If it weren't for Japanese competition, Americans would
still be buying the junk cars Detroit produced in the 70's
through early-mid 90's.

Without that global competition, the UAW members would be
sitting on top their fat jobs putting out **** that the
American consumer had no choice but to pay premium prices
for.

It wasn't just the UAW that contributed to the decline of
the US automaker; American management certainly is amongst
the guilt as well, but a global economy make improvement
possible, as Detroit's answer to the problem was to simply
limit trade with Japan.


SMH


SMH
 
Stephen Harding wrote:
> Brent P wrote:
>
> > manufacturing to Japan. US companies lost market share when they
> > produced ****.

>
> Indeed. It took Japan for Detroit to build a better car!
>
> If it weren't for Japanese competition, Americans would
> still be buying the junk cars Detroit produced in the 70's
> through early-mid 90's.
>
> Without that global competition, the UAW members would be
> sitting on top their fat jobs putting out **** that the
> American consumer had no choice but to pay premium prices
> for.
>
> It wasn't just the UAW that contributed to the decline of
> the US automaker; American management certainly is amongst
> the guilt as well, but a global economy make improvement
> possible, as Detroit's answer to the problem was to simply
> limit trade with Japan.


Unions just put together the car they are told to put together by
engineers. They may as well put together a Focus or an SUV.

And, by the way, there's nearly no globalization when most European
efficient cars are kept out of the market. At most you got a selective
globalization where French workers are more discriminated against than,
say, Mexicans. Well, you know, it's about money and geopolitics.
 
Stephen Harding wrote:
> Brent P wrote:
>
>> manufacturing to Japan. US companies lost market share when they
>> produced ****.

>
> Indeed. It took Japan for Detroit to build a better car!


That was Japan and they were following the European small car market.
The fact that it made a big hit over here started a domino effect.
My favorite cars in the 60's and 70's were rear engine French Renaults
that would go anywhere a jeep could and still got 35-40 MPG when driven
hard. I drove one over 200,000 miles before the door literally fell off.
My wife and I almost died laughing because we said we would drive it
until the doors fell off, then one did.
>
> If it weren't for Japanese competition, Americans would
> still be buying the junk cars Detroit produced in the 70's
> through early-mid 90's.


The early smog efforts really killed performance and made a 14 MPG car
into a 10 MPG car with no guts. Then came the OPEC embargo and we had
cars with neither mileage not power.
>
> Without that global competition, the UAW members would be
> sitting on top their fat jobs putting out **** that the
> American consumer had no choice but to pay premium prices
> for.


What premium prices? I bought a brand spanking new 1968 Rambler with a
232 six and it was a three on the tree hot rod that got 22 MPG, would
put down a 300 stripe of rubber in a drag, and pegged the speedometer.
No piece of **** and I only paid $1,800 for it.
>
> It wasn't just the UAW that contributed to the decline of
> the US automaker; American management certainly is amongst
> the guilt as well, but a global economy make improvement
> possible, as Detroit's answer to the problem was to simply
> limit trade with Japan.
>
>
> SMH
>
>
> SMH


I won't even start to debate how crappy American management is since a
recently departed Exxon (or other huge company) CEO got a nearly $500
million package for being fired after nearly ruining the company.
It seems that all the top dogs have that golden parachute clause because
I hear about it all the time. Screw up a company, lay off thousands of
good workers, and get rewarded when you get fired, usually with all the
money you took from those people you laid off.
Bill Baka
 
This is a nice site that will tell in words and pictures what not to
do. Of course, you got the right to the road, but beware of the jungle
out there...

Avoid busy streets.
One of the biggest mistakes that people make when they start biking is
to take the exact same routes they used when they were driving. It's
usually better to take the streets with fewer and slower cars. Sure,
cyclists have a right to the road, but that's a small consolation when
you're dead. Consider how far you can take this strategy: If you learn
your routes well, you'll find that in many cities you can travel
through neighborhoods to get to most places, only crossing the busiest
streets rather than traveling on them.


And this advice proves my point that we need to take the lane when we
are invisible...

"Remember that in many cases you'll need to take the lane, in which
case you're counting on motorists to see you."

WORTH CHECKING OUT!
http://bicyclesafe.com/

PS: Just on my way here, I was walking my bike across the street, but
the driver on the SUV took over my path, looking the other way. Just
when I decided to cross, he almost run me over. Do you ever feel
INVISIBLE, INSIGNIFICANT AND STEPPED UPON? I guess that's the fate of
the ants, huh? :(
 

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