[TheForge] Re: OT: several questions and thoughts

[Demon Buddha]

GHS wrote:
> Mike Spencer wrote:
> Which is where robotics come in.
> But the unions do not like robotics.

	Screw the unions.  They are less than worthless.  I just watched AFA 
sell the United flight attendants up the river.  They are assholes.  I 
was in the largest local in the USA when I was a teacher in NYC and my 
first year they sold us out to the board of ed.  I've yet to see a union 
accomplish anything useful to either their constituents or anyone other 
than themselves.  I remember when my friend worked at the NY times.  The 
union rules required that there were two to three people for EACH 
position on the evening shape.  As often as not, my friend was either 
sent home or to a lounge for his 40 winks at $16/hour in 1982.  That's 
good for at least $32 today.  Imagine getting paid $32/hour to sweep the 
floor and sleep in the lounge all night.  With crap like that being 
imposed on management, it is no wonder that they run away to Mexico and 
China where this sort of crap doesn't go on.  Management's obligation 
and responsibility is to the shareholder because shareholders are the 
legal and factual owners of the corporation.  If you hired someone to 
run your household and you discovered they were feeding all their 
friends from your refrigerator, how would you feel about that?  That is 
what it is like when unions do what they do.  As far as I'm concerned, 
I'd see every union busted into the dust yesterday.  They have done more 
real harm to the everyday lives of the people of this nation than just 
about anything else I can think of.

> If the union needs to keep the screw turners then they should be paid 
> for the value of an unskilled job which a machine can do faster and 
> probably more consistently.

	Welcome to fantasy island.
> 
>>
>> You ever think about how much a one-off car lovingly crafted by
>> skilled artisans would cost?  Even with "modern" tools like power
>> hammers, lathes and English wheel?  Used to cost when that's how it
>> was done, even at non-union wages then standard?  Yow!
>>
>> - Mike
>>  
>>
> A decent reliable, comfortable car , made to quality standards  could be 
> made and sold much cheaper. We would need to apply the advances in 
> manufacturing and not demand a new model every year.
> I would gladly put up with a good solid safe 2006-2016  pickup for 
> 10,000 even if it did only come in black.

	You would, but many (most?) people wouldn't.  The market follows the 
desires of the buyer.  It doesn't have much choice.  As the average 
person becomes ever more stupid, their tastes (if taste even really 
applies here) wander off, this way or that.  If you are in business and 
you do not meet the wishes of the market, it will pass you by.  If we're 
in a death spiral, and I'm not saying that we are, it is at our own 
hands that we ended up there.