The GM, Chrysler, Ford Bailout – Like Giving Change to a Dope Fiend

John Henion lives in Oakland, California. He used to work as a TV producer/editor before he was laid off by his employer, and now writes about the experience at Unemploymentality.com. In the first of a series of blogs, he tells us why the US government should be saving its auto-bailout dollars and spending them on new, information-based industries instead… 

Having been laid off in this American recession, it’s often hard to bear witness to grossly mismanaged companies being bailed out by Washington. But I understand that it needs to be done and I hope for the best. However, it is downright painful to watch my tax dollars being doled out in the sum of US $17.4 billion to try and save the American automotive industry. 

It’s not the fact that over the past 30 years Detroit has proven that it can’t compete with foreign automakers that bothers me. And it’s not the fact that Detroit has neglected to invest in alternative fuel technologies that could have put us ahead of the curve years ago. That doesn’t bother me either. Nor is it that consumer confidence in the American auto industry has already been shaken beyond salvation. Nope.  What really bothers me about the bailout is that manufacturing jobs should not be the backbone of our economy in the future. So why not suck it up now, take the bumps and bruises, and get busy figuring out our future now while the chips are already down?

Low-wage manufacturing jobs have been steadily making their way overseas for years and no amount of union pressure or federal dollars can stop this inevitable trend. So I say, let them go. In a few more years cars will be built by cyborgs anyways. Besides, anyone that has been to Detroit or any other part of the American ‘rust belt’ knows how bad it’s been for more than 40 years now. You can’t throw a stone without hitting an unemployed person and an abandoned house. This is not something an auto bailout can fix. So instead of trying to promise the American laborer short-term job security, be real with them, let them know that this is serious and that they’ve got to be prepared for a new economy – the knowledge-based economy that is looming, if not already here.

I accept this may seem like an aristocratic point of view, but I’m not suggesting the bailout money shouldn’t go to helping the 2.5 million Americans that stand to lose their jobs if the automobile industry was to collapse. It’s a lot like a crack-whore mom who is sitting there with her two kids begging for change though. You want to help those kids really badly, but you can’t give your money to their mom because you know she’ll blow it. So you find out where those kids go to school or what social services they use and you give there. The same applies here: you can’t give this money to GM or Chrysler because you know they’ll just blow it on another PT Cruiser. Seriously, does anyone think more PT Cruisers will save the American auto industry?

So instead of bailing out a bunch of fat cats who have proven themselves to be innovation retardant, why not create opportunities for the 2.5 million auto workers by investing the bailout money in education or new industries that would create the kind of sustainable jobs they need for long-term employment? Jobs that are a bit more sophisticated then stamping out fenders on another ugly American car. Perhaps these new jobs would even have a few transferable skills. I would be happy as hell to spend my tax dollars on that. Who knows, maybe one of the new jobs created would be my own.  

Posted by John Henion in Other | December 24, 2008 1:02PM |