t is about enduring and overcoming adversity. It is about having pride, not only in yourself, but also in what you do and where you came from. It is about Detroit, but it is also about many other cities in the "rust belt" that have been counted down and out by the pundits on the 2 coasts.For a long time it has been fashionable to discount places like Cleveland and Pittsburgh, Milwaukee and Gary as relics of a bygone era of heavy industry, of sweat and steel. Instead we heard the accolades for Silicon Valley or the Research Triangle or whatever the media showcased as the "next era", the model for into what or where the country needed to evolve in order to stay competitive with the rest of the world. "Made in America" became a codeword for overpriced, underdesigned and uncompetitive.
Well no more. It took decades of decline and inaction to spur a new attutude among American companies, especially in the automotive industry. While we have not yet, and may not ever again, become the undisputed leaders in manufacturing, America is showing a revitalization of innovation and design. There are, for example, more hybrid vehicles on the market with American nameplates than foreign. There are US firms designing and selling full electric vehicles that rival anything else on the market.
It is not only innovative design, but also quality that has made a comeback. The much maligned American worker has shown that, given the opportunity, he or she can build a good product at a competitive price. Why else would companies like BMW assemble vehicles in South Carolina that are then exported around the world? There is a pride in workmanship that has returned after a too long an acceptance of "good enough." We now remember the pride and perserverance that built an industrial colossus, the greatest producer of goods in the world.
Once again we need to show the world that we are not "down for the count" but on our way back up. We can and will if we work hard enough, long enough and strong enough. Why? Because that's what we do.
(*Correction notice - The original post misquoted the commercial as "it's what we do.")
What finally spurred some innovation at GM was their near-death experience and subsequent take-over by the government. It remains to be seen if the shakeup has any long term impact, or if they will go back to their bad, old ways once the heat is turned down.
ReplyDeleteI am personally astounded that so many people have flocked back to buy GM products, after last year's debacle.
Around here (right in the "rust belt") I'd venture that there is a large contingent of folks all along the supply chain, running restaurants, selling office products, and performing numerous other tasks who are quite relieved that a large number of GM workers (take Lordstown, Ohio for example. Huge ripples from that place...) are still drawing paychecks and spending a goodly portion of their disposable income. And, certainly, hats off to Ford for riding out the reset on their own.
ReplyDeleteJay, in the end it is not so much who makes the product as it is how well it is made and how well it meets your needs and expectations. After I purchased my Mini Cooper S, Nick Avery told me that his brother said "For that much he (I) could have gotten a Chevy Cobalt SS." My reply was that yes, but it still would be a Cobalt, and a rather expensive one at that. My point being that the Mini meets my needs and expectations at a price I was willing to pay and at a quality level I found acceptable. If those parameters had been met by a GM car, or a Ford, or any other make I would have coonsidered those makes also. This would probably not been the case 10 years ago, when many of the domestic cars were either warmed over designs from the 80's or low end rebadged imports. Like it or not, Michigan's economy has been, and will continue to be(unintentional pun alert!) driven by the automotive industry. Whether or not the government "bailout" was a good idea or not may be debatable in Texas, but not around here.
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