I rented a car.
Support the Blog — Buy This Book!
For Kindle and with free ePub version. Only $9.49 Great reading.
Here is what Gary Shapiro CEO of the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) said: Dvorak's writing sings with insight and clarity. Whether or not you agree with John's views, he will get you thinking and is never boring. These essays are worth the read!
Put this ad on your blog!
Syndicate
Subscribe to Main Blog feed here:
Subscribe to Comments too (below):
Junk Email Filter
This is why I have a disdain for union labor. They think their very basic work is worth a lot more than what employers or customers are willing to pay.
If you’re EASILY replaceable, why should you be able to justify a higher wage / salary?
Speaking of union labor, my next automobile is going to support right-to-work states and non-union labor.
Union labor saved my family, home, job and even rescued a good employer from going into bankruptcy by collectively voting to take 4 days pay for 5 days work for 6 months.
Out of curiosity, why wouldn’t the employees if a non-union shop in the otherwise same circumstances have made the same collective decision?
It wasn’t more than a few months ago the union bakers of Hostess (former home of the Twinkie) voted to become unemployed rather than take a pay/benefit cut to save the company. A rather Pyrrhic victory by the bakers and confectioner’s union (which actually owned a majority of debt owed by Hostess for some reason).
Its word play but a bunch of wage slaves doing the same thing is not collective action. Therefore, each and every one of them as the boss may contrive is subject to being fired for cause.
Big diff…. no?
Actually, the union members never got to vote on the proposal put forth by Hostess. The union bosses would not allow it, even though it was requested by the Teamsters which was representing the other workers who lost their jobs.
hostess was taking the employee pension contributions and keeping the money. they were using it to cover operating costs. I was surprised that this was not illegal but the fact that it was a self directed plan seems to have made some difference.
Oh McGuyver–you’re gonna suck on a turd in Hell for that one. Labor Unions created the middle class in america. Its decline is the decline of the middle class, in fact the decline of America as well.
What is a Society without a Middle Class?
Stay tuned. With these shit for brains/morality/knowledge of history/striking a fair balance between capital and labor ideas of McGuyver/Darwinian Free Market Capitalists/race to the bottom monopolists a new race if not freefall to the bottom of the world barrel has been running now for 20 or so years.
What is it already in america?? the top 1% own 80% of the wealth of America? Not good enough for The McGuyver though. He wants further stratification. Because you know–those minimum wage people can be replaced by people working two jobs. THEY are the righteous ones.
Ha, ha. McGuyver…you aciditic view human society can be seen as simply misguided or paid for when in comes to Global Warming, but it stands naked and hideous when addressing subjects that readers here have personal affinity with.
Why do you hate human society so???? Extra points during the Rapture? I do need to study my religion more… I thought that was pass/fail?
What does my word cube offer? We got:
Silly Hooman–no, this is more anti-human
Stoopid Hooman–no, still missing the harm The McGuyver wishes on all.
Dolt–no, still too much focus on the individual rather than the effects of what that Dolt is advocating
Looks like my armamentarium is at least one arrow short?
“Oh Lord, give me your tongue so that your sheep may hear!!!”
And the Lord Said:
Poor Misguided Wolf.
A lot of people say that but Ford welcomed Unions and was paying far more than most other jobs long before he was being threatened by them.
What is clear is that when the economy is good employers have to compete for workers and they pay more and when it is bad being a member of a Union and making demands simply gets your factory closed.
Some of the crap that went on in mining company towns most likely got stopped by Unions but it’s a mixed bag.
The Union that finally moved in at Murry Ohio couldn’t do jack because everybody knew if they went on strike the factory would close so about all it did was reduce pay by collecting dues.
Like I said it’s a mixed bag but unless the economy is good enough the company can afford to make whatever concessions the Unions happen to want to Company either won’t make those concessions or it will go bankrupt like GM America did.
Of course a racist anti-Semite would welcome unions as they keep out the unwanted, and there is no fear of having to compete with another company that hires them, as the union will keep them out from your competitors as well.
Good luck finding a completely non-union delivered car. Remember not all unions are bad, and the majority of the union representatives don’t really represent the what the union workers want. They are lining their pockets and futures, just like your politicians don’t really represent your best interest or their election platform.
tO THE CAB COMPANY..
Easily replaced, means..
CHEAP
min wage.
NEW contracts.
To the Drivers it means..
NO EXPERIENCE..
NO work history
NO driving history
Kids that dont know the RULES/LAWS and HOW to use their RIGHTS with the company.
what does that mean to YOU?
“what does that mean to YOU?” That you still have no concept of how to correctly use capitalization or the caps lock key.
I think he has a faulty keyboard that randomly types in CAPS. I vote that dvorak.org send $25 to ECA so he can buy an new keyboard.
here i thought he was just using a dvorak keyboard layout
iT uSe To Be woRSe beFOre hE sTaRTed tAKIng hIS MeDs.
Haven’t you guys figured out that “ECA” is a government organization?
Extraneous Capitalization Administration…
I am amazed by ignorant people who hate unions. I hope they enjoy working 6 12 hrs days at slave wages. Talking about engineering a depressed economy, leave the whole population with no disposable income; now that’s a depressed economy that can’t employ more people.
But that’s ok, because we care about a top down, class based economy. The sub 1% will do well and who the f* cares about the 99%. The 99% votes can be brought with clever 30sec commercials and RUSH infomercials!
Meanwhile investors get screwed too in an austerity driven shrinking market pool of investment opportunities. Austerity benefits the 1% because they can hold onto their wealth.
Unions were the primary tool of keeping black employment opportunities low.
C’mon Mickey—don’t be so coy. Does this mean you are for or against them?
Congrats MikeN, thanks for the evidence; you have”primary” demonstrated you are indeed a callus “tough mind for tough times” racist!
You are deceiving yourself with this history that unions built a middle class off of the wealthy. Outside of a few industries and areas, they built themselves up off of those who were kept out of the union and denied opportunities to compete with the union.
Black unemployment was lower before they passed the minimum wage law. Now minimum wage laws were never a real part of the union agenda, and the passage of this and other laws probably helped defeat the unions, as they no longer provide as much value when the government has mandated large parts of their negotiation package.
Yeah, yeah you scuzzy dipshit.
………….. and when you saw Jebus walking on the water, YOUR TYPE OF SCUM went out and told everyone that he couldn’t swim.
I find your arguments to be complete twaddle and would only laugh===except you have a whole political party formed out of the same BS and then you let yourself be led around by the nose by the same lies you tell===>>ALL TO YOUR OWN DETRIMENT. But not just your detriment==everyones detriment even including the RICH at some level, even years before Madame Guillotine arrives on stage.
Yes YOU Mickey are cutting your own throat, that of your kiddies and so forth by this blather you spew forth.
-or- Prove me Wrong. How many Tens of Millions do you have in Preferred Stock?
You and I are all part of the “not” RICH–having been set upon each other by tales of class warfare.
Pull your head out of your ass and PAY ATTENTION!!!!
Silly Hoomans, doing it to themselves.
MikeN, I fully agree with you that you are indeed deceiving yourself with your own recount of history!!
Not only are you racist but clueless about how the middle class was really built.
It’s no coincident, as Ross Perot predicted, with globalization came the giant sucking sound of job loss in the United States. As unions have become weaker over the past decades, the middle class has declined.
When workers are fairly paid, an economic virtuous cycle develops. Well paid workers spend more and this generates more jobs, which expands the economy, which creates more wealth. Wealth feels secure to be invested back into a growing economy to build more factories to meet demand.
Supply follows demand, BUT demand does not follow supply. You ever hear about over-capacity and what it leads too, LAYOFFs. LAYOFFs lead to recession.
That’s where American’s are at. Except worse, American companies who want to enjoy the benefits of America’s business infrastructure and markets don’t want to pay their taxes and demand corporate welfare using others tax dollars to bail them out!
The word play is worth a comment:
“When workers are fairly paid, an economic virtuous cycle develops.” /// Virtuosity is not a component of most economic analysis so I take you meant virtual? But the cycle formed is real and not virtual, so I’m back to virtuous.
Reality is what slams into your nose and knocks you unconscious if not killing you when you think nothing is there. Class Warfare has convinced the masses that “the Rich provide jobs” or that “trickle down tax policies create jobs” and all the other similar lies that are told. From that perspective, stating the simple truth that economies/jobs are built from the bottom up actually is VIRTUOUS.
Perhaps the vocabulary of economic speak does need some additions?
Well said.
Mickey will of course simply ignore this thread and repeat his lies on the next opportunity. No thinking required.
Same as it always was.
What can I add, I dare not.
Na, speak I must up!
“Virtuosity is not a component of most economic analysis ”
You are right because the “virtuous cycle” economic concept didn’t exist before my 4/11/2013 at 4:01 pm comment; until, a time traveler read my response and took it back in time and shared it as their own.
I want my royalties!
Regarding my “word play”. I am a very protective parent and don’t let my words play. It’s all work and no play for my words.
I whip my words when I see them playing.
You have a contradiction in your history. So did decline come from globalization or the weakness of unions?
Don’t you consider it obvious that unions would see their allure drop as government mandated policies that were previously negotiated by the union? Minimum wage, OSHA, mine safety commission, etc. make the union not as necessary.
Minimum wage, OSHA, mine safety commission, etc. make the union not as necessary.
That stuff was implemented partly because of union pressure. What happens if we get rid of the unions?
“Your honor, the restraining order works, I’m not beating her any more. So she doesn’t need it any more!”
Riiiiiiiiight.
Your point is? If the law is taken away, the unions become more valuable? OK, then that means the union is less valuable when the law exists.
lol MikeN, did a union kill your dad when you were a kid? Whatta maroon. Unable to understand basic reasoning.
You like safe workplaces? Thank unions. You like 40 hour work weeks? Thank unions. You like benefits? Thank a union. You like not being fired if you get injured on the job? Thank a union. Brave men and women died to get you those benefits, and more. So STFU your clueless trap and read some history of labor in America, ya moron.
Sure, unions like any other organizations can become corrupt. So you fix the corruption, not throw out the concept. We haven’t thrown out Capitalism just because some big companies are massively corrupt.
Take a chill pill, pal.
I don’t even think you are comprehending my point, which is not criticizing unions, but merely saying that they sowed the seeds of their own decline by getting the government to provide the union service to all workers for free.
In a 1979 affirmative-action case, Chief Justice Warren Burger claimed that “The gross discrimination against minorities . . . particularly against Negroes in the building trades and craft unions — is one of the dark chapters in the otherwise great history of the American labor movement.”
Heil Volks!
I reckon we can expect some fun facts from the National Association of Broadcasters convention in Vegas on Thursday’s No Agenda show. It must be rough making a living in Las Vegas these days. Good luck to the drivers — hang in there until Obama turns things around for us volks.
Viva Las Vegas
Since when have “facts” come from the National Association of Broadcasters?
The days of Edward Muro and Walter Cronkite are long gone.
Broadcaster really only deliver confusion which they manipulate to deliver suspense to engage their viewers and keep the story going.
There is little useful informational value in watching the news!
Look at it this way…
We don’t need any cab drivers. We don’t need any bus drivers either. You can say adios to the truck drivers, boat captains, airplane pilots and train engineers too. And while we’re at it you can get rid of every damn traffic cop as well. Monkeys can do those jobs. And anyone doing it now is sub human and doesn’t deserve to make a living at it.
We have RIGHTS and you can kiss our asses if you think otherwise. We have the money to buy gas, burn it, and then make everyone breathe in the fumes cause our RIGHTS say we can. Just don’t smoke tobacco, not even in a PRIVATE bar, cause the tobacco people never got on board with us – the pot people did!
We’re the new America and if you don’t think like us then you better get your thinking in order or do us all a favor and just kill yourself now (but don’t use a gun). What we say goes! And right now, anyone WORKING for a living like those taxi driers will learn our wrath for selfishly trying to get rich. Because we will tax them to oblivion or force more union dues out of their paychecks so everyone ELSE can live like kings. And if you don’t like it then screw you. No more job! After all, we’re LIBERALS and we know what’s best.
Another blue collar worker convinced by the right-wing media to blame the poor.
I see an opportunity to drive around in my car and make money ferrying people around. I bet I could make enough to become a knight.
Give it a shot and let us know how it works out for you.
They could probably just increase the number of taxi medallions they issue, and most of the cabbies issues would go away.
Let me list some of the Unions you all support:
American Medical Association
Airline Pilots Association
AFTRA
SAG
National Association of Realtors (6% union)
Teamsters (most important and expensive goods delivered by them)
RailRoad Engineers (they bring the coal to the power plant that runs the computer)
United Mine Workers (They mine that coal)
United Farm Workers
National Football Players Association (You watch the Super Bowl right?)
United Farm Workers (???) You like to eat vegitables in the winter, not grow them yourself.
“I hate Unions” says the Dallas Cowboys fan. Really, your jersey and season tickets support them.
This country is a union. Get it “United States.”
Workers unite: “We have fed you all for a thousand years”
http://youtube.com/watch?v=PWTXyO2MOlQ
I would add one more thought about Unions. I guess I’ve been a life member of the LCEA and the TEA. I got stuck with the NEA whose views I have never endorsed. In TN the first two did some pretty good work both for teachers and students. Even so getting hired, fired, and to a degree tenure could be as much a matter of politics as anything.
In TN tenure is now gone which pretty much kills any thought of job security and everything is back to politics on job security though a good job performance is certainly an asset but what doesn’t get counted and what does may make you want to put you kid in a private school for which reason I very reluctantly support vouchers. Private schools often refuse to accept problem students or students will problems and the public schools run the risk of becoming dumping grounds but parents need options.
In any event at least in TN retirement is pretty well funded as is medical care at levels which are sustainable and the profession has been attractive. What has happened in other states is insane in my view. People have been promised the moon and the communities are never going to be able to foot the bill and wages for teachers in many communities such as Detroit are absolutely insane. This was not done in the best interest of the students. It was blind greed and boundless foolishness because it can’t be sustained.
I dunno. The last 2 times I was in Las Vegas (about 10 years apart, but most recently a year ago) I saw no particular reason to use an automobile (taxi or otherwise) at all.
Anywhere I wanted to go in that filthy* town I could walk far, far faster.
And, taxi drivers have a union??? Since when??
*filthy for physical dirt, grime and dust. I have nothing against gambling or prostitution.
Good.
Corporations and government officials shouldn’t be the only gangs in town.
Damned Human Resources are making trouble again.
Replace them with robots.
Problem solved.
Union in Michigan agreed to a ten year wage freeze. The reason, they wanted to make sure they keep collecting dues for ten years, as the state became a right-to-work state.
Why should you need a union of taxi drivers?
Any of ’em sporting Mohawks?