Everyone knows the stereotype of the left-wing academic liberal, who drinks a daily latte at Starbucks and drives a Volvo wagon. Since that first appeared, the car is no longer a Volvo, but more than likely a Toyota, a Hyundai, a Nissan or even a BMW, a Mercedes or a Volkswagon—anything but an American car.
In fact, I can’t name anyone I know who drives an American car except me. The argument is simple: if you want a good car, buy Japanese. The American cars will give you trouble; they’re not roadworthy, they’re not good on gas, etc. There is another reason not to buy an American car. Foreign and especially Japanese cars have so much more to offer than the competing American model and cost only a thousand or two more
When we had to recently get a new car after an accident that totaled our old car—we did the unthinkable. We settled for a Mercury Sable LS. Yes, an American car. That, I guess, unmistakably marks me as a die-hard conservative.
One reason the American manufacturers cannot compete: labor costs. As an article in The New York Times makes clear, “the average U.A.W. member costs G.M. about $74 an hour in a combination of wages, health care and the value of future benefits, like pensions. Toyota, by comparison, spends the equivalent of about $45 an hour for each of its employees in the United States.” Those high labor costs make it virtually impossible for GM and the other big U.S. automakers to compete on an equal footing with companies like Toyota.
It is because of this that the dwindling membership of the U.A.W. has announced their willingness to make drastic concessions to help the American firms stay in business. It finally has dawned on them that if their old programs and benefits stay intact, the manufacturers will go bust and all their members will find themselves out of a job. That is why the U.A.W. now proposes to sacrifice job security provisions and financing for retiree health care.
The Japanese automakers, to put it simply, don’t have to deal with the unions. And here is where I get to the blatant hypocrisy. How many people on the Left- who talk regularly about the evil of income inequality and non-union jobs that deprive workers of rights and an income and health care they deserve, drive Japanese cars because they don’t want to buy from American firms whose hands are stymied by those horrible union benefits? There is no way to take a survey, but I sure know plenty of them, and those I know aren’t driving Fords or Pontiacs or Chevrolets.
I purchased a Honda and then another Honda because I didn’t want to directly contribute $2,000 to $6,000 to democrat politicians. No American cars for me until this symbiotic relationship dies.
The premise of this article is bunk. Japanese (and also Korean) automakers DO have to deal with unions. They have to deal with Japanese (and Korean) unions. The only difference is that the Asian automakers don’t have to deal with *OUR* unions.
In the late ’80s and early ’90s Ford, Chevy and chrysler all had full size v-6s that got 31 mpg on the hwy. The news media nitwits never ever acknowledge this. They are all b-ll shi–ers of the first order.I presently drive a 1994 Ford T-Bird.I have been driving for 63 yrs. and it is by far the best car that I’ve ever owned, in all respects.BTW I do not support the bail out.Better a bankruptcy.
Ah, yet another “I saw someone do something once, so I am now qualified to make sweeping generalizations !” post.
Ho-hum …
The fact is, the German and Japanese car companies aren’t doing all that well these days either, in America or world-wide.
The reason we have Japanese and Germans building cars in the USA at all is because their native workers in their home country plants are also unionized and payed a much higher wage than our UAW workers. Unfortunately, American manufacturers cannot build non-union plants in Japan or Europe.
Regardless, the major cost of an automobile is the components (many made in Mexico, China, and other foreign places now), and not the final assembly wage … so the wage disparity (labor unions) IS NOT the base cause of American car company woes.
Now, all that being said … I do agree with the author about “hypocricy” in not buying American … but this hypocrisy applies to the left and right both. Most everything the most workers in America enjoy today (the 40 hour work week, group health coverage, paid holidays and vacations) were hard fought accomplishments by organized labor.
For the record, I still have my 13yo Oldsmobile Cutlass (great car- almost problem free, and driver’s seat comfortably worn into a perfect fit by now).
I also enjoy a good Starbuck’s coffee every morning, but I have a good strong liberal manly Mondo (coffee with two added espresso shots), not a foo-foo sissy conservative style lattee, cappucino, or mocha.
I’m now totally convinced Ron Radosh is full of crap. Typical conservative assclown railing on “liberals” as elitists, then putting down unions like a good little RW foot soldier. Cry me a river!
Even sensible conservatives realize foreign-made cars are infinitely better than American cars. I’ve had my Tacoma since 2000. It gets reasonable gas mileage for a medium size truck, it’s a very good drive and I have maybe spent less than $2000 in repairs since I bought it. Used! Can’t say the same for the American cars I’ve bought.
I avoid Starbucks like the plague. I will continue to buy Toyota vehicles. My next truck will probably be a Tundra. It’s one big ballsy truck! Other then that, I buy American every chance I get. If I had a bike, it would be a Harley. I try to avoid cheap crap from China as much as I can.
The Big 3 got themselves into this mess by not building cars the average American wants to hang on to. It has nothing to do with unions. It has everything to do with quality.
Amen Pat J. Also M. Radosh ignores the fact that workers in Europe and Japan have healthcare, subsidized education, and state benefits that US auto workers only get if they are in UAW. So the comparison of wages is fallacious. Radosh and his ilk who think environmental conservation is a dubious personal virtue at best are part of what has contributed to a behind the times US auto industry. Chevy Volt? Little late folks.
“It has nothing to do with unions. It has everything to do with quality.”
The UAW benefits have been so costly to American manufacturers that they must focus almost exclusively on how to keep these cost under some sort of control—before they can even spend a few minutes on trying to improve their vehicles. An auto expert remarked a few years ago that GM needed a CEO who was primarily an expert in benefits management. The individual’s ability to manage the other aspects of the business was deemed of secondary importance!
Ron Radosh is not sufficiently cynical concerning America’s left-wing community. There is one central reason why they reject libertarian economics: a hands off approach to economic activity does little to provide them with power and financially rewarding careers. Roosevelt’s New Deal was a godsend to the “elites.” It allowed these arrogant fools to ruthlessly exercise power.
The Detroit Three do not pay the wages and benefits of the current UAW workforce, and the benefits of the much larger pool of retirees. The customers do, the corporations and their managements are just the middlemen.
The benefit structure was developed in a different world, when lots of car buyers and fewer, weaker competitors made it appear to be a reasonable option to improve the workers’ economic situation to that extent.
No more, the customers have too many strong options, and they do not want to pay the cost of those very generous benefits any longer.
No point in blaming union or management, each made deals they can’t sustain. If they can adapt quickly enough, they can survive. But nobody wants the party to end until absolutely necessary, so they put off adapting until it may be too late.
Just to be clear, the $73/hour is what it costs the automakers per hour of labor, that is fully loaded cost, the current worker’s share of that is significantly less, the retirees and health plans get the remainder.
And even the green, sophisticated, liberal folks are not willing to pay the bill any longer.
My (admittedly personal) experience is that Lefties don’t know anything about vehicles (they ain’t Joe the Plumber for sure.) But they know what is stylish, and American brand cars are so… you know… dull, boring…. so American, so ticky tacky.
Better to buy a sophisticated Euro car, so much more cosmopolitan, my dears.
I drive an ’02 Chevy Prizm, basically a Corolla but made by union labor in California. I love it. Since 1987 I’ve had the same car under three different names and they were running fine after over 100,000 miles until I gave one to my nephew and the second was totalled.
But yes, this is hardly the sole area where the left bruits its support for the working people without actually supporting them.