Henry Ford and the new minimum wage.

[Cassiopeia]

http://www.saturdayeveningpost.com/2014/01/03/history/post-perspective/ford-doubles-minimum-wage.html

There are a lot of stories about Ford and how he 'wanted all of his employees to be able to afford one of his automobiles.' We've all heard the story. It sounds like the dreams of a mad man.

Today anyone can do a quick search and find page after page of analysis on what Ford really said, what he really did, and what really happened. Most of it is negative. He really fucked every one of his workers over in the highest order.

However, the results don't show that.

You can buy a Ford today. I won't argue the finer points of automobiles (F' it, I'm a Toyota man through and through) but the FACT is Henry Ford paid his workers a far greater wage and cut their hours.

He made a LOT of money in the process. His workers actually did buy their own product. Others spread their living wages among other businesses in the community.









I'm sick and tired.

I'm sick and tired of being sick and tired of poverty level minimum wages.

When poverty is acceptable nobody is safe from it.

A starting point of $15 isn't good enough, but it's a lot better than $12.

[tecelote]

1. This is what America was about. Sad, we've lost sight.

Two quotes about doubling wages to $5 a day...

“If the floor sweeper’s heart is in his job he can save us five dollars a day by picking up small tools instead of sweeping them out.”

Ford told Garrett, “When business thought only of profit for the owners ‘instead of providing goods for all,’ then it frequently broke down.”

--

Our whole country is "breaking down" because we did not learn from Ford's example.

Profit is king and we'll even wage war and think that it's ok to profit from it.

America needs an honest and moral leader that cares about people over profit.

[Scuba]

2. An imperfect man who understood economics. And motivation.

[tecelote]

3. One of my favorite Ford stories...

- paraphrase -

When he was older, the board took him to court to prove he was incompetent.

During the hearing he was asked a simple question he could not answer. The prosecutor went nuts showing how this proves his incompetence.

In response, Ford said, "Young man, there are many things you do not know and I do not know. But, in business I do have the answers. There is a red button on my desk. When I tap the red button a young man, much like yourself, comes in to my office. I know, when he returns, he will have found any information I need to make a decision" I have a wealth of information at my fingertips."

- Today, our red button is the internet.

[Fawke Em]

4. Well, I'm a Ford gal through and through.

Keep my Mustangs for years and years before I eventually trade them in (usually at the request of my husband).

But, that's beside the point.

Henry Ford had a good many issues (being anti-Jewish for one), but he didn't fuck over his workers. They could afford to buy a Ford. What worker at McDonald's can afford a newish car? One thing people always leave out about Ford is this: he SAVED money by paying his workers more because he didn't have to retrain new ones if the current workers left for better paying jobs.

I think most so-called businessmen today let greed take over their better senses.