02-14-2007, 07:19 PM
What does it mean?
I go back a few years. :Let me tell you about a story. A true story.
There was this little nation with balls. They took on the US and, predictably lost. The US did not want to govern them nor did they want to release them completely to do it all again... So we put a few rules into affect. One rule was (& this made so much sense at the time) NO MILITARY! By now most of you know this little country to be Japan. Now they resisted this "no military" thing... saying they cannot be left defenceless. We said: "no worry, we will protect you".
In that one statement we declared that Japan can one day be one of the richest nations in the world. With no military burden yet all the protection they could want (at someone elses expense) the gov could use it's military budget for other things.
Next the US saw this new child as a tremendous burden. Because not only were we footing their military bill, but the needed all sorts of financial support simply because their infrastructure was destroyed (sound familiar?) One of the things we did was to encourage them to go into manufacturing. And manufacture they did. Except for one thing, they had no concept of quality. Back in the early 60's and late 50's, "Made in Japan" meant it was destined to break in less than 10 days. They made junk and crap for a low price. Mostly worthless party trinkets and inferior tools.
The US government took yet another step. We sent financial analists to Japan to teach them how to improve their immage. The same wizards that talk to our corporations here and even run them... except for 1 difference, Japan listened. Quality became important.
So, over the next 10 years Japanese quality improved and ours declined so that US corporations could deal with 1-the Japanese competition, 2-US Minimum wages, 3-Unions, 4-US wages.
So the US made goods went up in price and way down in quality. Steel became thinner and more inferior by mixing jumk in it to decrease the price. Cheap materials were used for interiors. What once had over 24 coats of paint was delivered now with 4.
Here is something else to consider... My first new car was a 1972 Karman Ghia. I was torn between that and a Cadalac... The KG cost around $3,400. The Caddy cost around $4,500. The life expectancy of the caddy was around 4 to 5 years. My Karman Ghia is still on the road (I've seen it in the old neighborhood)
I go back a few years. :Let me tell you about a story. A true story.
There was this little nation with balls. They took on the US and, predictably lost. The US did not want to govern them nor did they want to release them completely to do it all again... So we put a few rules into affect. One rule was (& this made so much sense at the time) NO MILITARY! By now most of you know this little country to be Japan. Now they resisted this "no military" thing... saying they cannot be left defenceless. We said: "no worry, we will protect you".
In that one statement we declared that Japan can one day be one of the richest nations in the world. With no military burden yet all the protection they could want (at someone elses expense) the gov could use it's military budget for other things.
Next the US saw this new child as a tremendous burden. Because not only were we footing their military bill, but the needed all sorts of financial support simply because their infrastructure was destroyed (sound familiar?) One of the things we did was to encourage them to go into manufacturing. And manufacture they did. Except for one thing, they had no concept of quality. Back in the early 60's and late 50's, "Made in Japan" meant it was destined to break in less than 10 days. They made junk and crap for a low price. Mostly worthless party trinkets and inferior tools.
The US government took yet another step. We sent financial analists to Japan to teach them how to improve their immage. The same wizards that talk to our corporations here and even run them... except for 1 difference, Japan listened. Quality became important.
So, over the next 10 years Japanese quality improved and ours declined so that US corporations could deal with 1-the Japanese competition, 2-US Minimum wages, 3-Unions, 4-US wages.
So the US made goods went up in price and way down in quality. Steel became thinner and more inferior by mixing jumk in it to decrease the price. Cheap materials were used for interiors. What once had over 24 coats of paint was delivered now with 4.
Here is something else to consider... My first new car was a 1972 Karman Ghia. I was torn between that and a Cadalac... The KG cost around $3,400. The Caddy cost around $4,500. The life expectancy of the caddy was around 4 to 5 years. My Karman Ghia is still on the road (I've seen it in the old neighborhood)
