A Rain of Frogs

Everyone is aware that General Motors is screwed, right?

Yesterday the company announced massive layoffs and plant closures in an attempt to stem what has obviously become terminal hemorrhaging. The closures affect both American and Canadian workers in several locations. Pressure from competition, and to a lesser degree the sudden end of the North American love affair with the SUV are being cited.

In response to the “crisis,” Buzz Hargrove, the leader of the CAW (Canadian Auto Workers Union) told the media that the union could not handle the layoffs through normal channels of attrition. “Normal” channels of attrition apparently include contract clauses that force General Motors to provide handsome early retirement packages to more senior workers. Buzz went on to state that the union was going to work toward forcing the company to move production from US factories up to Canadian ones to prevent the layoffs.

Mr. Hargrove wasn’t finished there though. He went on to say that the problem was one of import and export. While Asian and European car makers are able to sell cars in the North American market, North American manufacturers are unable to sell in those foreign markets. I was stunned to hear this, as I am absolutely positive General Motors sells cars in Europe and fairly positive they do so in Japan as well. They most certainly have a Japanese branch of the company.

It is possible Mr. Hargrove was deliberately misleading the media in an attempt to sway public opinion enough to force the government to intervene, but that is speculation. This is, after all, the same union that was willing to let Canada’s largest airline go bankrupt instead of allowing the company to cut jobs (and therefore deficit) like all other airline unions had.

Only slightly more important here is slumping SUV sales. Recent General Motors sales have relied heavily on the SUV market. High gasoline prices, pressure from environmental groups and changing American tastes have taken a toll on the luxury truck market, and subsequently on General Motors’ bottom line. What is interesting is that this change in the market is not unique to General Motors. All automotive companies, including Asian and European manufacturers have seen an impact on the luxury truck market.

Mr. Hargrove is either lying to us or ignorant of the facts.

Perhaps General Motors is suffering at the hands of foreign companies not because of unfavorable international trade but because the cars it builds are garbage.

While at least one GM plant in Canada has won several awards for construction quality recently, the fact is that GM cars may be well built but they are not well conceived. Further, GM deliberately confuses the market by providing essentially the same automobile through several different channels (Chevrolet, Pontiac, Buick, Oldsmobile, Cadillac, AC General, etc.) in a “wide spray” approach to marketing which insults the intelligence of potential customers.

Foreign manufacturers have overcome poor build/design quality of the past and poor reputations to become the dominant sellers of automobiles in the North American market. They have overcome nearly criminal levels of import tariffs and still managed to market a superior product at comparable prices. If 40 percent of cost of an imported car is duties and tariffs and they still cost the same amount as a domestic car, what are domestic companies doing with all the extra money?

The free market is speaking. This is the fundamental basis of capitalism. General Motors is a dinosaur, an artifact of a bygone era when it was insulated from the real market by consumer fear, patriotism and blind loyalty. Loyalty that has been (ab)used to sell inferior products at larcenous prices. Now the company is being forced to compete on a more level playing field.

Weighed in the balance, and found wanting.

One of the imminent pitfalls of being of a philosophical nature is being attacked for pointing out contradictions in the thought processes of others. Often one will be vilified for poking holes in bubbles, when in fact all one has done is point out that there was never any bubble in the first place, it having burst upon conception.

Shoot the messenger. That’s where the fault lies, after all.

Just as Bullying Awareness Week kicks off in Toronto, 16 youths (14 male and two female) are arrested at a Toronto school for allegedly sexually abusing a 16 year old female student for 18 months. Apparently the alleged victim finally overcame paralyzing fear of reprisal to report the abuse to a teacher.

Most certainly, I believe in the basic premise of innocence until guilt is proven, which is why I am happy these students have been released on bail, and allowed to attend school, though with restrictions. On the other hand, there was enough evidence to arrest 16 people, and the media reports that video surveillance tapes from the school are in police custody.

Though neither the accused nor the alleged victim can be identified (due to them being minors, a law I still don’t get) Ontario’s most major news producer showed them on television with faces pixelled out. All sixteen accused are black, the alleged victim is white.

“Why was the rest of the kids who were arrested black? Is this a racist thing, what is it? Is it a bias?” said the mother of one of the accused, then continuing on to state that “They (the school) don’t want them there because they waste time and run in the hallways.” The parent went on to lament that her child had been traumatized by the experience of being kept in a holding cell overnight till bail could be set by the court.

Of course its because the alleged victim, the police, the teachers and the school board are racist. This is obvious to anyone who is looking. Is it not possible that maybe, just maybe, those 16 students were arrested because they repeatedly raped, tortured and abused a fellow student for a year and a half?

Aside from all this, the parent freely admits her child is disrupting the school by “wasting time” and “run[ning] in the hallways.” Is that because of racism too?

While I will freely admit that racism exists, I am constantly amazed that every time a black person is arrested it’s because the police are racist. The system is racist. F*ck me, it drives me nuts. If crime is rampant in black communities, maybe the cause is the black communities, not the police? It’s so much easier to blame someone else than it is to look inward and maybe admit there’s an issue.

Many black boys are growing up without fathers. Why? Where are the fathers? Hell, where are the mothers? Because some don’t have fathers, some join gangs. Some commit crimes. Why do they join gangs? Why do they commit crimes? Who’s job is it to raise these children? The parents, or the schools?

Black communities should stop pointing fingers and demand more of themselves. Blaming the social issues inherent in black communities in Canada (and there are real and serious issues) on racism is selling those black communities short and perpetuating the problems. Demand more of their children. And more of their parents.

That’s how my gig on Saturday night needs to be described, if it can be described at all. With A on guitar, J on keyboard, beat-box and hand drum, and myself on bass, we ended up having one of the most unusual cover gigs I’ve ever played.

I’m hoping there’s a recording from the bar, because it was something to hear. Three-part vocal harmonies, J’s driving, loop-based hand drum and beat-box rhythm and acoustic guitar/electric bass funkiness combined to create a sound that turned run-of-the-mill covers into unique sonic events that almost defy classification. Ethnic-organic-gospel-funk-rock-fusion. Or something.

They loved it. To the point that the huge line-up out the door to get into the place never abated. The bar actually asked us to cut our second set short to encourage some turnover in patronage, but that didn’t seem to work very well. It was just as busy when we came back for our last set.

If only every cover gig could be that great.

It’s time for change. I think I could benefit from a new career. After ten years of “building the web” I am ready to do something that doesn’t hurt my head in quite the way its been hurting. Perhaps going through a list of my “strengths” and interests might narrow the field somewhat.

I could be an artist. Art is an incredibly rich and varied career path, guaranteeing excitement and adventure, but I’m sort of attached to regular meals. Being a professional artists is quite possibly in the top ten things I’d not want to be doing professionally. Yes, I have some background in this direction, and its not something I ever want to let go of. Whatever I do must have a strong creative component.

Music comes to mind. As you may or may not be aware, I am a classically trained pianist (Royal Conservatory of Music) and fully qualified to both teach and perform. I also play a plethora of other instruments, and regularly handle bass guitar duties in a variety of venues with a variety of musicians. Problem is, I hate the music lifestyle, and I don’t think I have the patience to teach music.

Sailing is one of my great passions. I don’t want it to become my career, because then it will no longer be one of my passions. Does that make sense?

I want to find a career that allows me to combine critical thinking with creative thinking. Something that piques my interest but varies enough that I don’t become bored with the status quo. An industry where people are not only allowed, but encouraged to innovate and try things that haven’t been done before. The technology industry is very much a place that should encourage that, but it really doesn’t. It’s an illusion.

This is not an issue of finding an employer, but finding a field. A general area of operation, where perhaps I can find or carve a place for myself.

There isn’t a lot of levity in this subjecet for me. I can’t think of anything, and I’m hoping that by opening up my thought process up to the public, I might be exposed to some ideas that haven’t or wouldn’t occur to me on my own. Any serious suggestions would be truly appreciated.