Friday, December 12, 2008

Why the UAW and Organized Religion is bad




It's no secret that the economy is in the crapper. Our stock markets are crashing, banks are being bought and sold much like they are for sale on eBay, the retail sales this Christmas are down, and realty stocks are rising while prices are falling.

Another tragic story of this economic downturn is the American Auto Maker. The American Automakers, GM, Chrysler, and Ford [read: Big 3] are petitioning the government for a bailout. They want the America taxpayer to bailout their company in order to stay afloat. To an extent I agree that yes, they need a bailout because the results of any one of these automakers going out of business would be disastrous for our country, and economy.

Late last night the Bill that was passed in the House went over to the Senate. They Senate voted the bill down by a resounding majority. The United Auto Workers (UAW) refused to budge on their position the lower wages to bring them in line with other auto manufacturers (Toyota, Honda) that are building cars on American soil. The UAW flat out refused to make that concession. They knew that they had to make concessions, but they did not want to make that one.

Let's get a little lesson in facts. It is a fact that most of the cars made by the Big 3 are made in Mexico. There are plants in America which are mainly component plants. I know the Chevy Cobalt and the Pontiac G6 are made in Lordstown, Ohio but the majority of their parts, and manufacturing are done outside America. Honda and Toyota [read: profitable 2] make their vehicles for America, in America. They have the leading hybrid technology and they have a more profitable business model. For the most part, the UAW haven't infiltrated the upper echelons of the company and re-molded it to their liking. The UAW has been driving the prices up on the Big 3 for years, and to keep their non-profitable gas guzzling cars coming off the assembly lines, they approve and agree to higher pay with each and every contract, because if they don't the UAW will pout like 3 year olds and strike (temper tantrum) until they get their way. The profitable 2 have lower wages, but they aren't petitioning our government for more money either.

GM hasn't out sold Toyota for almost 2 years, but you have to think, if GM out sells Toyota, that is like the 6th grade bully beating the crap out of a kindergartener. Toyota has 1 major brand, Toyota. They have Lexus too, but for the most part, people are buying Toyotas. GM on the otherhand has, Chevy, Pontiac, Buick, Saturn, Cadillac, and Hummer. Yeah, they have 6 major brands against Toyota's 2 maybe 3 if you include Scion. So to say Toyota out sold GM is a major thing.

So the UAW says no way to a wage cut to keep the employer of their members open, they may force the Big 3 into bankruptcy. So they would rather tell their members to hold out for more money, than to guarantee their pay checks. So why are the members of the UAW even paying their leadership?

This brings me to my next point. The economy is in the crapper and many people are pinching pennies and trying to make ends me. I am no exception. A situation has come up where Audrey's tuition for private Catholic school may be in jeopardy. Slumping economy and things of this nature, has forced my ex-wife to use the money she would normally reserve for Audrey's school, to pay bills to keep the lights on.

We had a discussion, so we decided to go to the parish and ask for assistence. Figured if we explained our situation to Father, he would understand and help with some sort of assistence. We weren't asking for a reduced rate, but a special payment plan or something. These were Christian people so why wouldn't they help.

Instead of empathizing they chastized my ex and made her feel like less of a human. If she wasn't able to pay, then Audrey could no longer go to school at St. Mary's. They didn't stop and think about what it could do to Audrey's psyche or what it would do to her further development as a Catholic. They just cared about the all mighty dollar.

I have been searching for a place of worship for sometime now. Everytime I walk into a Church i I feel like they are selling me on why I should come there and because the Bible tell us so, pay them 10% of what I earn. Yes the Bible says to need to give 10%, but no where does it say that it has to be money to a church. It says give 10% to God, so what you do with your hard earned money it never says give it to a guy in a robe at a Church. How ever you choose to remit your 10% to God is between you and God.

All organized religions are the same. They don't care about the Christianity of the matter, they care about how they are going to continue to get your money.

2 comments:

tangobaby said...

Oh Adam,

I am so sorry to hear about how you were treated in the situation with Audrey. That must have been such a heartbreaking yet eye-opening experience to have endured.

I hope that things will work out for Audrey and her schooling.

Adan said...

I am a firm believer that everything happens for a reason.

Things seem to have worked themselves out thus far.

We'll see how it goes.

Thanks for the comments! Keep reading.