On the November 17, 2008 edition of The World, a story was heard on not only the future of foreign auto car makers, but what a Detroit lobbyist thought about the current woes of Chrysler, GM and Ford. The gist was that this lobbyist rejected the idea that the Big Three were out of touch with the American consumer. That the fact that over 40% of domestic car sales were for foreign-designed, but domestically produced cars was somehow not an indictment of American auto-makers' designs that emphasized gas-guzzling SUV's. The fact is, it isn't that American automakers are not making what American's want, but that somehow, Americans just want something different.
That would be the doublespeak they call a "distinction without a difference."
Because, frankly, the American automakers have not been serving their market. They have ignored the market, that thing that Big Business in America so often touts as the indicator and regulator extraordinaire.
But now that the Big Three have finally had to admit that they were not listening to the market, they don't want to take the consequences for their actions. In other words, these three, who would be so quick to sacrifice other businesses to failure don't want to take that responsibility themselves. Instead, they want a bailout.
It is clear how "Big Business" works: the rules of the "Market" apply to everyone else. But when we are failing, we want special treatment.
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