Favorable or Unfavorable #301: Henry Ford

[vcczar]

Henry Ford of MI is most famous for the Model T (1908) and the assembley line (1913), both things that predate the political actions below. He is considered part of the progresisve efficiency movement, of which Herbert Hoover was a part and whom tried to apply it to politics and policy and bureaucracy. 

Some clarifications of the below. For 1914, Ford believed corporatons should give workers high pay, reasonable hours, and etc. because doing so created a pool of more skilled and eager applicants and that the workers tended to be more loyal and hardworking because of this form of "profit-sharing." He opposed Labor Unions, although the unions had the same goals in mind for workers. I think his opposition stemmed mainly because he wanted more control over the welfare system for his employees and possibly an easier option of firing employees that aren't doing their work. I tend to be okay with corporations that don't like labor unions so long as the workers are treated just as well or better than if they were unionized. The downside with welfare capitalism over labor unions is, that while they don't need to pay a union due, they have less job security. 

Most of Ford's actions are on antisemitism because it's an important lead up to Nazi Germany. Anti-semitism wasn't confined only to Germany, Austria, Poland, Russia, etc. The advent of Socialism really put a lot of negative attention on Jewish people because a disproportionate number of prominent Socialist leaders were Jewish. Generally, when a people are restricted from advancement in life through normal channels, they'll seek success, respect, purpose elsewhere. The Jewish people, because of the diaspora, lack of equality and often lack of citizenship, viewed the world more internationally than nationally, which made Socialism--with was more international than nationalist--an ideal fit for some. As Socialism became more of a bogeyman, so did Jewish people. There was also a belief that Jewish people controlled the banks since some of the top international bankers were Jewish (Rothschild's for instance). When people are having a difficult time many tend to blame others rather than doing the best with what they got. Antisemitism originates, in part, from ignorance, blame, hopelessness, and a sense of wanting to feel superior in some way--racially, religiously, or "morally." Ford is right condemned for promoting these sentiments in the 1920s, in which he was praised by Hitler in Mein Kampf of all books. By the late 1920s, Ford is a lot more quiet about his views, and then breaks from then in the 1940s, although I don't think he felt any real regret until he saw images of Concentration Camps. Apparently that really affected him. Many labor leaders were also Jewish, so his opposition to Labor Unions probably went hand-in-hand with his antisemitism. 

For politics. Ford really wasn't that political aside from supporting the League of Nations, opposing labor unions, and his antisemitism. He was a GOP candidate only because he was then the star businessman and he happened to be a Republican. 

His actions:

Ford, Henry	1914	Pioneer of welfare capitalism in opposition to Labor Unions
Ford, Henry	1916	Rep Pres Cand, although not actively running for president
Ford, Henry	1918	Switches from GOP to Dem with Wilson's encouragement to run for US Sen (Ford loses)
Ford, Henry	1918	Buys local paper in which he begins publishing his antisemitic views--Jewish conspiracies and etc.
Ford, Henry	1921	His antisemitism condemned by Wilson
Ford, Henry	1927	Forced to shut down paper amid criticism of its antisemitism
Ford, Henry	1938	Receives a medal from Nazi Germany
Ford, Henry	1942	Makes statement in apparant break with his old antisemitism, calling for equal respect of all people

[OrangeP47]

Interestingly, in the past like 2 weeks or so I've become obsessed with the actual Model T itself.

[vcczar]

41 minutes ago, OrangeP47 said:

Interestingly, in the past like 2 weeks or so I've become obsessed with the actual Model T itself.

I wish they would add it to Grand Theft Auto

[OrangeP47]

1 hour ago, vcczar said:

I wish they would add it to Grand Theft Auto

I can't remember what it's called, but the model after that, I think I actually saw one IRL yesterday that was either really beat up or was deliberately converted into a low-rider sportster... it was at least doing 55 down the road though.

[vcczar]

38 minutes ago, OrangeP47 said:

I can't remember what it's called, but the model after that, I think I actually saw one IRL yesterday that was either really beat up or was deliberately converted into a low-rider sportster... it was at least doing 55 down the road though.

Now I’m wondering how much horsepower the Flintstones car is. 

[OrangeP47]

Just now, vcczar said:

Now I’m wondering how much horsepower the Flintstones car is. 

See what started me down this path was one day a few weeks ago I randomly wondered what the top speed of a Model T actually was, because sure now cars were everywhere, but they looked dangerous as hell still.  Apparently they could go 42 mph, which is pretty impressive for the era I suppose.

[vcczar]

6 minutes ago, OrangeP47 said:

See what started me down this path was one day a few weeks ago I randomly wondered what the top speed of a Model T actually was, because sure now cars were everywhere, but they looked dangerous as hell still.  Apparently they could go 42 mph, which is pretty impressive for the era I suppose.

How fast did a carriages and horses go at top speed?

[OrangeP47]

2 minutes ago, vcczar said:

How fast did a carriages and horses go at top speed?

I mean, believe it or not, they can get up to like 20, though probably not for long, but the thing is while there's plenty of footage of Model Ts, you never see any video of a Model T moving fast.

[Pringles]

I like him as a businessman. Not really as a person.