Quote Originally Posted by EMG View Post
What Detroiters have to wake up to is the fact that many people in the other 49 states don't any more care whether people in Michigan have jobs. It may be an important issue to Detroiters, but other than that, people just want the best car value for the money. And if that means they wind up supporting a producer in a right to work state rather than a Detroit union shop, they've got no problem with it as long as they're getting a better product and better service for the money. And if their experience is anything like mine, they are!

Rather than cry and moan and accuse people of being unAmerican, maybe some people had better wake up and start producing better products and a more competitive price, and offering better customer service. That would be a lot more effective tactic for regaining market share than whining and moaning and wringing hands and gnashing teeth and sputtering about how the rest of America somehow owes more to southeast Michigan than any other region of the country "just because."

When it comes to selfish, myopic regionalism and once all local bias is removed from the picture, there's really no objective difference between Sen. Corker and his Michigan congressional counterparts. Everybody's fighting for local employment - and that is their right. But if they really want to win the fight, the people wanting to keep these jobs would be better to get off their duffs and start doing something about improving their competiveness - in both quality and price - than just continuing to get offended and sling insults at each other. The day Detroit consistently offers a better package than Toyota, Detroit will excel in sales and Toyota will be flirting with bankruptcy. Until then, expect more of the status quo.
Good post, EMG.

Bearinabox, truth be told ..... our region really, really needs to have a major attitude overhaul. This is a very serious flaw that causes every single person in Southeast Michigan lifelong dilemmas. Folks here have got to stop feeling that they deserve the world, and are entitled to everything under the sun, because they revolutionize the auto industry. It is time to let it go. The entire country has moved on. The entire world has moved on.

The sooner we change our attitude, the sooner we can begin to work hard again for a brighter future. Anything short of that, we are back to exactly where we have been for decades ..... the memory of us revolutionizing the auto industry, the memory of the riot and everything else that has stuck in our minds for generations. That is why folks like BuyAmerican needs to truly look deep and hard at the people he/she loves, and stop trying to get them to believe in the same mentality.