rocked

He’s floating, barely. His clothes are soaked through. His eyes, wide and frightened, stare to the sky while his arms struggle to keep him afloat. His arms are tired, overworked and flailing. He dips more often under the waves.

His labored breath is choked and rapid. His head spins in all directions, looking for any sign of hope. His legs are tied to a stone. It’s small but over time, as he grows more exhausted, its weight becomes more and more to bear.

With mismanagement and an almost impressive ability to ignore market trends, the auto industry is struggling for air. For years, Detroit has been unable to turn a profit, manufacturing out-dated vehicles in too-large numbers. Consumers have moved on.

We’re the backbone of the nation, they say. We cannot fail because with us goes the country, they say. Things will get better, they say. We’ll find a solution, adapt to the present, all we need is time, they say. Why do we listen?

They shifted focus to build cars to last only five or seven years. Their profits were astronomical and junkyards piled high with their excrement. Instead of following the will of the consumer, they spent billions on manipulation, telling those consumers their collective will.

Their products use archaic technology. On the surface, they’re covered in all the newest gadgets and safety features but below they are unchanged. We are told our nation relies on the market, why do we abandon those ideals to hand money to those that have proven unable to act wisely?

According to market principles, the industry should crumble. It has lost the ability to adapt and has been passed by more capable competitors. The same promises have been made incessantly with no result.

Weighed down by pensions and inertia, the industry is about to drown. When it does, hundreds of thousands will be without work. Those men and women can find work in other sectors. An emphasis on alternative energy will need incredible manpower if it’s expected to succeed.

Using the current credit crisis, they are looking for a handout, hoping for some retribution. Their arguments are thin and promises lofty. Those displaced by their failure could find work in manufacturing parts for alternative energy solutions, which will need incredible manpower to succeed.

They are the man fighting against the waves. They produced too much, promised more and are now pulled down by their own weight. That weight has become too heavy and they have grown too tired to remain afloat. They should sink, drop below the surface, hidden under the waves.

Like a rock.

Only after they have drowned will we be motivated to find creative solutions to the struggles at hand. Then we will see that we are not invulnerable. Then we will see our global position more realistically and stop living, and posturing, beyond our means.