NO AUTO INDUSTRY BAILOUT!

Do you remember when Chrysler chairman Lee Iacocca came to the U.S. Government, hat in hand, to ask for Federal bailout money? Even though it went against Constitutional laws, Uncle Same approved and gave Chrysler said money. Iacocca was hailed at an economic hero and a business genius.

What did we, the American public, get out of this? The “K” Car.

For years, many Americans have complained of not-so-good quality and worse out of American-made cars. The usual reasons get trotted out like old horses from some dilapidated barn.

The unions are blamed, thanks to their high salaries and health and pension plans.

The chairmen and governing boards are blamed, thanks to their sky-high salaries and bonuses.

Engineers and lower level executives are blamed, sitting on discoveries that could increase fuel efficiency and safety for reasons of greed or power or both.

All of these have their places in the growing demise of American car manufacturing, no doubt about it. But there are also another reason why more Americans have turned to foreign models. And that is lack of domestic competition.

Smaller rivals like AMC, Nash, Studebaker and Checker were eliminated, one by one, thanks to the Big Three and Big Government joining together to squeeze them out. Especially upstarts like Tucker and his Torpedo, incorporating then unheard-of features like safety belts and the engine in the rear, were squished before they got off the ground. The DeLorean sports car is another good example.

If Washington and the Big Three in the auto industry would get out of the way, we could have more domestic competition in the marketplace from smaller rivals. More and more bailouts, as is proposed for the auto industry like it was for the banking industry, does nothing for the market economy in this country.

So from a Distributist perspective, several things need to be done.

One, the Congress must vote NO on the proposed auto industry bailout. It is unconstitutional, and won't guarantee that the Big Three automakers won't make the same mistakes that brought them to where they are now.

Two, the auto unions should not only fight for worker ownership in their companies, but also worker management of the same. There should be worker-representatives on the governing board of the auto makers, giving the working man and woman a say on how the company should be run.

Three, the Big Three should be broken up into smaller companies, so as to reduce the specter of domestic monopoly in this industry.

Four, any Federal restrictions on smaller car manufacturers – written in favor of the Big Three – should be repealed.

The American auto industry, like so many others in the manufacturing sector, must be rebuilt on a foundation that favors smaller scale production, built on a cooperative basis, eliminate Socialist micro-management and over regulation, and promotes worker ownership and management of these companies.

The Voice asks our readers to call their Congressmen and Senators, and demand they vote NO on any proposed Federal bailout of the Big Three automakers.

Twenty Tips To Survive The Next Depression

Our colleague Bob Waldrop from the Oklahoma Food Cooperative has put up a list of twenty things you can do NOW to prepare for the economic hard times ahead.

These are general strategies that you can start doing today, as well as teach any willing neighbor interested in this. Go HERE to learn more about them.

Solzhenitsyn, Distributist

From our colleagues at The Distributist Review, here is an excellent essay by Richard Aleman about the late Russian author and dissident Alexander Solzhenitsyn. It talks of his reaching the same conclusions about BOTH Socialism and Capitalism that many others have taken, whether or not they read Belloc and Chesterton.

You can read the essay HERE.

Swedish Localist Speaks To South Koreans

Thanks to our colleague Joshua Andreas at The Western Confucian, we have this article on the Swedish-born activist and pro-Distributist speaker Helena Norberg-Hodge.

She is the founder of the International Society for Ecology and Culture.

As Joshua noted, her talk was very encouraging, as she advocated a return to small farms and businesses fueling a nation's economy. She called it "bottom-up economics".

And as Joshua noted, unlike many in the Western Decentralist Left, she railed against the myth of "overpopulation". Good for her!

Please go HERE to read Joshua's article. Then do what you can wherever you live to put what you read into practice. It will help to build a Distributist Earth where you are.

FDA Bullies Small Natural Vitamin Companies

This disturbing article, dated October 21, is written by Mike Adams for the alternative health news and information website NaturalNews.com. Mr. Adams is the executive director of the Consumer Wellness Center in Tucson, Arizona.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has had a terrible reputation with the natural and so-called "alternative" health sector. There has been documented cases of FDA legal harassment and worse, as Mr. Adams notes in his essay, which you can read HERE.

He calls for all small vitamin and natural supplement companies in America to join together in a lawsuit against the FDA. There is also a bill filed in the U.S. Congress by the intrepid Dr. Ron Paul of Texas, called the "Health Freedom Protection Act". You can read more about it HERE. The Voice supports such actions, and encourages our readers to do likewise.

What the FDA is doing violates a core principle in Distributist Thought - subsidiarity. That is, taking care of things at the lowest level possible. The Federal government is wrong to persecute small health and vitamin companies like these. Both restrictions on the FDA and unified action between these companies will repel these immoral and Socialist actions by this agency.

Do what you can to help these noble efforts succeed, and tell your neighbors about it. Thank you.

Bill Powell Article On Distributism

Freelance writer Bill Powell has written an excellent brief article for the Neo-Catholic and Neo-Conservative website InsideCatholic.com on Distributism. The article leans more toward the economic side of what we hold true, not as much on the political side. You can read the article HERE.

This is a good introduction to give anyone you know who is curious about what Distributism is. If they are, give them the article or the link to it.

For the first step in building a Distributist Earth starts with YOU.

Bernanke's Stimulus Plan Not Good Enough

According to a report today from Jeanne Sahadi of CNNMoney, the current Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke is calling for a second "economic stimulus package". The aim is to restart the economy by encouraging spending. You can read the report HERE.

But such a plan is stupid when the nation's economy is mostly rebuilt on a service industry basis. As my colleague Prof. John Medaille at The Distributist Review pointed out, one can grow an economy only by growing, mining or making things. Thanks to pro-"free trade" fanatics running both parties in Washington, D.C., big businesses were given incentives to relocate outside the U.S.A. So with any stimulus monies given, they would only flow out of the country, not circulate within. The money would go to buy foreign-made products, not domestic ones.

Whatever form such a stimulus plans takes, whether Democrat or Republican, it will not help in the long run if current situations still apply.

Which means we Distributists have to encourage a rebuilding of the country's manufacturing base...but on a small business and worker-owned and managed cooperative basis. And the politicians in D.C. need to renounce "free trade" policies that have helped to bring us to the economic nightmare we're living in now.

Tell your Congressman and Senators to vote "NO" on the second stimulus plan until they put in policies to bring the factories home NOW.