Henry Ford - a Life Not Worth Celebrating

[Kerri]

Didnt Nobel invent dynamite, blow up family and donate the money he made off de boom boom for the invention and dispersal of the N. Prize out of guilt or something?

[Xfactor]

Henry Ford changed the world. He invented mass production.

[hank73]

blue oval sitting on my drive...and that's what will stay on my drive

[hank73]

How could he anti immigrant when he hales from Irish ones himself?

[William May]

Too bad most of your "facts" are wrong.
#1. Ford NEVER claimed to have invented the automobile.
#2. Ford NEVER claimed to have invented the production line. He WAS the first to use it in autombile production. (I have one of the first cars off the new moving assembly line, my 1914 Ford Runabout.)
#3. Ford of Germany DID produce cars and trucks in WWII for the Nazis, but since the Nazis confiscated the property, he never made a dime from any war production in Germany.
#4. Ford's hatred was not of Jews, but of Jews running banks, and it came from the hard lesson he learned when New York syndicates of banks tried to take control of the Ford Motor Company. Ford defeated them, but if you want to read how, read the book "Ford, The Man, The Times, The Company" It has a full description of what happened, and why Henry Ford hated bankers and would never take a loan from any bank again, instead financing his business with his own profits.
#5. When Henry Ford settled with the unions, his workers got a BETTER deal than ANY other auto manufacturer's employees. It IS true that he fought the unions, but when he decided to settle, he gave them MORE than they asked.
#6. Henry Ford was the originator of the $5 a day wage, at a time when most companies paid $2 or less per day. His wage announcement was a bombshell. Hundreds of thousands of people applied at Ford for the chance at a really good job, for the first time in their lives.
7. Ford Motor hired blacks, foreigners, ex-cons, mentally retarded and physically handicapped employees at a time when NO ONE ELSE would hire them. His company came up with work for disabled people, blind, and mentally retarded individuals. In addition, he opened small factories in many small towns, giving industrial jobs to people who previously only had menial or farm jobs available. A lot of these small factories were powered off waterwheels to make them independent of local power producers.
8. Ask any antique car person. Fords were the best car you could get for the money. The choice was usually between either buying a Ford automobile, or riding a horse. His cars were EXCEPTIONAL values for the money spent, with excellent, durable engineering, incredible metallurgy, (Including up to 120 DIFFERENT types of steel for each car, depending on the use of the part) and extreme
simplicity. ANYONE could fix a Ford Model T.
9. Ford CONSISTENTLY reduced prices. His only goal was to make MORE cars, CHEAPER. The price of a Model T went from $950 down to a base of $360. At the same time, he announced that if he could sell a certain number of cars, then EVERY buyer would recieve $50 back. When he reached the number, every buyer got a check for $50 from the Ford Motor Co. When have you ever bought a car and gotten a check back for 15% of what you paid originally? If it ever happens to you, let me know.
10. Henry Ford kept spare parts prices low. You could get an engine overhaul for $25.00. You could get 4 new fenders for less than $40.00. Pistons and connecting rods ran $1 to $1.25 EACH. A complete exhaust system for a Model T was less than $10. Even now, you can get a complete exhaust system for less than $60, and that is in 2013. Henry Ford wanted the average working man to be able to afford an automobile, and he succeeded.

[fenek]

Originally Posted by William May

Too bad most of your "facts" are wrong.
#1. Ford NEVER claimed to have invented the automobile.
#2. Ford NEVER claimed to have invented the production line. He WAS the first to use it in autombile production. (I have one of the first cars off the new moving assembly line, my 1914 Ford Runabout.)
#3. Ford of Germany DID produce cars and trucks in WWII for the Nazis, but since the Nazis confiscated the property, he never made a dime from any war production in Germany.
#4. Ford's hatred was not of Jews, but of Jews running banks, and it came from the hard lesson he learned when New York syndicates of banks tried to take control of the Ford Motor Company. Ford defeated them, but if you want to read how, read the book "Ford, The Man, The Times, The Company" It has a full description of what happened, and why Henry Ford hated bankers and would never take a loan from any bank again, instead financing his business with his own profits.
#5. When Henry Ford settled with the unions, his workers got a BETTER deal than ANY other auto manufacturer's employees. It IS true that he fought the unions, but when he decided to settle, he gave them MORE than they asked.
#6. Henry Ford was the originator of the $5 a day wage, at a time when most companies paid $2 or less per day. His wage announcement was a bombshell. Hundreds of thousands of people applied at Ford for the chance at a really good job, for the first time in their lives.
7. Ford Motor hired blacks, foreigners, ex-cons, mentally retarded and physically handicapped employees at a time when NO ONE ELSE would hire them. His company came up with work for disabled people, blind, and mentally retarded individuals. In addition, he opened small factories in many small towns, giving industrial jobs to people who previously only had menial or farm jobs available. A lot of these small factories were powered off waterwheels to make them independent of local power producers.
8. Ask any antique car person. Fords were the best car you could get for the money. The choice was usually between either buying a Ford automobile, or riding a horse. His cars were EXCEPTIONAL values for the money spent, with excellent, durable engineering, incredible metallurgy, (Including up to 120 DIFFERENT types of steel for each car, depending on the use of the part) and extreme
simplicity. ANYONE could fix a Ford Model T.
9. Ford CONSISTENTLY reduced prices. His only goal was to make MORE cars, CHEAPER. The price of a Model T went from $950 down to a base of $360. At the same time, he announced that if he could sell a certain number of cars, then EVERY buyer would recieve $50 back. When he reached the number, every buyer got a check for $50 from the Ford Motor Co. When have you ever bought a car and gotten a check back for 15% of what you paid originally? If it ever happens to you, let me know.
10. Henry Ford kept spare parts prices low. You could get an engine overhaul for $25.00. You could get 4 new fenders for less than $40.00. Pistons and connecting rods ran $1 to $1.25 EACH. A complete exhaust system for a Model T was less than $10. Even now, you can get a complete exhaust system for less than $60, and that is in 2013. Henry Ford wanted the average working man to be able to afford an automobile, and he succeeded.

Not to harp on this, though I absolutely will be, there is no escaping the fact that Ford distributed and published anti-semitic literature, period. He was a filthy anti-semite and generally, a monster of a person. Its one thing to praise his accomplishments, but another to praise him.

And on a bit of a side note, while I personally think unions are counterproductive and, ultimately, no better than those from whom they are trying to protect, Ford went beyond corporatism to downright fascism - the individual must not only be loyal and work hard while under his employ, but also be morally upright in their personal lives, lest they want to lose their jobs. He was an awful, awful man - an example of a freedom loving American who hated freedom. Fuck him.

[murofhsirgo]

my daily driver is a f**d ranger, my badass is a
48 Chev but hell i still cast a vote FOR hf as his balance of good vs bad far exceeded any other inovator that i can name. FOR the man not his car.. the other way around? well thats a whole other story, lol.

[drdirtnap]

[QUOTE=William May;4041245]10. Even now, you can get a complete exhaust system for less than $60, and that is in 2013. [QUOTE]

Simply not true.

[jackhunter21]

Because the man told the truth he is "not worth celebrating"?

[Blewvane]

Ford *******

There is a good reason they are used for Highway Patrol and Chasers.....