Date:         Mon,  5 Dec 94 16:06: 6 EST
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         psellers@ha.osd.mil (Pete Sellers)
Subject:      RE: Such Questions

Didn't mean to turn this into an attack on General Motors. I grew up with 
GM in my life (and within a GM family) .... now that I re-read that, it 
comes across like "I know people who work at GM. Some of my best friends 
have the product" ;).

GM could be cited for many instances of "caring for the consumer":

	The Side-mounted gas tank
	The Corvair
	etc., etc.

Could just as easily cite Ford:

	The Pinto
	The faulty wiring on pickups

Could cite the tobacco industry

	Cigarettes don't contain nicotine
	Cigarettes only contain a minimal/measured amount of nicotine
	Nicotine is not addictive
	etc., etc.

Could cite other industries, etc. etc.

	Anyone remember Scrontium-90, the Swine Flu or when ice cream
	really was ice cream?

In each instance, the producer "sold a product buyers wanted at a price 
they wanted to pay, meeting all applicable regulations, in force."

Is it a pity or something else that the consumer was too stupid to know how 
something was constructed or the conditions for which that product may not 
be "good for them" or "unsafe"?

Those stupid consumers faithfully and in good faith created and sustained a 
demand for the product based, to some degree on the orchestrated demand for 
the product.

When an entity who is not in the "club" began to compete, slogans such as 
"Buy American" and "We can make it better here at home" were created and 
orchestrated by the "Club" members. Unaware consumers were 'forced' or 
'duped' into cooperation by scare tactics such as, "your jobs are being 
wiped out by the off-shore competition. You MUST do something to prevent 
this".

In most instances, the "Club" members failed to tell the public that major 
investments in the off-shore entity (ies) had already been made by members 
of the "Club".

Check ...

* * * * * * * * * * 
Pete Sellers
"Constant And Never-ending Improvement"