Interesting article. Did anyone else see the sidebar titled “Biggest recalls” It seems that car manufacturing might be reaching a transitional stage. Obviously there are endless problems, not only with DC. The sidebar indicates GM, Ford, VW, Honda, and we all know of others.

There has to be a series of formulae somewhere that says you can have XX problems in a production line and still make a tidy sum. The gradual lowering of quality is not a product of benighted engineering, it is the result of endless hours of the combination of engineering for cost cutting, and engineering to make a long term (read that post warranty) ROI for the manufacturer. Since not only our society but the culture of western society in general is all about disposable commodities can we reasonably expect to see this trend ever end?

In other words are the forces of a consumer based society so great that the only way to serve the needs is to do so in a perpetually short-term way? Is consumerism itself a short term solution for culture or is it the building blocks for a different future?

Nietzsche expounds on the concept of eternal recurrence. This means that everything, from the simplest of interactions to the most complex structures and organization will happen time and again without end. If he’s correct, then for the future of manufacturing, and by extension, the future of culture throughout the world we will never grow beyond consumerism......

__________________
...Tracy

'00 ML320 "Casper"
'92 400E "Stella"