Future Crown Vic and Grand Marquis

carthell

How ready is the American Labor Movement willing to give up their massive benefits, unrealistic wages, for service performed, & submit to returning to where they were in the 1950's?

The minute all living costs go down to 1950s levels, sure. But the costs of living have always gone up, therein lies the rub.

The Middle Class is not willing to recognize what it has done to itself as it still has too much arrogance and pride blinding their vision.

What's the alternative? I've been in the ranks of the working poor and the completely poor (fortunately not homeless), and everyday life was pretty much spent in frustration. What little dollars that could be saved eventually went away because of a big, necessary expense that would crop up from time to time (often the equivalent the amount saved). I experienced spending "plans" that was so controlled that almost everything was distributed in a Soviet-style rationing scheme (but we ran out of money and food near the end of the month nonetheless). My economic position limited me to living in a really nasty part of town that was fairly abrasive to my physical being and soul (overrun by crime, drugs, trash, noise).

When I was able to secure a job that paid me enough to escape all of that, I left. When the big expenses come, they are annoyances, not a complete financial reset-to-zero. When I walk out my door, I don't have to worry about getting shot or mugged in my neighborhood. I can afford many things that will make my life comfortable now. I put enough away so (hopefully) I can still have a comfortable life when the work career stops.

To want and achieve a comfortable life is not arrogance; it definitely beats the alternative. I'm also thinking that you're aiming too low on the totem pole of business. The auto assembler in this country has absolutely no control of how many resources are expended to create a vehicle with quality parts (excluding the Panther platform, based on its dominance in fleets for decades). If the CEOs of the American auto industry back in the '70s, '80s and '90s had put more thought into creating appealing, reliable, fuel-efficient vehicles, the domestics today wouldn't be mired in the fiscal problems that they have.

Now, having said that...

I hope the large car platform stays, especially Ford's CV/GM iteration. I did not like the 'Vic until the 1992 MY, when they re-designed the car so it would not look like a assemblage of squares and rectangles on wheels. As a taxi patron, I appreciate the passenger space. I also understand that not all people can fit into anything smaller. My brother, who has long legs, injured himself while trying to get behind the wheel of a Cavalier. He can fit into large trucks, but doesn't have the budget to own a truck that could accommodate his family.