Comments on: Bye-Bye General Motors, Hello (Again) General Locomotives? http://sf.streetsblog.org/2009/06/01/bye-bye-general-motors-hello-again-general-locomotives/ Covering San Francisco's livable streets movement Sun, 22 Nov 2009 10:39:06 -0800 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8 hourly 1 By: Wolf29 http://sf.streetsblog.org/2009/06/01/bye-bye-general-motors-hello-again-general-locomotives/comment-page-1/#comment-48031 Wolf29 Thu, 22 Oct 2009 20:59:48 +0000 http://sf.streetsblog.org/?p=2275#comment-48031 The movement for the restoration of the judiciary may have been a success, however the independence has still not been achieved. , The movement for the restoration of the judiciary may have been a success, however the independence has still not been achieved. ,

]]> By: Bill http://sf.streetsblog.org/2009/06/01/bye-bye-general-motors-hello-again-general-locomotives/comment-page-1/#comment-6030 Bill Sat, 06 Jun 2009 01:32:00 +0000 http://sf.streetsblog.org/?p=2275#comment-6030 Way to be ahead of the curve and predict the future. Your in the company of great like minds... like Michael Moore. (http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/message/index.php?id=248) I think this is a great move. Rail is such a great way to move things and people. We just have to revert to more of a hub and spoke for moving items, vice a point to point system. For the cost it will save in fuel, road wear, and long haul time you would think that this would be a no brainier. http://www.infrastructurist.com/2009/06/04/michigan-governor-use-car-factories-to-make-trains/ ~Bill Way to be ahead of the curve and predict the future. Your in the company of great like minds... like Michael Moore. (http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/message/index.php?id=248)

I think this is a great move. Rail is such a great way to move things and people. We just have to revert to more of a hub and spoke for moving items, vice a point to point system. For the cost it will save in fuel, road wear, and long haul time you would think that this would be a no brainier.

http://www.infrastructurist.com/2009/06/04/michigan-governor-use-car-factories-to-make-trains/

~Bill

]]> By: Fran Taylor http://sf.streetsblog.org/2009/06/01/bye-bye-general-motors-hello-again-general-locomotives/comment-page-1/#comment-5927 Fran Taylor Tue, 02 Jun 2009 16:59:48 +0000 http://sf.streetsblog.org/?p=2275#comment-5927 O'Rourke may be an ass, but his rant actually has some basis in history. Republic of Drivers by Cotten Seiler (University of Chicago Press) analyzes two critical periods in autodomination in the U.S., going a long way toward explaining why we just can't seem to catch up with Europe and why driving here is so associated with freedom and manliness. The period between 1895 and the 1920s, the early adoption of cars and their evolution from plaything for the rich to everyman's wish list, coincided with factory automation and the degradation of skilled labor. Taylorism (no relation!) and the reduction of labor in factories to small repetitive tasks easily controlled by management robbed workers of their dignity and pride. Car manufacturers cannily redirected this wounded identity into consumerism, specifically of cars. In the second period, the 1950s, the birth of the interstate highway system was, in part, conceived as a way to deflect postwar white male angst during the years of enforced conformity and the perceived mommy threat as well as rumblings from people of color. Seiler's analysis is much too complex to boil down in this comment. The book is heavy sledding through the footnotes and academic jargon but well worth reading: http://www.press.uchicago.edu/presssite/metadata.epl?mode=synopsis&bookkey=308786 O'Rourke may be an ass, but his rant actually has some basis in history. Republic of Drivers by Cotten Seiler (University of Chicago Press) analyzes two critical periods in autodomination in the U.S., going a long way toward explaining why we just can't seem to catch up with Europe and why driving here is so associated with freedom and manliness.

The period between 1895 and the 1920s, the early adoption of cars and their evolution from plaything for the rich to everyman's wish list, coincided with factory automation and the degradation of skilled labor. Taylorism (no relation!) and the reduction of labor in factories to small repetitive tasks easily controlled by management robbed workers of their dignity and pride. Car manufacturers cannily redirected this wounded identity into consumerism, specifically of cars. In the second period, the 1950s, the birth of the interstate highway system was, in part, conceived as a way to deflect postwar white male angst during the years of enforced conformity and the perceived mommy threat as well as rumblings from people of color.

Seiler's analysis is much too complex to boil down in this comment. The book is heavy sledding through the footnotes and academic jargon but well worth reading:

http://www.press.uchicago.edu/presssite/metadata.epl?mode=synopsis&bookkey=308786

]]> By: kit http://sf.streetsblog.org/2009/06/01/bye-bye-general-motors-hello-again-general-locomotives/comment-page-1/#comment-5920 kit Tue, 02 Jun 2009 00:57:25 +0000 http://sf.streetsblog.org/?p=2275#comment-5920 Dear Mr. O'Rourke: Good riddence. Dear Mr. O'Rourke:

Good riddence.

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