There once was a time in America...

[flaja]

When big companies cared as much about people as they did profits…and they made profits anyway;

When people who started out as janitors and stock clerks, dishwashers and busboys could spend a lifetime working their way up to department heads and store managers, directors and corporate executives…because they knew that the company they worked for promoted from within and would be around long enough to do so;

When consumers could count on buying high quality goods and services made in America…without going broke in the process because companies knew they had competitors and needed repeat customers to stay in business;

When people took pride in the most menial of labor…because that labor earned them an adequate living along with society’s respect;

When consumers patronized a company…because their grandparents did;

When company executives cared about their personal reputation…because customers knew their name and their company’s reputation was inextricably tied to their personal reputation;

When business owners kept their establishments immaculately clean and in good repair…because they knew their customers could easily shop at their competitors;

When a company’s customers were treated like customers and not guests…because the company knew that customers, not guests, were the people who spent money;

When teenagers had manners…because their mothers insisted that they had manners;

When you knew a woman was a woman by the way she looked…and not by the view she gave;

When daycare did not exist…because society thought it was more important for children to have mothers than it was for women to have careers;

Sadly, that America is not today’s America- and too few Americans care anymore.

 

[ASPCA4EVER]

When big companies cared as much about people as they did profits…and they made profits anyway;

Awww, yes those were the 'GOOD OLE DAYS'...because the work force was so limited and the head of the family was the 'ONLY' bread winner and a dollar bill was worth more according to the cost of living!

When people who started out as janitors and stock clerks, dishwashers and busboys could spend a lifetime working their way up to department heads and store managers, directors and corporate executives…because they knew that the company they worked for promoted from within and would be around long enough to do so;

Yes, again before the baby boomer generation and the extreme influx of the ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT issue...we needed every able bodied American working and there were jobs a plenty {post depression era} and the 'APPRENTISHIP' program was a very, very efficient way to bring unskilled workers into your work place and provide the corporation with a continual flow of workers! THEN CAME THE UNION WORKERS

When consumers could count on buying high quality goods and services made in America…without going broke in the process because companies knew they had competitors and needed repeat customers to stay in business;

GOOD & SERVICES...things weren't built to be disposable goods and excellent services were provided because the people knew the product and understood how it could be repaired and the product would last for more then 10 years and then the UNION WAGE SCALE became the syphon that drained the profits from the manufacturer and the CEO looked around for cheaper goods and we became dependent upon foreign metal!

When people took pride in the most menial of labor…because that labor earned them an adequate living along with society’s respect;

OOPS...not soooo fast there...there have been 'BUMS/Neerdowells/DRIFTERS/CARPET BAGGERS/CON MEN/SNAKE OIL SALESMEN since time began...always will...just the nature of our species!

When consumers patronized a company…because their grandparents did;

Oh, yes, indeed...controlled supply & demand...less selections, more monopolies and the cost for production just kept that steady upward climb without any impediments!

When company executives cared about their personal reputation…because customers knew their name and their company’s reputation was inextricably tied to their personal reputation;

And then the UNION became the driving force behind protecting the job and making it impossible to get rid of the dead wood within a corporation...the company ended up with 'give-a-****' employees and quality control went down the drain!

When business owners kept their establishments immaculately clean and in good repair…because they knew their customers could easily shop at their competitors;

Ok, not quite sure where you shopped but the reality in the middle of America wasn't quite so 'squeaky clean & spit polished'...more like causal and worn denim type of attire and shopping was a reason for socializing and friendly get together.

When a company’s customers were treated like customers and not guests…because the company knew that customers, not guests, were the people who spent money;

PRE-WALMART/KMART/BIG DISCOUNT CITY WAREHOUSE concrete strip centers that drove the MOM & POP places out of business!

When teenagers had manners…because their mothers insisted that they had manners;

WTH...because of their mothers No, more like because social settings were basically family orientated and everyone was monitoring what everyone else's children did while out in public...not just under the watchful eyes of their MOTHERS...good grief!

When you knew a woman was a woman by the way she looked…and not by the view she gave;

My, My, MY...you seem so stuck on that era where woman was expected to look like a 'pin-up' and not have an I.Q. let alone have a job outside of the HOME...Neanthal

When daycare did not exist…because society thought it was more important for children to have mothers than it was for women to have careers;

Not quite what historians have printed up but you can believe what you want to, I guess! According to my generation and my ancestors it had everything to do with the constant drain on our MALE humans having to go fight in some war some where and the women had to keep the home fires burning and production moving and that war machine plugging away!!! But maybe my memory fails me

Sadly, that America is not today’s America- and too few Americans care anymore.

Oh, I think 100% of Americans care...but with the constant need to keep working 24/7 at as many part-time jobs as they can find...they just don't have the energy left to protest the error of our elected officials...ALL ELECTED OFFICIALS

 

[always]

Awww, yes those were the 'GOOD OLE DAYS'...because the work force was so limited and the head of the family was the 'ONLY' bread winner and a dollar bill was worth more according to the cost of living!

Yes, again before the baby boomer generation and the extreme influx of the ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT issue...we needed every able bodied American working and there were jobs a plenty {post depression era} and the 'APPRENTISHIP' program was a very, very efficient way to bring unskilled workers into your work place and provide the corporation with a continual flow of workers! THEN CAME THE UNION WORKERS
GOOD & SERVICES...things weren't built to be disposable goods and excellent services were provided because the people knew the product and understood how it could be repaired and the product would last for more then 10 years and then the UNION WAGE SCALE became the syphon that drained the profits from the manufacturer and the CEO looked around for cheaper goods and we became dependent upon foreign metal!
OOPS...not soooo fast there...there have been 'BUMS/Neerdowells/DRIFTERS/CARPET BAGGERS/CON MEN/SNAKE OIL SALESMEN since time began...always will...just the nature of our species!
Oh, yes, indeed...controlled supply & demand...less selections, more monopolies and the cost for production just kept that steady upward climb without any impediments!
And then the UNION became the driving force behind protecting the job and making it impossible to get rid of the dead wood within a corporation...the company ended up with 'give-a-****' employees and quality control went down the drain!
Ok, not quite sure where you shopped but the reality in the middle of America wasn't quite so 'squeaky clean & spit polished'...more like causal and worn denim type of attire and shopping was a reason for socializing and friendly get together.
PRE-WALMART/KMART/BIG DISCOUNT CITY WAREHOUSE concrete strip centers that drove the MOM & POP places out of business!
WTH...because of their mothers No, more like because social settings were basically family orientated and everyone was monitoring what everyone else's children did while out in public...not just under the watchful eyes of their MOTHERS...good grief!
My, My, MY...you seem so stuck on that era where woman was expected to look like a 'pin-up' and not have an I.Q. let alone have a job outside of the HOME...Neanthal
Not quite what historians have printed up but you can believe what you want to, I guess! According to my generation and my ancestors it had everything to do with the constant drain on our MALE humans having to go fight in some war some where and the women had to keep the home fires burning and production moving and that war machine plugging away!!! But maybe my memory fails me

Oh, I think 100% of Americans care...but with the constant need to keep working 24/7 at as many part-time jobs as they can find...they just don't have the energy left to protest the error of our elected officials...ALL ELECTED OFFICIALS

In a STRANGE way I agree with this informed poster. It is apparent most Americans feel that AMERICA IS NOT WORTH SAVING. As I look at the actions of our democrat controlled Congress and our president who favors policies certain to enslave our citizens and destroy our Constitution, I must AGREE. A DEFEATED AMERICA is our destiny, if we do not expell these radical liberals ,and return to political SANITY!
America is NOT worth saving If Present democrat corruption is allowed to continue. Oh, Corruption has always had a foothold in our National Politics but Obama is the first "Al Capone" type to reach our White House. THINK!

 

[pocketfullofshells]

I agree its time America went back to a time that existed back in the old days...well at least in some people Imagination of it at least.... where there was no poverty! And evryone was happy...outside the half of America no one cared about and that did not count..you know..Minorities, Woman, underage workers,

And back when you build things to last....like a 700 pound Refrigerator that would last for ever and survive a Nuke blast ( thank you IN diana Jones and the Crysta Skull)...of course it used more Energy then a average house may use today and would cost you 50 to 60 bucks more in enegy bills a month if you never put in a nice newer one..

And I miss those old cars that where easy to fix and never broke down ( of course they did still) of course it may or may not have had seat belts, no air bags, would fail just about any crash test today, got 12 mpg, and looked like a Small Aircraft Carrier......

And you know when I was a kid, we had to walk up hill to school both ways in the snow...and I had to carry a 50 pound bag of bricks just to make me tough like a good American! ....wait sorry getting off track here


But on a Side note, I agree its horrible we ever let woman have the right to work, vote, own property...damn it they need to know there place...same for those negros and other races...Where is the respect for the only one that matters...the white males! ( sarcasim....put your angry pens down...Sarcasm)

 

[ASPCA4EVER]

I agree its time America went back to a time that existed back in the old days...well at least in some people Imagination of it at least.... where there was no poverty! And evryone was happy...outside the half of America no one cared about and that did not count..you know..Minorities, Woman, underage workers,

And back when you build things to last....like a 700 pound Refrigerator that would last for ever and survive a Nuke blast ( thank you IN diana Jones and the Crysta Skull)...of course it used more Energy then a average house may use today and would cost you 50 to 60 bucks more in enegy bills a month if you never put in a nice newer one..

And I miss those old cars that where easy to fix and never broke down http://www.smileycentral.com/?partner=ZSzeb001_ZNxpt141YYUS ( of course they did still) of course it may or may not have had seat belts, no air bags, would fail just about any crash test today, got 12 mpg, and looked like a Small Aircraft Carrier......

And you know when I was a kid, we had to walk up hill to school both ways in the snow...and I had to carry a 50 pound bag of bricks just to make me tough like a good American! ....wait sorry getting off track here

But on a Side note, I agree its horrible we ever let woman have the right to work, vote, own property...damn it they need to know there place...same for those negros and other races...Where is the respect for the only one that matters...the white males! ( sarcasim....put your angry pens down...Sarcasm)

OOOOH, I almost got my 'DANDER UP' and that would have been a MESS 4 SURE. GOOD POST

 

[flaja]

Awww, yes those were the 'GOOD OLE DAYS'...because the work force was so limited and the head of the family was the 'ONLY' bread winner and a dollar bill was worth more according to the cost of living!

Actually there is more to it. Companies just 40 years ago were willing to settle for profit margins that companies like Walmart and Home Depot today would go out of business before they’d accept.

Last summer I read a short popular history of Woolworth’s. Up until the 1960s the pre-filled Easter baskets that Woolworth sold were all put together in the individual stores where they were sold. Each store’s employees would start taking customer orders and filling the baskets in January to have them ready by Easter. This certainly cost Woolworth a ton in labor and these costs no doubt reduced Woolworth’s profits.

Now, if the likes of Walmart cannot import something cheap from China and sell it with a 100%+ markup it pretty much doesn’t get sold.

Also, Woolworth’s once had live piano players in some of their larger stores to play Christmas music to entertain customers. Thirty years ago every McDonald’s and just about every shopping center in town would put up at least some outdoor Christmas decorations and you didn’t always have to go to a mall to find a Santa Claus. These things are costs that couldn’t be supported with the profit margins that companies like Walmart now demand.

I also remember one Washington’s Birthday back in the early 1970s. I was about 4 or 5 years old and living in the very small town of Valdosta Georgia (where you couldn’t buy anything on Sunday except medicine because of Blue Laws). One of the local stores discount variety stores brought in a semi-truck load of chocolate covered cherries and gave them out free. This day and age you’d be hard-pressed to find a store that provides a clean restroom and water fountain.

Yes, again before the baby boomer generation and the extreme influx of the ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT issue...we needed every able bodied American working and there were jobs a plenty {post depression era} and the 'APPRENTISHIP' program was a very, very efficient way to bring unskilled workers into your work place and provide the corporation with a continual flow of workers! THEN CAME THE UNION WORKERS

Most unionization in this country took place during the Great Depression. 1933 saw the worst labor unrest in this country’s history and then 1937 saw a wave of sit down strikes. Unions may help contribute to the erosion of the work ethic today, but I don’t think it did anything in this regard during the Depression. And at any rate parents raising children have more control over this country’s work ethic than unions have.

GOOD & SERVICES...things weren't built to be disposable goods and excellent services were provided because the people knew the product and understood how it could be repaired and the product would last for more then 10 years and then the UNION WAGE SCALE became the syphon that drained the profits from the manufacturer and the CEO looked around for cheaper goods and we became dependent upon foreign metal!

Again our disposable mentality is not the fault of unions. The world has a finite amount of natural resources so as the world’s population increases it is only natural that demand for natural resources increases and materials cost increase. The main difference between today and 40+ years ago is labor costs. Cheap labor in places like Red China make cheap merchandise in America possible (compared to the Great Depression or say, the 1950s). Product quality and customer service has declined because companies’ demand for profit has soared.

OOPS...not soooo fast there...there have been 'BUMS/Neerdowells/DRIFTERS/CARPET BAGGERS/CON MEN/SNAKE OIL SALESMEN since time began...always will...just the nature of our species!

As a proportion of the overall labor force such people have grown in number. Otherwise this country wouldn’t have so many illegal aliens.

Oh, yes, indeed...controlled supply & demand...less selections, more monopolies and the cost for production just kept that steady upward climb without any impediments!

Completely over your head. I cannot shop at the same stores that my grandparents shopped at because these stores no longer exist courtesy of the likes of Walmar and Home Depot. Generational shopping used to be a matter of tradition. Now generational shopping is pretty much impossible.

And then the UNION became the driving force behind protecting the job and making it impossible to get rid of the dead wood within a corporation...the company ended up with 'give-a-****' employees and quality control went down the drain!

What is this fixation you have with unions? Are you not aware of the fact that the workforce for the nation’s biggest non-government employer (Walmart) is not unionized?

Ok, not quite sure where you shopped but the reality in the middle of America wasn't quite so 'squeaky clean & spit polished'...more like causal and worn denim type of attire and shopping was a reason for socializing and friendly get together.

Prove it. During the 1930s some employees at Woolworth’s staged a sit down strike and took over the stores where they worked. These employees made a point of keeping the stores clean and the animals in the pet department well cared for, and they paid for whatever food they consumed from their store’s stock during the strike. Contrary to what you want to believe about unions, Woolworth employees still respected their employer and their workplace even when they didn’t see eye-to-eye on wages and working conditions.

PRE-WALMART/KMART/BIG DISCOUNT CITY WAREHOUSE concrete strip centers that drove the MOM & POP places out of business!

Exactly my point.

WTH...because of their mothers No, more like because social settings were basically family orientated and everyone was monitoring what everyone else's children did while out in public...not just under the watchful eyes of their MOTHERS...good grief!

So are you saying that mothers had no role in maintaining functional families?

My, My, MY...you seem so stuck on that era where woman was expected to look like a 'pin-up' and not have an I.Q. let alone have a job outside of the HOME...Neanthal

And you seem to be the type that would let your daughter go around half-naked like Hollywood celebs do. If women today want to be noted only for their IQ, why do so many of them go around showing their breasts?

Not quite what historians have printed up but you can believe what you want to, I guess!

Prove that I am wrong.

Oh, I think 100% of Americans care...but with the constant need to keep working 24/7

If Americans were not so greedy for material goods as they are today, most Americans wouldn’t need to work 24/7 now would they?

 

[flaja]

I agree its time America went back to a time that existed back in the old days...well at least in some people Imagination of it at least.... where there was no poverty!

When did I say that America once had no poverty? The difference between now and 50 years ago is that today we subsidize poverty with welfare. During the Great Depression there was a social stigma attached to being on relief and the people that accepted relief did so only when the alternative was seeing their children starve.

Now welfare is a way of life for large parts of our population. We have fulfilled Franklin Roosevelt’s worst fear when he told Congress that the welfare dole is “a narcotic, a subtle destroyer of the human spirit…I am not willing that the vitality of our people be further sapped by the giving of cash, of market baskets, of a few hours of weekly work cutting grass, raking leaves or picking up papers in public parks.” Today we have welfare recipients who feel themselves put upon if society demands from them the least amount of labor.

 

[ASPCA4EVER]

Flaja said:Again our disposable mentality is not the fault of unions. The world has a finite amount of natural resources so as the world’s population increases it is only natural that demand for natural resources increases and materials cost increase. The main difference between today and 40+ years ago is labor costs. Cheap labor in places like Red China make cheap merchandise in America possible (compared to the Great Depression or say, the 1950s). Product quality and customer service has declined because companies’ demand for profit has soared.

You seem to speak at cross purposes: first you state that our change of economy can't be the fault of the unions and then you post that the "main difference between today and 40+ years is the labor costs"...WTH

That's exactly my POINT...UNION LABOR caused the labor rate to escalate in those production areas so that our goods were going out of this country to come back to our consumers and our service people didn't have a CLUE on what/how/why the problems would occur and service went to hell in a hand basket due to all of that high labor cost/high cost of materials...GEEZ LOUISE. GO GET THE CHALK BOARD AND WE'LL DO STICK FIGURES TOO LMAO

 

[ASPCA4EVER]

Actually there is more to it. Companies just 40 years ago were willing to settle for profit margins that companies like Walmart and Home Depot today would go out of business before they’d accept.

Last summer I read a short popular history of Woolworth’s. Up until the 1960s the pre-filled Easter baskets that Woolworth sold were all put together in the individual stores where they were sold. Each store’s employees would start taking customer orders and filling the baskets in January to have them ready by Easter. This certainly cost Woolworth a ton in labor and these costs no doubt reduced Woolworth’s profits.

Now, if the likes of Walmart cannot import something cheap from China and sell it with a 100%+ markup it pretty much doesn’t get sold.

Also, Woolworth’s once had live piano players in some of their larger stores to play Christmas music to entertain customers. Thirty years ago every McDonald’s and just about every shopping center in town would put up at least some outdoor Christmas decorations and you didn’t always have to go to a mall to find a Santa Claus. These things are costs that couldn’t be supported with the profit margins that companies like Walmart now demand.

I also remember one Washington’s Birthday back in the early 1970s. I was about 4 or 5 years old and living in the very small town of Valdosta Georgia (where you couldn’t buy anything on Sunday except medicine because of Blue Laws). One of the local stores discount variety stores brought in a semi-truck load of chocolate covered cherries and gave them out free. This day and age you’d be hard-pressed to find a store that provides a clean restroom and water fountain.

What the hell does your TRIP down memory lane have to do with the price of tea in China {completely off POINT and more derailment of this topic}...but to prove that you can't submit a topic for discussion without derailing it into something that wasn't what you plastered up here the first time...CHRIST SAKE...your mind must be a rat hole of confusion

Most unionization in this country took place during the Great Depression. 1933 saw the worst labor unrest in this country’s history and then 1937 saw a wave of sit down strikes. Unions may help contribute to the erosion of the work ethic today, but I don’t think it did anything in this regard during the Depression. And at any rate parents raising children have more control over this country’s work ethic than unions have.

Ahhhhh...NO IT DIDN'T...some but not all...it took quite a while for all of the other forms of manufactured goods to follow suit along behind the Railroad workers/Steel Mills/Welders/Auto Industry...but maybe you could go spend a little more time reading about that...certainly wouldn't hurt! Food Service and Health Care Employees were some of the most recent unions formed in the USA...but if you were able to read and remember some facts that would be most helpful to any further discussion!
{deleted this part of your diatribe to answer it in a separate post}

As a proportion of the overall labor force such people have grown in number. Otherwise this country wouldn’t have so many illegal aliens.

REALLY, DO YOU THINK...DUH

Completely over your head. I cannot shop at the same stores that my grandparents shopped at because these stores no longer exist courtesy of the likes of Walmar and Home Depot. Generational shopping used to be a matter of tradition. Now generational shopping is pretty much impossible.

WELL, NO SH!T SHERLOCK...what was your first CLUE...life has a way of changing and evolving and you're almost to get to that 'LIGHT BULB MOMENT'...it's coming I can see it heading to the surface... ***

What is this fixation you have with unions? Are you not aware of the fact that the workforce for the nation’s biggest non-government employer (Walmart) is not unionized?

ANOTHER DUH MOMENT...do I need to educate you on the why & where fores that this BRILLIANT MAN SAM WALTON WAS ABLE TO SKIRT AROUND A 40 HOUR WORK WEEK FOR HIS MILLIONS OF EMPLOYEES BY HIRING 98% OF THEM AS PART-TIME WORKERS SO THAT THEY DON'T ACCRUE OVERTIME, THEY DON'T GET ANYWHERE NEAR 30 HOURS A WEEK...BUT YOUR TO BUSY DREDGING UP 'SATURDAY EVENING POST' MOMENTS FROM YOUR CHILDHOOD TO KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT THE CURRENT WORK FORCE...

Prove it. During the 1930s some employees at Woolworth’s staged a sit down strike and took over the stores where they worked. These employees made a point of keeping the stores clean and the animals in the pet department well cared for, and they paid for whatever food they consumed from their store’s stock during the strike. Contrary to what you want to believe about unions, Woolworth employees still respected their employer and their workplace even when they didn’t see eye-to-eye on wages and working conditions.

Other then PROVING that you have and are a complete ARSE about any discussion...you haven't provide any FACTS/STATS only your limited memory of your childhood and with your proven dementia, I'm going to even question THAT!

Exactly my point.

BINGO...you have finally arrived at the direction that I had so clearly stated *** JESUS, WTH took you so long?

So are you saying that mothers had no role in maintaining functional families?

Are those voices in your head talking so loudly that you can't read and comprehend what was written? That's not what I typed and you know it...being OBTUSE on purpose is just completely asinine and it'll earn you a quick ignore option from me

And you seem to be the type that would let your daughter go around half-naked like Hollywood celebs do. If women today want to be noted only for their IQ, why do so many of them go around showing their breasts?

You really are a lonely/deprived old man...that was totally uncalled for and this will be the last of our future discussions. You don't know my TYPE, you don't know squat about me and my life...but from your vile/angst and ad hominem attack against my life is just shameful and PATHETIC

Prove that I am wrong.

Just as I couldn't prove that your are NOT a complete A$$ Hole, this was a topic that you started about life in AMERICA...albeit a 'F'd up make believe world that you might have spent some time in but now I'm convinced that you wouldn't be allowed alone without a KEEPER to keep you away from all WOMEN!

If Americans were not so greedy for material goods as they are today, most Americans wouldn’t need to work 24/7 now would they?

I don't know why don't you ask those nice people in the white attire that will come take you back to your room so that they can put you to bed.

I'm done with your sorry arse...grow up - get a life - and I'm putting you on IGNORE! LOSER!

 

[flaja]

You seem to speak at cross purposes: first you state that our change of economy can't be the fault of the unions and then you post that the "main difference between today and 40+ years is the labor costs"...WTH

Labor costs have come down because American companies now have access to the labor force of Red China.

That's exactly my POINT...UNION LABOR caused the labor rate to escalate in those production areas so that our goods were going out of this country to come back to our consumers and our service people didn't have a CLUE on what/how/why the problems would occur and service went to hell in a hand basket due to all of that high labor cost/high cost of materials...GEEZ LOUISE. GO GET THE CHALK BOARD AND WE'LL DO STICK FIGURES TOO LMAO

The most that union labor has done is send American manufacturing jobs to 3rd world countries. American companies are no longer willing to pay American workers decent wages because American companies are no longer willing to settle for the profit margins they once had.

 

[flaja]

What the hell does your TRIP down memory lane have to do with the price of tea in China {completely off POINT and more derailment of this topic}...

Woolworth was once illustrative of how American companies did business- a fact that you don’t seem to comprehend amidst your belligerence.