Capitalism

At the dawn of the Twentieth Century people had to worry about being mistreated by companies and work in lousy conditions, but the companies would continue to exist because the owners wanted to make a profit so that they could continue to expand their company. They were not worried about their bonuses or salaries because they were personally tied to the success of the company, not the stock market. Now at the dawn of the Twenty-first Century that is no longer the case. Companies are no longer directly run by their owners but by a board of trustees (voted in by the stock holders) who picks the CEO and a few other executives. And these individuals have no real interest in the company; it is just a job for them. If the company fails who cares, they will still get their bonuses because it comes in the form of stock options. That might make the executives work hard to keep the company profitable because that would drive the stock price up, making them more money. But NO! There are ways around to temporarily drive up the stock so that they can sell it, which then drives the stock back down. In fact, most companies that rely on this heavily to encourage executives to work towards making the company profitable finds that it does the reverse because all the executives care about is figuring out a way to tweak the stock to make more money, not making the company profitable.

AND THIS IS WHY I really want to hurt some people right now; people that have a ton of money, power, and responsibility and the fact that were willing to sacrifice the last two to get more of the first. People who are paid quite well because they are entrusted to run companies effectively so that they are effective, productive, and profitable, and yet, they are willing to bend the rules/laws and just as easily break them to get themselves a couple of extra million dollars in their pockets, money that is just probably more "petty cash" for them.

And in case you are wondering, yes I am referring to a specific company and its "supposed leaders". I am referring to the incredibly incompetent, idiotic, bloody money grabbing, greedy, SOB, jerks that have helped run Delphi into bankruptcy

Delphi is America's largest auto parts supplier, employs over 13,000 people in Ohio alone - most of these in the Dayton area - and they have factories in other parts of the country, Canada, Mexico, France, Germany, Thailand, China and various other countries that I can not remember off of the top of my head. In the poorer countries these factories are the only "well paid" jobs nearby, and is part of the reason why they have seen small economic booms in those areas. At one point (I do not know for sure about now) Delphi actually supplied enough money to local school districts, via taxes, that they had helped keep property taxes down and allowed for good schools to exist (it is one of the reasons at one point that Centerville, Kettering, Oakwood, Bellbrook, Beavercreek, and so many more schools were able to pay its teachers than the average state wage). And there are a host of small job shops (small factories that make specialized machines and parts) in the Dayton area that rely solely on Delphi as their principal business, which means that their jobs are now toast.

In short, the job market in Dayton just got dealt a really nasty blow, assuming that is that Delphi will have to close its factories in the Dayton area because they declared bankruptcy. And they are already saying they will probably be closing them in the next few years. Yet, that might not even be the worse. I do not have current stats available, but at one point Delphi supplied GM with all of its parts along with supplying other companies with parts as well (this is back when Delphi was a part of GM, but it was called DELCO (Dayton Electric Company) back then). So suffice to say if Delphi is forced to start to decreasing production then these companies are going to have fewer parts to make cars. That is just not good for an industry that is already struggling.

I am sorry for ranting for so long. I am just really ticked off because executives were once again being greedy instead of trying to make the company better. And now one of the oldest, existing companies in Ohio could be gone. It was founded in 1909 by Charles Kettering, the guy who invented the electric starter, and 'twas called Dayton Engineering Laboratories Company back them and has had many names since then. Also, part of the reason I am really ticked is that my Dad could be losing his job soon because he works for those . . . dare I say it . . . bloody, cold hearted, worthless bastards who probably have never done a day of real work in their whole stinking worthless lives. Please pray for my folks, they are really scared.

All right, I am done, really. Again, sorry for the ranting.