flush motown

Free market capitalism is not a perfect economic system. Most notably, it does not protect the environment or human rights. But it performs as simply as nature itself. The fit survive; the unfit find themselves in the jowls of wolves. The only way to protect the entire herd from toothy canines is to migrate as slowly as the weakest animal. But when a herd slows, the food source runs out and the net effect is the same. Instead of getting chomped to death, the weak starve. The buzzards feast instead of the wolves. Of course, if we could find that place where the herd lounges in the land of plenty alongside the wolves and buzzards... and they all prefer tofu, that would be splendid. Until then, tough decisions must be made.

I am a former Detroiter, so I've given myself a bit more license to disrespect the city. It has been duly earned. A lot of shockingly bad chariots have come out of Detroit over the past 40 years, with GM and Chrysler leading the pack. Not only is the quality shameful, but the products themselves have been a mismatch to the consumer market.

Now the automakers, led by GM, are asking the government to lend them a hand... and $50 billion. They claim this is needed in order to retool so that they can make fuel efficient vehicles that are environmentally friendly. They have been producing monstrosities such as Suburbans for decades, while Toyota and others have been making a host of fuel efficient, environmentally friendly models that hold together at the seams and retain value. Detroit has destroyed their market share over a period of years and now they find themselves at the edge of the abyss and they are screaming. Shut up, I say.

It's too late. While the weak economy has made a bad situation worse, it is just the acceleration of the inevitable. All over the world, weak companies are being forced to shut their doors. Whatever it is that they made or sold is now going to be made or sold by the competition that survived. If GM folds, people will open their wallets for vehicles made by someone who had a little more vision and a little less hubris.

An argument has been made that if a major auto manufacturer fails, the domino effect will be catastrophic. No doubt, many will suffer. But the number of lost jobs and the resulting damage to the economy has been greatly overstated by those with a vested interest in getting bailed out. For every battery or axle that does not go into a new Hummer, another battery or axle will go into something that sells after the Hummer goes the way of the Edsel. Resources will migrate toward the survivors.

Let capitalism do its work. Reach back, wipe, and flush the toilet.