The GM Dinosaur Rumbles On
Times Change, Not Baltimore GM Plant
BALTIMORE -- Robert Fitch, a 60-year-old sanitation worker for General Motors, will lose his job today when the company closes its van factory near the city's industrial port. But under his United Auto Workers contract, Fitch will get his full pay and benefits for two more years, which will cover medical bills for his seriously ill wife.
"I always felt safe there," Fitch said this week as he neared the end of 39 years on the job.
The cost of supporting workers like Fitch is one reason GM's finances are a wreck and its bonds have sunk to junk status. The company also has too many old products and too many old factories, the legacy of its long run as the world's biggest automaker. As overseas rivals such as Toyota and Honda grow stronger in the United States, GM's plight only gets worse.
[...]
I'm not picking on GM, I feel bad for the company. The reason I note this is the problem of foresight. In the 60s and maybe 70s, the company was so big and such a leader that it could not forsee its fall. This is the same problem that huge entities have. They are blinded by their size and domininance and arrogance, even to the point that when the inevitable slide begins they can't see it until it is too late. I think what's happening to GM is/will happen(ing) to the Catholic Church.
posted by Ono at 1:06 PM
8 Comments:
Or, we can trust Christ's words that the gates of Hell will not prevail against the Church. I think I'll trust Christ, and not worry about the whiny ninnies that think if the Church doesn't embrace women "priestesses", gay sex, abortion, birth control, and whatever other manner of liberal nonesense, that it will crumble like GM and other big corporations that have fallen.
David B
When I read your comment, "This is the same problem that huge entities have. They are blinded by their size and domininance and arrogance, even to the point that when the inevitable slide begins they can't see it until it is too late," to my wife, before I even got to your ridiculous comment equating such entities to the Catholic Church, she said, "He must be talking about the Democratic Party?" LOL! The description sure fits!
David B
BTW - You must have missed the reports last month stating how the Catholic Church grew from 750 million members to over 1.1 billion members during the pontificate of Pope John Paul II.
Perhaps we will have more of this "inevitable slide" during the time of Pope Benedict XVI, and grow to 1.5 billion members!
You crack me up, Ono. LOL!
David B
Well, if you aren't proof of the Church's arrogance, I don't know what is. There are over 1 billion Catholics worldwide, but let's be clear, the Catholic Church grows mostly through infant baptisms and marriage.
750 million to 1 billion is less than 25% growth. Take those numbers to the pentecostals and watch them snicker. They're growth is measured exponentially.
In Latin America, especially Brazil, there was a time that we would scoffed at the idea that the Catholic Church's dominance would be threatened. Now it is accepted that by 2030, Pentecostals would number as many as the Catholics in Brazil. This phenomenon is multiplying itself all over Latin America.
Also, there is the exponential growth of Islam which for some reason is going on the radar of Catholics.
lastly, when Christ said that the gates of Hell shall not prevail against his Church, you can be certain that he wasn't referring to the Roman Catholic church.
" when Christ said that the gates of Hell shall not prevail against his Church, you can be certain that he wasn't referring to the Roman Catholic church"
Well, YOU might be certain, but I'm certain that you are wrong. He did, after all, found the Catholic Church. Might not have been called "The Roman Catholic Church," from day one, but if you look at the writings of the Early Church Fathers, their writings are undeniably Catholic, and I don't mean in the generic, universal sense.
But, since you deny this, answer me this. Why do you remain Catholic, since you seem to have so many disagreements with the Church? Wouldn't it be easier finding a church that will give you all your liberal heart desires, than trying to change Christ's Church to fit your views?
David B
Well, YOU might be certain, but I'm certain that you are wrong. He did, after all, found the Catholic Church. Might not have been called "The Roman Catholic Church," from day one, but if you look at the writings of the Early Church Fathers, their writings are undeniably Catholic, and I don't mean in the generic, universal sense.
The Bible will sound Catholic, it was put together by the Catholic Church, you fool.
I read, the NIV and the Message, I am a Baptist based in England, I don't care for the Catholic Church, but I do respect that some people do get comfort from it.
I could write a list of things I find wrong with it, from Commuion and not everyone takes the Blood
only the Priest, to confesion and a priest dishing out punishment? praying to the Dead, bowing to Idols.... the list goes on and on, but who is say I am right?
Lets just say we are on a vine with many branches all leading to the same fruit.
Fool? My, you have such a command of the ad hominem attack. But, as I well know, you are correct that we would not have the Bible were it not for the Church that Christ founded, the Catholic Church. To that, all Christians are indebted. I find it curious how Protestants trust the authority of the Catholic Church to know which writings of the first century were divinely inspired as Sacred Scripture, but then reject the whole idea of the authority Christ established in His Church from that point forward.
Peace,
David B
BTW - as to your litany of things you find wrong with the Catholic Church, I'll leave you with this quote:
"There are not over a hundred people in the United States who hate the Catholic Church. There are millions, however, who hate what they wrongly believe to be the Catholic Church....As a matter of fact, if we Catholics believed all of the untruths and lies which were said against the Church, we probably would hate the Church a thousand times more than they do." ARCHBISHOP FULTON J. SHEEN
I think his assertion can certainly be extended beyond the borders of the United States, and your list of "wrongs" in the Catholic Church include misrepresentations of what we believe.
Peace,
David B
Post a Comment
<< Home