January 2008

I live in Michigan.  The automotive industry has driven our state’s economy for many years.  And the industry is hurting, so our state is hurting, too.   

I just read an AP article about Tata Motors of India.  Wow, if their plan isn’t blocked by environmentalists across the world, it could mean even more trouble for an ailing US Automotive industry.  US manufacturers are having difficulty selling in their own country.  But it will be more difficult to manufacture and sell globally when they have a competitor who’s planning to sell a car for $2500. 

Of course, that car will be a stripped down model, but it will accomplish the goal of getting someone from one destination to another.

I think when Americans started treating their cars more like their homes (all the modern conveniences money can afford), we made it more difficult for the US Auto industry.  Could you imagine GM, Ford or Chrysler selling any car for $2500?  Could you imagine any American buying a $2500 car?

Experts on pollution are concerned, too.  India’s economy is booming, which means more people will have the money to purchase a car.  And offering one that’s affordable will dramatically increase gas consumption and pollution. 

Like it or not, the US is impacted by global changes.  As other countries become more industrialized, our comfortable way of life becomes less comfortable.    Pollution increases, gas prices rise . . .

An excerpt from Barack Obama’s Iowa Caucus victory speech.  I may not 100% agree with his stand on political issues, but his speech was certainly stirring.  

Years from now, you’ll look back and you’ll say that this was the moment, this was the place where America remembered what it means to hope. For many months, we’ve been teased, even derided for talking about hope. But we always knew that hope is not blind optimism. It’s not ignoring the enormity of the tasks ahead or the roadblocks that stand in our path.It’s not sitting on the sidelines or shirking from a fight. Hope is that thing inside us that insists, despite all the evidence to the contrary, that something better awaits us if we have the courage to reach for it and to work for it and to fight for it.

Hope is what I saw in the eyes of the young woman in Cedar Rapids who works the night shift after a full day of college and still can’t afford health care for a sister who’s ill. A young woman who still believes that this country will give her the chance to live out her dreams.Hope is what I heard in the voice of the New Hampshire woman who told me that she hasn’t been able to breathe since her nephew left for Iraq. Who still goes to bed each night praying for his safe return.