I've Been Afraid of Changing (Part I)

As I thought about a subject relating to the intersection between money and faith my mind turned towards the recent fall of General Motors. I see at least two lessons to be learned from this disaster. The first I want to discuss concerns integrity, trust, and betrayal.

In the early 1970s GM management began to betray their customers by producing unreliable substandard cars. Oldsmobile diesel engines that blew up, Vega aluminum engines that warped, and automatic transmissions built with plastic parts for cars like the Chevette installed in full sized cars are just a few of many horror stories.

Then GM management began to betray their employees, treating them as enemies instead of partners. General Motors began sending American jobs out of the country. They spun off less profitable divisions, knowing full well they were abandoning their employees. Even when they tried to build a better car, the Saturn, they viewed their employees as the enemy and sought to replace humans with inflexible robot assembly lines (Toyota uses flexible robotics).

Then GM management betrayed their own dealership network and successfully destroyed Oldsmobile, one of the oldest and most popular marquees in American automotive history.

Finally, after many years of borrowing money to pay dividends, GM management has betrayed it shareholders and creditors. The government bailout and it will happen, will simply be an example of throwing good money after bad, unless we are forced by tax structure or import restrictions to buy GM automobiles or the Federal Government simply takes over the operation of GM, a real possibility.

There is nothing wrong with American engineers, who else can design a F-22 or a Virginia class nuclear attack submarine. There is nothing wrong with American workers; Honda, Toyota, and BMW have proven that fact. The problem remains greedy, immoral, shortsighted management that believes God gave us hands and feet to take the money and run.

GM did this to themselves. They betrayed their customers, their employees, their dealers, and their shareholders. Now no one trusts them, as they fly their luxurious private jets to Washington to beg for my money.

General Motors is not alone. They are just the largest and most visible example of a moral and social catastrophe. When management is given control of a major company, they are entering into covenants of loyalty with several groups, their customers, their employees, the owners, and the creditors. These covenants are broken, perhaps forever.

At one time, employees believed that if they were loyal, reliable workers, they could expect a lifetime job, excluding temporary layoffs during occasional recessions. In this country, health insurance was an expected benefit of full time employment. If a man worked his family’s health care was covered. If he didn’t work his family was on its own or more recently they became a burden on their betters, the stigma of welfare. If an employee gave the best thirty years of his or her life to a company, that employee expected to receive a pension in their declining years.

During the 1970s, management systematically broke this covenant in industry after industry. It took a while for the American worker to catch on to this change in the rules but now young employees expect nothing from their employer beyond the paycheck and benefit package they currently receive. Having seen their parents and older siblings treated like disposable machine parts, they neither give nor expect loyalty from their employers. In fact, if a young employee has been with a company for five years or more, his peers wonder if something is wrong. This could have interesting consequences in areas of national security, trade secrets, and proprietary technology in the next couple of decades.

Of course, you can guess where I am going with this rant. In this ever changing world we live in, be very careful where you place your trust. There is a God who does not change. Perhaps both the Children of God and the management of General Motors could benefit from a meditation on this scripture.

Hebrews 13: 5-8 NIV

Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.” So we say with confidence, “The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?”

Remember your leaders, who spoke the word of God to you. Consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.

P. S. There are also still good men and women in American management. The following quote comes from a recent article by Jim Citrin.

“Gerald Grinstein, former CEO of Delta Air Lines, addressed the volatile issue of executive compensation head-on. He decided in March 2007 to refuse more than $10 million in promised compensation after shepherding the No. 3 U.S. airline through bankruptcy. Instead, Grinstein decided to contribute this post-bankruptcy pay to scholarships and hardship assistance for Delta employees, families, and retirees. In doing so, Grinstein almost singlehandedly defused employee resentment and regained employee trust and confidence in Delta management. A representative reader comment from this column: "I only wish other 'overpaid' CEOs would follow Grinstein's example."