Depression skillz -- who has them?

I'm glad they are actually taking a stand against bailing out the automakers. They have let them avoid responsibility for making more efficient cars, and finally are saying no. The auto companies are burdened by health care costs, but so are other American companies. I think the solution is single payer health care, not just giving money to large companies with rich execs.

If GM and Ford go down, so will a whole lot of other businesses. Michigan will be an effing wasteland. The auto industry needs to change the way it operates, not go bye-bye.

I don't know if it's the western migration nut in me or winter coming on, but these "how to do it without electricity or modern conveniences" posts get me all worked up.
Right now, thanks to you, I am honing some Knitting skills and thinking about what to start early in the vegetable garden this spring. I also want to learn how to make Currant jam or wine as I have three plants that bear quite nicely in the back yard.
Also, some chickens would be nice to have around. I may work on a coop this winter.

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look, i am a "bailout for rich people" hater of Olde. my creds in that department are sterling. but let's not throw out the baby with the bathwater, ok? and millions of people, including innocent children and elders, who will suffer if "detroit dies," just because Detroit execs have been as short sighted and irresponsible as those in the tony hoods of manhattan.

the truth is, here in MI, and many other states, "the auto industry" is soooooooo much more than "the big 3." i have several friends who do/have worked in that industry, and who run, or want to run but can't get funding, truly "innovative" shops which can make all the stuff we progressives dream of. alt energy design, smaller and safer, eco-correct....believe me, if you've thought of it, there's a machinist or engineer or designer here who's put it to paper.

the problem is that most of those people have been forced to depend upon the Big 3 for their revenue streams. that's what coporate control does to an economy- it rewards short sighted, stupid management and punishes those who challenge them. but what's an industry person going to do? for decades, it's been "put up and shut up," or "change jobs." lemme share a couple of stories.

you know that "teevee in your car" thingee that most luxe autos have now? "guidance screens" and dvd players and all that? i knew a guy who designed, and built, the very same thing...in the early 80s. he put up his house, his life savings, his retirement fund...all in the hopes he could sell his idea to one of the Big 3. he never did, and eventually his shop went under. and now they can't put that shit in cars fast enough.

another guy i know was a jr engineer at Ford. he came up with a way to save the company millions, every year, with a simple and Zen-easy redesign of a widget that almost all their cars needed. because he was "just an intern" at the time he came up with the idea, it took them 2.5 years to eventually make the change in the production line that he recommended. you see, it had to be approved by his boss, and his boss's boss, and his boss's boss's boss...and so on. that process took months. in the meantime, my friend decided to join the military, where they reward people for innovation and service. /deep snark/

the point i'm making is that like most american corporations, the "problem" isn't the product, or the workers, or the lack of will. it's THE MANAGEMENT. has been for a long fucking time. i happen to be close family friends with one of the "ranking VPs" at one of the Big 3, and lemme tell you i've learned a thing or two from that relationship. in a nutshell, you don't know the half of what they don't do, don't create, do block and obstruct, and are overpaid via the productivity of the workers who actually design and build their cars. it's more than a travesty and less than something that can survive in a 21st c future.

so yes, i'm all for not "bailing out" two-quarter focused executive "talent" that's brought in to enrich megashareholders by selling off what little has value in the industry at the expense of productivity. but if you've got a spare 30B laying around, i can come up with 000s of smaller firms, here in MI and other US states, who would greatly benefit, and stimulate the economy, with the application of a "microloan" style program. we can even write law and make policy that dictates what product they produce, the better to meet environmental and energy concerns that affect us all.

Follow the Black Agenda Report link above the cartoon and read Bruce Dixon's excellent editorial. If we took steps toward health care reform, I'd feel better about some propping up of Detroit, but I can't stand the idea of the usual kind of corporate welfare, wherein the same people make out like bandits while others lose their jobs. Or as the Onion put it, "throwing money into a big hole."

short version: mircoloans, and not "bailouts for executives and big shareholders." not to the big 3, but to the 000s of companies who supply and provide for them, instead. mandates for ecofriendly and altenergy innovation tied to those loans. reward smaller, and proven innovaters, instead of bloated short term profite executives. strengthening unions, by loaning them the money to buy profitable interests in the big 3 concerns for which they work, tank the "banking" and advertising elements to the existing big 3. it. can. be. done. we don't have to "kill Detroit" to save american manufacturing.

I generally read your posts and comments. What YOU wrote is acceptable, but I don't think that's what the automakers had in mind when they asked for a bailout, and probably wouldn't be what they'd get if it were approved. I know I'm cynical, but the first bailout hasn't really given me faith.

The people who will suffer will not be the ones who caused this. Yes, they benefited, but no one asked them how to keep the wheels turning. Inbreeding is a bad thing wherever it occurs.

Are those on the outside wiser? Oh, yes.

Wiser is good.

i can see we're on the same page. i just get very Knee Jerk when people casually talk about "letting Detroit die." (not that you did, per se) i live in MI now, i grew up here and my dad was a union hourly worker and my mom a doc for a union shop, etc. i don't take that line lying down. and trust me: most people here are ready to pitchfork and torch the oakland county Few, who still have money. i don't think they even realize that, how much they are hated, by "our own," here.

yet I still disagree.

the haves blissfully ignorant of the festering resentment among the have-nots. They don't think we could have a revolution here, Bolshevik style, but the increasing disparity in wealth coupled with the inability to even work for a living can make people feel pretty revolutionary.

Electricity or plumbing, partly by choice and partly by necessity. Guess that would qualify as depression skills.

The main things are water and shelter, with food a close third.

You can raise food in containers like 5 gallon buckets with light soil and organic fertilizers. Get seeds for smaller plants, like cherry tomatoes, very small bell peppers, lettuce, kale, and other smaller crops that have high yield. You can keep many of them going all winter long by bringing them indoors and putting them in front of south facing windows, with grow lights on them.

If you have room, the best livestock to have is chickens (if you can take the noise and have a VERY sturdy pen and house to keep predators away). They give you meat, eggs, and don't take much food. They can be fed whole corn, eat bugs, and supplemented with alfalfa.

There are several good books on stocking up; you can really learn a lot from them. Drying food is tricky, one of those dryers that can be bought may be the best bet. Canning things that are acidic like tomatoes is quite easy. If you have a freezer, most fruit can just be bagged and frozen. Peppers can be chopped and frozen on trays, to be broken up and bagged to shake out what you need in each dish.

A bread maker that has a dough setting can be quicker to create loaves, then bake them in the oven. I bake 8 at a time, freeze half and refrigerate the other half. We slice (with a bread knife, perfect for the task) and pop into a microwave oven for 20 seconds for that fresh baked taste!

There are basic recipes that will really help to get you by. For instance, put grains and beans together with a bit of meat for a complete protein. Adding Nutritional Yeast (not Brewer's yeast) increases the B vitamins, if you don't have multiple vitamins available.

Going to thrift stores can really help too, especially if you are thinner and not too tall. There are lots of clothes for people with that build.

I'll stop there for now.