Don't Blame the Fox if the Farmer Leaves the Henhouse Door Open.

[last1standing]

You know, I've been thinking about the proposed loans for the auto companies and how Congress is dealing with the situation and it made me think about that old saying. You can't blame the fox if the farmer leaves the henhouse door open. That's just life on the farm, the fox's instincts will always draw him to the coop so its the farmer's responsibility to make sure to close the door so the fox can't get in.

Now, I'm reading here at DU and other places that people are mad at GM, Ford and Chrysler for shipping jobs overseas and I agree. We keep losing jobs to India, Mexico and China while these CEOs and upper level management rake in extra bonuses for putting Americans on the unemployment lines. Post after post is filled with angry comments asking why should we buy American when the auto companies aren't willing to invest in Americans, themselves? Great question, really, but is it the right question if we want to get to the bottom of the real issue?

Corporations are driven, instinctually, toward profit. Its the nature of the beast. If a CFO sees a spreadsheet that compares the average wages of a Chinese worker to that of an American worker he smells the scent of extra profit and must follow it because that is the nature of survival. A corporation that does not maximize profits will not be able to build up a nest for the lean months to come, just as a fox who does not take advantage of an open coop door won't see the next spring.

So the question isn't why does GM take advantage of low wage workers in other countries, it's who left the door open that gave them access to those workers to begin with. The answer was in front of each of us as we watched the auto company hearings - Congress. That's right, the farmer who carelessly left the door open for the fox is now trying to sanctimoniously pretend its all the fox's fault. Instead of looking to himself and castigating himself for his own failures, he threw his hands up in the air and cried "what are we ever going to do about these foxes?". Was it the fox's fault the farmer gave him such easy access to the hens? Is it GM's fault that in an extremely competitive market, Congress opened free trade agreements that punished those who paid living wages?

Meanwhile, the hens - also known as the American workers - are left to run around the coop desperately trying to avoid the sharp teeth of the fox. We keep dodging and clucking at the top of our lungs but the farmer is off to the town pub to tell everyone about the fox in his coop. But he still hasn't even bothered to shut the door and his chickens are getting worn out!

So who's going to shut that henhouse door? I'm afraid it's going to be left up to us poor chickens to make sure the farmer knows what happens when he doesn't uphold his responsibilities to the coop. We need to make sure that every farmer *ahem* -member of Congress- knows that if he doesn't protect us from the fox, he's not going to be getting many eggs *umm* -votes- come election time.

After all, you can't blame the fox when it's the farmer who's not doing his job. The fox is always going to want to eat.

That's just the nature of the beast.

[Cleita]

1. Bravo!

I like your metaphor and it sums the situation up nicely. I think we have been trying to send that message to congress by increasing our numbers each election. I hope that they are getting the hint. Now maybe letter writing and telephoning campaigns to the new Congress will seal the deal. Don't bother with the lame ducks who are leaving in January, but concentrate on the veterans that are coming back as well as the new Congressmen and Senators that are entering.

[glowing]

4. Perhaps because it is the lame ducks who are watching their own backs.

If they leave the snack door open, the fox won't come after them... and they get fat and waddle slow.. and I guess we took out a lot of those lame ducks this election.. Guess we'd be the hunter.

[frebrd]

2. Good Post - Thanks rec'd

[elifino]

3. This is also explains the Fannie Mae etc. mess

[Andy823]

5. Great way to put it.

Congress needs to know their jobs are on the line and the voters are sick and tired of what has been happening. Right now it's obvious that something needs to be done, but will congress do it, or will they continue to "leave" the door open as you put it so that nothing changes? I think that if a few of the "good old boys" on both sides of the isle who are stuffing their pockets with money from the "foxes" were to be voted out of office things might change. I also think there should be limit on how long the "farmers" can be in charge of running things. If they had limits on their time in charge of things, maybe it would be easier to get money from the "foxes" out of their pockets, and they would start to do what is best for us "chickens"!

[truedelphi]

7. But the politicians' jobs - are they really on the line?

No they are not. We simply allow one party to help prop up the other party, and in the end, the Corporations, which control both parties, are always victorious.

The nations of the world that have Universal Single Payer Health Insurance, that offer parents their children's higher education paid for by the state, that help when someone needs a Safety Net, these nations ALL have three or four or more legit political parties. Until that happens here, the Corporate Money Party (that autorank has continuously described so well) will continue to eat up the average American.

[treestar]

6. What if they kept all the jobs here, but there weren't enough people

to fill them? Would immigrants then be welcomed?

Honda just hired people in the US - that never seems to make the news. All the years we were losing these jobs it is only recently that the unemployment rate has gone up.

Then if the Chinese and Indians stay poor, they can't buy anything. If they work and get richer, they will demand more in wages and be able to buy other things, leaving us with them as a market, too.

As for the Big 3, why don't they just make smaller gas efficient cars that are cheaper so more people can afford them, maybe even people in India and China?

Common sense has left this country too!

[nichomachus]

8. Actually, the OP misses an important point

The directors of the corporation not only go into the henhouse when the door is left open -- the ARE REQUIRED BY LAW to do so. It's not their instinct. It's their legal requirement.

Corporate law requires them to maximize return to the shareholders and there is no provision that says, "unless" or "except." If they don't do it, they can be sued. It's a huge flaw in corporate law.

What we need to do is change corporate law to say that they must maximize the profits, while ensuring the well-being of the community, the environment, etc. Until we change that law, they cannot do anything other than they currently do.

Here's an excellent article on the subject:

http://www.commondreams.org/views02/0119-04.htm

[panader0]

9. When the dog (fox) got into the henhouse and killed a few hens

the farmer tied a dead hen around the dogs neck and left it there while it rotted and reeked for weeks. The dog never killed another hen.

[varelse]

10. This is a case of "the fox OWNS the farmer"

:shrug:

[last1standing]

12. No. The chickens own the farmer.

But the fox is sly enough to make us think otherwise. We need to make congress remember where their power comes from.

[Dragonfli]

11. K&R for the truth

[ColbertWatcher]

13. Outstanding! k+r, n/t

[last1standing]

14. Thanks.

:hi: