A 600lb block for a 300 series excavator is like handling a 3lb dumbbell to a person.
It takes some skill to drive one that smooth, but itâs not rocket science if you have driven one for a while. (At the same time a CAT, Deere, or Hitachi unit are the smoothest of the market.)
Cory, re:
if Catâs corporate personhood was literal, the company would be such an
obviously dangerous sociopath that it would be permanently
institutionalized to protect the rest of society.
That might not work out the way you suggest:
Letâs get this out of the way: Cat shutting down the Electro-Motive Diesel plant in London was a terrible thing, and it was clear that they were in no way willing to make any offers in good faith. They had endured much longer strikes in the past, and generally came to the table with far less of a take-it-or-leave-it mentality to their position.
That said, there was (and still is) a lot of disinformation flying around about the plant, and when criticizing the closing it helps not to speak of [a tax cut that didnât really exist][1]âat least, not in the way that the Star editorial linked to describes it.
(For those who donât want to follow that link: what occurred was a change to the tax code in 2008, two years before Cat bought EMD, that allowed owners of locomotives to depreciate them at a higher rate. This incentivizes earlier replacement of the machines, which in turn benefits the manufacturers that these replacements are then purchased from. Given that the benefits applied to all locomotives owned by Canadian firms, regardless of the country they were manufactured in, this certainly wasnât negotiated for any one particular plant.) [1]: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/economy/economy-lab/the-5-million-electro-motive-subsidy-that-wasnt/article545237/
I like their shoes. Cost a bit more, but theyâve lasted me well and are comfortable. Switched to Royer because I saw a âMade In Canadaâ graphic on their website however the pair I bought were made in Vietnam.
The point is, I donât mind paying a premium for a good shoe/boot and I try to be thoughtful about what & why I buy, but it doesnât guaranty a saved job or planted tree.
You may want to check and see if youâre posting to the right topic.
I presume heâs talking about Cat Footwear. Thatâs the shoe brand made by Caterpillar licensee Wolverine. If so, it seems like the right topic.
You presume correctly.
So tell me about your 3lb jenga blocks.
A friend of mine worked in a shoe store in London, Ontario; they dropped the CAT branded product like a hot rock after the locomotive plant was shut down.
I am sure there are PLENTY of great products that are manufactured or distributed by sociopathic companies⌠Just because they feel good on your feet does not make them good for the planet or the local economy.
Sometimes âITâ is knocking down peopleâs homes that donât belong to you. Yeah, theyâve got a tool for that tooTeddy Bear
Came here to point out the same thing.
CAT has quite the reputation with people who pay attention to abuses of human rights.
But I think Iâll post some more about Caterpillars population-clearance series of âtoolsâ.
I didnât have to look very far, Britain has had many such stories published in the last couple of decades.
This one is good if you like to see psychopathic responses by empathyless corporate entities.
Such amazing machines!
What Caterpillar did in London is the same thing that Volvo did in Goderich with Champion Road Machinery and the same thing Heinz is doing in Leamington. Because of the way our system is setup to award the benefits of all gains in productivity to the owners and none to the workers, people become increasingly desperate for decent-paying work. The owners use that to get tax breaks and other concessions from governments. They use it to get wage cuts and other concessions from workers. Itâs sickening.
Ah, OK, I didnât know Cat licensed their name to boots, too.
Wolverine is the largest non-athletic shoe company in the world, and owns numerous brands. Around 70% of its shoes are made in China
AhâŚyeah, a lot of clothes are made in China or places with similarly lax worker protections, unfortunately.
WaitâŚ
Are we supposed to laugh at how stupid the Hobby Lobby owners are for saying that companies should have moral beliefs?
Or are we supposed to be furious at the CAT corporate management that their company doesnât have moral beliefs?
Which day of the week is it? Or are companies definitely supposed to have morals⌠but only as long as they arenât derived from any religions. Well, maybe Unitarians would be okay⌠and maybe the sort of soft Iâm-a-nice-guy-but-I-just go-to-church on Christmas and Easter. As long as they donât believe anything too strongly. Except what I believe in and think is important, in which case they can be complete hard-@$$es about setting aside profitability to save the Earth/achieve diversity/but donât outsource to places I donât visit/donât lobby for yourself/lobby for laws I wish I had money to lobby for/make me feel good about myself/etc.
Pth.
Sounds like you have a bad case of the faux-flu.
I donât see how that is viable criticism of CAT. They are simply building a more rugged construction vehicle. They donât have any say in what the army chooses to do with it.
CAT and other manufactures make construction equipment for the armed forces that have legit uses. Things like the Corp of Engineers building bridges, roads, and other infrastructure in a less than welcoming environment.
Man I own a shoe that was made by Wolverine. It is the best damn shoe I have ever owned. They are super comfy. I went walking around Europe for a month and they looked brand new. I wore them everyday for over a year before moving on to a new shoe. I still wear them on occasion, and other than some mismatched wear on the sole because of my limp, they are in great shape. If the world ended tomorrow Iâd strap on these for the long haul.
