Jump to content

American Factory (Netflix Documentary)


Neonmoon

Recommended Posts

This is fascinating. It’s a real life Gung Ho

It really shows the difference in culture. It shows the deep rooted problems in American Culture. The laziness. The entitlement. The delusions of grandeur. It shows why American workers cannot compete. 

Now, having said that, when they visit China, it really show you that the country is one large cult that promotes slave labor. 

 

 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

While I don't..... completely disagree with some aspects of what you have to say about American culture, that's not what I got about it from that.  Or maybe I'm just trying to line that up with the wrong parts.  Maybe I got a bit of that from the dipshits who went over to China on the trip.  I guess I'd say that in regards to the chasm between expectations from Fuyao management and that of the American workers, by far the largest distance is attributable to Fuyao being accustomed to unregulated slave labor.

But, that was a really interesting watch.  I thought that the filmmakers did a pretty good job of just presenting the doc and not leading you down the path to whatever conclusion too much.  Maybe the most they did in that way was the cut from the Fuyao founder guy talking about the purpose of life being to work, and then cut to the floor of him discussing which workers they are going to cancel with the new automation they are putting in.  We talked about this a bit in the Netflix thread - there was a PBS Frontline not far back called "Left Behind in America" about Dayton's struggles.  It was really good, and they touched on the Fuyao factory a bit (iirc without showing quite as much of the company's frustration at dealing with an American workforce/a workforce in America).

https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/film/left-behind-america/

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I agree the filmakers did a great job not injecting any narrative and presented both sides open and honestly. It was really well made. I appreciated that. It let the viewer make its own judgements as to actions. 

Yes, I basically agree with you. China uses slave labor to gain efficiencies in production. China's greatest asset is their unlimited human capital. They no regulations, no unions. That's why American products can be made cheaper over there. At the same time, I don't see how their system is tenable. You would think the slaves would eventually revolt? Especially when automation eviscerates their human capital.  

On the flip side, the American entitlement was embarrasing. Your city is dying. This company comes in and brings jobs. And you try to form a union and ruin it. (don't get me wrong, unions were a necessary part of our history, and are useful in many situations, hell Chinese workers need a union movement, but we have OSHA and laws, and etc. now to protect workers.)

The all whines about how they made so much money in the good old days of GM and you could earn a decent wage, buy whatever you want, send your kids to college, but gloss over the fact that the GM plant closed for a reason. It was not profitable. Times changed. Automation changed things. People in other countries are willing to do your job for less money and less benefits. Yes, it sucks, but that's reality. If you want that to change, elect people who outlaw companies that oustource labor. But no one forced you to work for Fuyao. If you don't like the pay or benefits, get a new job. If you don't like the company meetings, go work somewhere else. 

Don't even get me started on the fat jabronies who wore t-shirts to the executive meeting on the visit to China.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

What would be interesting, if it were possible to do, would be to see what a Chinese factory like this would be like in England or France or Germany.

American workers would only be embarrassing in comparison to American workers at some point in the past.  What's really embarrassing is watching union workers negotiate in Detroit in the last 10 years or so.  That's not embarrassing, it's infuriating.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I loved the dynamic between the Fuyao founder and the gweilo American middle managers.  The one dude who, after Sherrod Brown talked about unions, told the extremely horrified Chinese dude that he'd like to cut off Sherrod Brown's head (cut an hour later to the same guy, now shitcanned, in the car talking about how the workers need a voice at the plant).  But the best scene was the founder walking around and first getting mad that obviously the garage door at the other end of the campus is facing the wrong direction, and wtf is this fire alarm doing up here in the middle of the wall it needs to be removed.  It's required by law?  Then place it a few inches above the ground - you need to think before you do this stuff so that we don't have to do it again.  That costs money.

The bewilderment on the American guy's face, the complete disconnect on both ends between feng shui and osha standards.

The whole trip to China was... also interesting.  I was cringing at... of course every single American that went over is 300 pounds, and just to punctuate that here's the one guy hulking his reflective vest.  The company held mass marriage, the showgirls singing about lean manufacturing principles.

Also enjoyed the one worker who seemed to have gotten close with his Chinese factory buddy, had them all over to shoot his guns, even after getting laid off talked about him as a brother.

Edited by Celery Man
Link to comment
Share on other sites

That was a good watch, but I don't think the Chinese fully understood American culture at all. Americans are more selfish than lazy. I didn't hear one mention of any kind of potential production/output bonus system for the American employees. That would've drastically improved production at the American plant IMO. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 8/27/2019 at 10:23 PM, Celery Man said:

While I don't..... completely disagree with some aspects of what you have to say about American culture, that's not what I got about it from that.  Or maybe I'm just trying to line that up with the wrong parts.  Maybe I got a bit of that from the dipshits who went over to China on the trip.  I guess I'd say that in regards to the chasm between expectations from Fuyao management and that of the American workers, by far the largest distance is attributable to Fuyao being accustomed to unregulated slave labor.

But, that was a really interesting watch.  I thought that the filmmakers did a pretty good job of just presenting the doc and not leading you down the path to whatever conclusion too much.  Maybe the most they did in that way was the cut from the Fuyao founder guy talking about the purpose of life being to work, and then cut to the floor of him discussing which workers they are going to cancel with the new automation they are putting in.  We talked about this a bit in the Netflix thread - there was a PBS Frontline not far back called "Left Behind in America" about Dayton's struggles.  It was really good, and they touched on the Fuyao factory a bit (iirc without showing quite as much of the company's frustration at dealing with an American workforce/a workforce in America).

https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/film/left-behind-america/

Thank you for sharing this.  I grew up 1 hour from Dayton, spent enough time in Dayton to be familiar with it, so this hits close to home.  

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 7 months later...

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.



×
×
  • Create New...