As most of you know, one of the big stories of the 2008 stock market crash is the trouble that the big three automakers have gotten themselves into and what the Canadian and America governments are going to do about it.

In my opinion they should let them sink or swim. I’ve never been a fan of government supported industries that suck up tax dollars just because the government can’t let go. What is the point in subsidizing or supporting a part of an industry that is failing anyway?

The auto industry is far from dead but this day and age people aren’t buying the gas guzzling creations of these automakers anymore. The more environmentally conscious generation of today is looking for efficient vehicles that are easy on gas. We now see the popularity of the Tesla electric cars and the gas-electric hybrids overtaking the once dominant four door luxury cars (i.e. Lincoln Town Car) and the 4×4 extended cab trucks.

I understand that the government wants to help preserve the jobs of these thousands of people but wouldn’t the money be better spent on a retraining package for these people? It seems to me that the money should be placed into a fund that helps former workers of this manufacturing industry find education that will take them into an area where there is more stability.

There are automakers that flourish in this day and age. Take a look and Honda and Toyota, for example. You never hear anything about their problems and, in fact, Honda has recently expanded operations in North America because of the void created by the “BIG 3” being unable to accommodate what their customers are asking for.

I am a big fan of letting the market determine what it wants and what will survive. It’s not the government’s responsibility to make sure that products keep being produced even if there is no demand. The only reason they are interested in helping this particular industry is because the unions are hollering. I’m not sure that the unions should dictate what the government does either.

Maybe some of these soon to be layed-off workers could be easily retrained to work in plants of competing companies such as the previously mentioned Honda and Toyota.

I’m afraid, even if our governments spend tons of money bailing out these companies, they will try to continue business as usual without the necessary changes to become self sufficient. We don’t need these companies mooching of the government for the next 20 years because they aren’t capable of making it on their own. That’s where a free market system is good, it weeds out the weak and rewards the strong.

In case you don’t know, the “BIG 3” are considered to be GM, Ford, and Chrysler. They are the three biggest and most powerful automakers in North American, not to mention they employ hundreds of thousands of people.