After finishing flivver king,
http://spiritualportal.net/index.php/topic,8287.msg40666.html#msg40666It interest me that you are talking about american manufacturing. The era of Henry Ford was both brilliant and haunting. Upton Sinclair was able to illustrate, fairly accurate(so I'm told), the disconnect between Henry Fords success and the life of his employees(despite his initial philanthropic ambitions). He highlighted the struggle of the workers during a period where employees would meet in secret and be afraid to show their face listening to ambitious fellows talk about unions.
Apparently Henry Ford had his own fleet of spies to keep an eye out for all manner of, "undesirable" which eventually became a nightmare for the lower class/labor force. In his success a great strain was placed on the workers, and "a billion dollars" became the personality of Mr. Ford whether he wanted the association or not. The ideals he implemented in the beginning were lost over time and it seemed like he became more withdrawn. At one point it wasn't uncommon for Henry Ford to talk to a gentleman in charge of screwing spindle nuts and to listen to the ideas coming from his employee. Eventually he stopped associating altogether...
All in all, whether by state or nation- no matter the time, there are things which are *good* and things that are dark and dismal... They exist simultaneously... On the same spectrum. That is a very interesting observation.