John McEwen said:
major snip <<A kind of national arrogance>>
John:
There is truth of some of what you say, but be careful when branding a
whole country on the basis of the bad management of parts of its
industry. I would hate this to develop into a slanging match between "US
and them". After all, US legislation (and intransigent bureaucrats)
played a major part in the destruction of the British sports car
business.
I could go on on at length about the past management failings of the UK
engineering industry, and its position in society, comparison of the UK
with the German education system (the latter established in the last
century), the destructive effect of politicians with either short-term
views (or no views worth knowing about) and the effects of union
militancy, but this isn't the place or the time (and anyway, I might get
too depressed).
But Britain is not unique in this; there was a very good book a few
years ago contrasting the US car industry with that of Japan - and that
was pretty depressing too.
To mangle a good proverb, before you talk about the mote in my eyes,
check out the plank in yours.
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