(erielack) A controverial topic? :)

["Joseph A. Braun" <joebraun_@_optonline.net>]

Re Paul Tup:  "am I being overly simplistic?"

Paul, your thoughts are not simplistic -- and they are controversial only if
by controversy is meant that there are unsettling truths here that reach
further than just the DLW, Erie, or EL. While the cliche can be true about
the ease of hindsight, the fact is that too many leaders of too many
institutions lack the wisdom and ethics for critical and proactive
foresight. We loved our respective railroads of origin and it is eye-opening
to go back with the eyes of seasoned adults and see how myopia, politics,
greed, and lack of ethics joined forces with an already tough reality to
help our roads enter the non-survivor category. Read this past Sunday's
NYTimes Magazine about the Toyota corporate culture and add it to what you
know about the cultures at GM, Ford, and Chrysler -- and today's car sales
stats are no surprise. That does not take away the grief of the folks in
Detroit and Flint. Yes, there was the reality of an ice and snowstorm...but
only JetBLue lost its tarnish. Was there a JetBlue person who once said:
"You know, what if we have a major systemic snow storm and have to cancel
all our flights?"...was there some cocky pundit who said, "Don't be silly,
that never happens."  There was always rumor of an Erie-ATSF connection, but
how do we know someone on the Erie board quashed discussion by saying
something like "yeah, but our friends in the Harriman family wouldn't like
that very much."  That's what happens out there on the links far too often.
A remote bunch of my family were all tied to the Bethlehem Steel plant in
Bethlehem PA. The folks who worked in the mill talked about "The Steel" as
their own and they sounded knowledgeable. The one in middle management only
talked about his golf and the Steel executive rooms at the Saucon Valley
Country Club.  And now there are only miles of silently rusting blast
furnaces, rolling mills, and railroad yards to tell the story. Eh...even
this sounds too simplistic though I think it strikes at the essence. But
this is not the time for an introduction to a textbook I will never write
anyway.

Joe Braun



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