Boeing Is Everything Wrong With American Capitalism | Robert Reich

Boeing has agreed to plead guilty to criminal conspiracy to commit fraud.
The company's descent reveals everything wrong with American capitalism today.

[@fluxcapacitor1621]

The CEO of Boeing is an accountant. The CEO of AirBus is an aeronautical engineer. Their priorities are clear.

[@MH-YouTube-Controlled]

Never put an accountant in the corner office, because they'll focus on nailing down the floor a bit tighter.

[@tomcowan7695]

Well, how do you put "good rep" into a bonce sheet?

[@322kfunk]

good one !!! sounds familiar though ...from about 7 or 8 months ago ,,by none other than yours truly 😀

[@dominicfucinari1942]

Hedge fund mentality and financier control takes all the quality out of products and services created under capitalism or whatever passes for it.

[@Meridian83West]

Hiring an accountant to lead a company was the downfall of GM in the 1980s (Roger Smith).

[@JosedeJezeus]

Humanity is under attack from Sociopathic Narcissists, in business and in government.

[@elinope4745]

#metwo

[@RakeshMalikWhiteCrane]

It's called "crapitallism." Also known as government of the moron, by the moron, and for the dollar.

[@Pickn4Gold]

Maybe we shouldn't have raised generations of children on the belief that if you earn enough money you'll be happy. All it did was make generations of sociopathic kids willing to do anything to earn money to make themselves happy.

[@AoiLucine]

The scariest of the dark triad, if you ask me. All the social charm and completely amoral.

[@sethEtheshark82]

Capitalism is a bully!

[@Kilo96313]

The amount of corruption that exists within critical points of our countrys infrastructure is flat out disgusting.

[@cellevangiel5973]

They come close to Russia, but keep shouting : we are the greatest, the best.

[@YahuahBenYahYah.]

They keep killing the engineers whistleblowers.

[@peanut0brain]

Like how epstein "hanged himself"

[@YahuahBenYahYah.]

@@peanut0brain I can see why you said that and yes there's plenty places to Hind,But telling on some Large Corporations is a whole different espionage and just by some chance they are still alive avoiding the testimony they will soon will disappear on a trusting nature of those people who have lied to them.

[@michaeldavis5616]

If it's Boeing, I'M NOT GOING!!!!!

[@annemurphy8074]

@MrGriff305 Do you pay attention to anything?

[@davepo999]

@MrGriff305The fact Boeing took a calculated risk with a malfunctioning mcas system and gambled with peoples lives🤷‍♂️

[@runmarkrunheinrich]

The moment consumers behave this way is the end for Boeing. If an operator of Boeing aircraft has empty seats measurably on account of the equipment used on routes they will have no business choice other than factoring that into their fleet planning.

[@katyasylvester6444]

​@MrGriff305Ah, the good ole Whatabout-ism - favorite movie of manipulators and propagandists. Do you have anything to contribute on AIRLINE safety?

[@Gouken.07]

@MrGriff305 how does it feel to kissing up to a corporation? You enjoy sucking them dry?

[@AgencyScum]

An engineer will build up to a specification. An accountant will build down to a price.

[@DKJ100]

Any engineer with experience will design with a safety factor usually 1.25 to 1.5 times the specifications.

[@EricForney-uz4iz]

Good way to get right to the point 👍.

[@LowenKM]

Yep, Boeing used to be an engineering-centered 'local' company that was once the pride of the PNW... but that all changed when they merged with McDonnell-Douglas, a much more military-focused 'good old boy' corporate culture, and then they moved the Boeing hdqtrs from Seattle to Chicago, which removed any 'local' oversight (and local pride).

[@dandare1001]

You are correct, but we do need to have both accountants and engineers. I'm an engineer and I could design most things, but the accountants (sometimes) are needed to keep me real. Mercedes was doing badly in the late 80s (very high quality, high price, too few customers) and went to the accountant-driven way. That's why now they are piss-poor quality, and have been since the mid 90s. (30 years now!). The trick is getting the correct balance. Obviously safety should be of the highest priority, and should never be a part of cost-reduction.

[@brmnyc1984]

McDonnell ruined Douglas Aircraft. Now McDonnell-Douglas has ruined Boeing.

[@EvelioPerez]

Boeing ruined Boeing

[@kyleoates6367]

Stock buybacks NEVER should have been decriminalized. The ONLY way trickle down theory would have worked is if they had remained criminal like they were prior to Reagan.

[@zemm9003]

This is a wonderful comment.

[@user-zg6jr2wp1j]

And tax the ridiculously overpaid CEOs at about 99%

[@Roxor128]

And ban them and all management from owning shares in the company (or any derivative thereof, such as options). That way they can't benefit from changes in the share price. When the company goes IPO, you get a choice to make: Do you keep owning or running the company? If the former, you step down from any management position. If the latter, your shares get sold on launch day at market value.

[@deannasutterfield5950]

Yes the only part of the fifties I agree with is the effective highest taxed rate was above 80 percent.

[@Pan_Galactic_Gargle_Blaster]

fundamental issue is how they are paid. CEOs very rarely have large cash salaries but rather receive massive stock payments to intentionally bypass taxation as stocks are only taxed on sale. they've intentionally normalized this to skirt taxation as much as possible, and typically try to sell some (usually unrelated) stocks at a loss to pay as little capital gains taxes as possible when they need cash.

[@Hubadadubada]

What an absurd notion

[@ImFangzBro]

​​@Pan_Galactic_Gargle_Blaster And this is why we ban them from owning stocks in their own company.

[@vonneely1977]

"Wallstreet types who looked down on the engineers" implies that there exists some kind of person that Wallstreet types *don't* look down on. I assure you, there are none.

[@konbonwa]

The feeling is mutual.

[@craiganderson7986]

They will happily tell you that they are”The Masters of the Universe!” That is if they think it’s worth their time to even acknowledge your existence.

[@austinlevreault6211]

@@craiganderson7986 They won't even allow you to exist. They won't even allow the planet to exist. Eat the rich. Fuck the 1%

[@phil20_20]

😆

[@taukid421]

​@@craiganderson7986hahahahahahaha, oh the irony. They think of themselves as masters of the universe when they think money, a human-made concept, is everything. They are such small people.

[@VanquishMediaDE]

I am a retired Aerospace engineer. I spent my 20s 30s and 40s improving designs to ensure safety and reliability. By 2010 I retired after 37 years in the industry. I was tired of some wallstreer hack who never turned a wrench a day in his life tell me how to do my job. Thank God I have full healthcare benefits and pension because they do not offer such anymore.

[@lesleedetchon]

They don't care anymore about craftsmanship now it's about money for the CEO and executives . In other words corporate greed.

[@heronimousbrapson863]

When you are a company heavily reliant on engineering expertise, it is generally not a good idea to have its senior management comprised mainly of accountants and MBA's.

[@RWROW]

Imagine how bad Boeing would be if Airbus didn't compete with them.

[@karlabritfeld7104]

Nor should you elect a businessman as president

[@RWROW]

@@karlabritfeld7104 Especially one who insists on making all his business decisions himself and has 6 bankruptcies to prove it.

[@I_S_Chew]

An MBA isn’t even a valuable skill. It’s just memorizing shortcuts and ways to elude standards.

[@gregpendrey6711]

​Top comment. Very astute!

[@casbot71]

The irony is that it will cost the shareholders of Boeing.... a lot.

[@jim2lane]

I will cry no tears for them

[@GingerCC-he8be]

Oh, guess who is some of the shareholders? All of Congress! Anti-trust has been ignored over the past 15-25 years, and insider trader is legal for Congress, so connect the dots. Boeing has no competition to speak of, so they do what they want, where will we go for planes (and military equipment by the way)?

[@sharlarae9719]

Boohoo

[@sudazima]

most shareholders will have made money and sold their stock long ago, some are left holding the bag by joining at the wrong time sure but others still can now short the stock instead.

[@Eggplanter_2027]

I bought a share because I thought it couldn't go any lower 💀

[@davidpowell3469]

I worked as a consultant to Boeing and was stunned and shocked at how they "ran" their business. I was removed from the account when I complained to my boss. Don't get me started.

[@jonglejuice]

No no no, please do tell. I would like to get you started on this lol

[@rustomkanishka]

Please do share.

[@davidpowell3469]

@@rustomkanishka I will just share that being a consultant you have no power and that in Washington state it is a right to work state so you can be removed or fired from any job "at will". Say what you want about California but workers have some protections.

[@rustomkanishka]

@@davidpowell3469 i understand. Being fired out of the blue must have been a shock to say the least. No one needs that kind of misery in their life. I thought you meant something about the work culture, or if you noticed anything that made these recent catastrophes inevitable. If you did, please do share, but if you wish to stay silent that is completely understandable.

[@Joker75113]

There’s no truth tolerated in the corporate government world. Unbelievable.

[@1ring2rule3pigs]

Can we all agree that LOBBYING should be illegal?! That'll keep politicians honest if they have nothing to gain.

[@Fred-vy1hm]

Bribery is already illegal, it still happens, good luck trying to get legislation written to prevent it from those receiving the bribes.

[@avsystem3142]

The Constitution guarantees the citizens the right to "address" the government, i.e. to lobby. That is not the same as saying that money is speech and cannot be limited.

[@vincentkrommenhoek7431]

@@1ring2rule3pigsLobbying is super un-democratic. Unfortunately, money from lobbying is the bulk of income politicians get so it will never be illegal... but it should...

[@LawrenceLaffer]

Awww, so naive it’s almost cute…almost

[@sherlockholmes6990]

@@avsystem3142 A corporation is not a citizen.

[@EJ200ce1]

The capitalists broke capitalism with their greed. Soon their cash cow will run dry!!

[@half_mexican4071]

capitalism just reinforced this behavior in already greedy people. How else would this play out?

[@joelcieszkowski8462]

Never! Paper just keeps chasing paper.

[@chieftain5571]

What a child. Mao lived like Royalty during a Chinese famine that claimed 30 million lives (1959). Pooh Bear Xi, Putin, Kim Jong, all live like billionaires. Whatever you call your Magic Fairy Dust system, some people will game that system. Capitalism is just proven better at feeding, and providing opportunity for people.

[@phil20_20]

IOW, the American People!

[@JohnMoore-xf5wy]

EVERYTHING has its limits. Communism WILL NEVER SUCCEED because SOMEONE has to pay the bills, but when capitalists forgo the methods which made them initially successful for the pursuit ONLY OF MONETARY WEALTH TO THE DETRIMENT OF THEIR ORIGINAL ROUTE TO SUCCESS THEY WILL FAIL.

[@tonyk4615]

My father was a lifelong Boeing employee and rose to become a senior tech fellow before retiring. He said Boeing didn’t buy McDonald Douglas, but McDonald Douglas bought Boeing. Everything changed with the buyout. He said it just wasn’t the same company anymore.

[@tonyk4615]

@@dakotarobert7975 thank you! I remember that now. It’s been so long I forgot many of the sleazy details.

[@garytorresani8846]

@@dakotarobert7975thanks for bringing that up. They took on the MD philosophy and killed the company. But then, this is American business in this century. Think short term for profits while competing against companies and countries that think decades down the road. Great way to kill innovation.

[@rhymereason3449]

I remember when the CEO of Boeing (Condit I believe) bragged in the company newsletter that he and Stonecipher sat down sketched the merger out on a NAPKIN in the course of an hour and shook hands on it... like that was a good thing!

[@liannebedard5521]

I had a friend who was a famously gifted mechanical engineer at Boeing. His colleagues knew him as the guy who could see problems brewing long before they became safety issues. He would be heartbroken to see what has become of the firm he loved.

[@rhymereason3449]

@@liannebedard5521 As am I. At this point I'm just hoping my pension holds up...

[@shaggybreeks]

I worked for Boeing in the late 60s, and none of this BS was going on.

[@gregeoryl]

To give credit to Boeing, a lot of things used to be regulated by government bodies that companies hated, and now we let them self regulate. Quality is determined by how much you can get away with, before lawsuits eat into your profits.

[@steveneason893]

I was in management at Boeing during the transition. I left in 2012 when there were still a few of the old guard trying to hold the fort. We had gone from asking "How can we do the best job possible?" to "How can we maximize earned income?".

[@KootFloris]

Exactly. You've, and the whole USA has, been sold the myth that the purpose of a company is to make profit. That's a lie, sold by the robbers. The purpose of the company is to offer a need in society and profits help maintain that task. But the lie makes it okay to keep robbing and enriching the elites. Stop the lie. Limit incomes and profits!

[@BardovBacchus]

When *profit* is your highest priority, *everything* else is secondary. Capitalism places profit making over all other human needs and endeavors. *By Design* Capitalism *must* be muzzled and leashed. The Market is a piss poor regulator

[@timeWaster76]

You're a fool

[@bosatsu76]

Capitalism is an excellent tool... And a terrible master... It must be regulated and harnessed... THAT happens in the voting booth... We've had over 40 years of Greed is good, worship the rich, trickle down nonsense to prove how destructive it is... Time to change course.

[@phil20_20]

Unfortunately, it's the marketing class in American Schools that is teaching them the wrong priorities. They teach marketing skills instead. How to fool people into paying more for less instead of buying what they need.

[@joelcieszkowski8462]

It will never happen in the social Darwinist shitshow called the United States. Most Americans want to be rich like Trump. Hell, aren't most Americans still hung up on the invasion of Iraq?

[@rasichap]

Succinctly put.

[@tpobrienjr]

"Take off your engineer hat and put on your management hat" and BOOM went the Space Shuttle Challenger.

[@IamPreacherMan]

When I was in school. I learned that stock buybacks were the worst use of cash/profits a management team could possibly do. It showed a complete lack of creative thought on the entirety of the executive board. Dividends aren’t much better. Neither creates real added value to the company.

[@RWROW]

Just wait till Clarence Thomas and other MAGA judges start deciding which regulations should govern Boeing.

[@nobody8328]

*start deciding that industry doesn't need any regulations at all

[@mreese8764]

The constitution can be invented by judges and presidents at will. It's A okay.

[@noam65]

I'm waiting for them to fly the uncertain skies.

[@UURevival]

The market will take care of itself because the customers the Boeing kills will reduce their market share...

[@grilablitznet3574]

🇨🇦👍💯

[@edwinwise6751]

There are some things that aren’t compatible with capitalism . Safety, unions , medicine, justice …. The list goes on

[@Max14163]

Food, housing, ... (I found out the latter when Warren Buffet started buying up residential property and the former when Bill Gates started buying up farmland for factory farms).

[@kaasmeester5903]

Don’t be silly. Capitalism means that companies are owned by private investors. Not much more. It does not preclude governmental oversight. Here in Europe we have far more strictly regulated markets… but they are still capitalist in nature.

[@mediamannaman]

Sounds like you are throwing capitalism out with the bath water. Properly regulated, capitalism works because it encourages innovation, hard work, and competition.

[@jayjohn9680]

Innovation is key… and really if they kick out that ceo and replace him with a cyborg they’ll save millions. Put those millions into teams of extra quality inspectors and Boeing is back in business!

[@aurelspecker6740]

Well, we have these things in Europe AND we have capitalism. We just don't have the neocapitalism that US is doing at the moment. I also find it really funny, when people praise "capitalism" for being superior and "having won the cold war". But they forget that there was a peak tax rate of 90%!!!! in the US. THAT is the capitalism that won against communism. Not the feudal capitalism that is being pushed at the moment.

[@elishmuel1976]

My company is sending me around the country for meetings. I told my boss there's no way I'm flying in a Boeing. Airbus only

[@garrettmancuso4417]

We already live in an Oligarchy. This is soviet level incompetence on Boing's behalf.

[@SciHeartJourney]

Boeing is a horrible place to work. When Covid-19 hit, they told those of us that are contractors that we couldn't work "remote" but they insisted that their regular full-time employees do so. When I asked my LIFE was worth less than a full-time employee's, they told me "Boeing Policy" is that contract employees can't work remote. In response I asked, "When has Boeing ever had to deal with a global pandemic?". Less than week later the let me go. My Grandpa was 94 at the time and I lived with him. I was not willing to risk his life!

[@karlabritfeld7104]

But contractors get paid more than regular employees.

[@joelcieszkowski8462]

Because they are just a bit better. Just like Slavs were probably a bit better than Jews in the view of the Germans.

[@jamesbosworth4191]

Wow, disgusting.

[@johnbecker5213]

right call!!!!! i did the same. best advice join a union!!!!!!!!

[@SciHeartJourney]

@@karlabritfeld7104 no we don't more. When a contractor gets hired as a permanent full time, they just pay the same rate.

[@justinthomas7222]

Perfect example of "American Capitalism." Capitalism isn't the big issue here. It's how we've deregulated it so badly that it's become Kapitalizm Muhrika-Style.

[@TB-zf7we]

The true crux of the problem. No social conscience for corporations only greed.

[@half_mexican4071]

@@TB-zf7we and capitalism only reinforces this behavior. Liberalism tries to combat it with a political economy made of up of rational thought and discussion. Political Scientists have revealed we actually live in a economic elite dominated democracy. The woes of capitalism infect our political processes. We cannot be a limited socialist or a reluctant capitalist

[@mountaindewherbert]

Yeah this is capitalism done right. Which is why it's actually terrible. Can't trust corporations to make the moral decision when there's no regulations.

[@Blaqjaqshellaq]

Thank you, Ronald Reagan. (And thanks to his many enablers, from cynically aggressive neoconservatives to glibly deferential neoliberals!)

[@trappedinamerica7740]

Capitalism is getting the most profit for the least resources. Anything added to regulate capitalism is anti-capitalist. This is just unrestricted capitalism

[@MB-xe8bb]

The executives responsible made their tens of millions or more, so what do they care? No jail = no accountability.

[@dr.a4707]

Professor Reich -- Your diligent work in producing these informative videos reaches many folks who would not otherwise be routinely informed on the important issues of the day. Your fact-based and reasonably objective KZbin presentations hit home for many. With this video clip, you have clearly highlighted the consequences of free market fanaticism and the financialization of America --- the legacy of Milton Friedman and his cult of followers. Your sincere efforts to inform the general public are to be applauded and will hopefully encourage people to push back and regularly go to the polls. Perhaps you might also consider adding automatic universal voter registration and mail-in and/or online voting to your list of concerns. This could offer Democrats their most powerful tool. Please keep up your fine work to better inform this nation. Warm regards, Dr. A.

[@menmykrazycat8129]

For the life of me, I’ll never understand how people argue against worker protections, decent wages, the importance of skilled workers, knee caping agencies whose main goal is to make sure safety and maintenance and rules are enforced, etc… But when deregulation gets out of control & someone gets a limb cut off because a machine wasn’t properly maintained? Then they wonder about why it wasn’t done & blame the federal agency for not enforcing what they can no longer enforce. Totally frustrating.

[@jamesbosworth4191]

The masses have been indoctrinated by the republikkkans into believing that money is God, corporations are holy, the New York Stock Exchange is a church, a desire for a comfortable life is "Communism", unions are a sin, and working people are skum who deserve NOTHING.

[@phil20_20]

Executives are far less intelligent, and far more lazy minded than people realize

[@RatPfink66]

When you see a situation you do not understand, look for the senseless cruelty.. (In a more rational era people said “look for the financial interest.” That era is over.)

[@ShuRugal]

two types of voter enable this situation: 1: the uneducated. If someone doesn't understand something, they can very easily be convinced to be against it. This is why Conservatives fight so hard to tear down public education. 2: the cruel. Many people would rather tear someone else down than lift themselves up. Conservative policies are designed to appeal to this type of person.

[@paradoxicalcat7173]

@@ShuRugal I'm educated, and I'm against public education as it exists in the US. In fact, much of the US education system is broken. Astronomical fees for attending University, only to get brainwashed and indoctrinated with Far Left ideology. The fact you think wanting to fix the broken system is a problem says a lot about you.

[@gringogreen4719]

Just about EVERY US based company in the past 40 years has been doing this. Washington basically let it happen too. This is why living wages have disappeared in that time. Just so the wrong people can make way too much money.🤨

[@marylouravis3994]

Robert this is my problem with the health insurance industry. I told my doctor, I’m tired of having a person with a business degree making medical decisions for me. It’s my doctors expertise I want. My doctors knows what I my condition calls for, not a business person.

[@SD-vy7gj]

If there is profit in the medical industry. Then your doctor is in buisness. Prescription addiction padamic anyone?

[@jenn976]

Also - The culture of slavish deference to shareholders has got to stop. They’re not the bosses they think they are. They are wrong. Thank you, Dr. Reich for all you do.

[@jeromefeig4209]

A company being "penny wise" and pound foolish" hits the top of the list.

[@Marewig]

They're chasing for profits for the next quarter, not profits for the next 5-10 years. I mean, if you cut out QA and R&D, it will generate a profit boost for a while, but that's like cutting organs out of your torso to lose weight.

[@MrSesmith11]

Since Citizens United, how many corporations’ CEOs have gone to jail for the criminal actions of said corporations? Zero.

[@wa1ufo]

Are you surprised? I am not. Goldman Sachs moved to Jersey City. What does that tell you?

[@prismpyre7653]

it's all part of their plan to restore feudalism and monarchy and literally go back to the middle ages; it isn't just about undoing America but the whole project of the European enlightenment

[@seanv3180]

It's interesting that citizens united essentially tells us that corporations are 'people' but if a person killed 300+ people (and lets be honest, killed a whistle blower) they would be thrown in jail.

[@heybamanba1]

It happens in every industry. I worked in telecommunications for 40 years. When I started,the union was strong, the company was the talk of the world for their work at Expo '86, and employees were loyal and took pride in their work. Nowadays, they have a CEO who only cares about the share price. He attacked the union, hired fly by night contractors, and sent as many jobs as possible, overseas. At the same time they rolled out some corporate "Team" BS, trying to force employees to sell their souls for the right to work there. I was lucky, I was able to retire. No wonder governments are in shambles when you vote in business people to run the country.

[@coonhound_pharoah]

I worked at Boeing from 2012 to 2016. I complained on a company message board about the leadership team choosing to spend capital on stock buybacks instead of on training and development for employees and on capital equipment. Even Lockheed and Raytheon paid employees better and offered more professional development. Six months later I left the company because I was being emotionally abused by management. I was able to take disability for mental health until I found a new job. They still send me contractor positions for entry level employment because they can't retain people for that position. Eff Boeing.

[@piotrd.4850]

When M.I.C is given as example of 'you can do better' that speaks volumes to how deep Boeing has fallen xD

[@coonhound_pharoah]

@@piotrd.4850 To be fair, I worked on the military side of the business in F-18, F-15, and C-17 supply chain. For this reason, my benchmarks are in the MIC. But these specific problems, spending money on boosting CEO pay, affected everyone.

[@ianbell8701]

Retired aerospace engineer here. I started working in 1977 as a stress engineer, then a design engineer, flight test engineer and manager. Don’t underestimate the deleterious effect that a merger can have on a company’s core values of engineering excellence. Soon the untalented bean-counters insist that you check the company’s stock price daily. As if that somehow leads to better product. When you start treating creative talented people as warm bodies, replaceable in a heartbeat, you’ve only succeeded in diminishing the value of craftsmanship. As Jacob Bronowski stated in “The Ascent of Man”: “The personal commitment of a man to his skill (craft), the intellectual commitment and the emotional commitment working together as one, has made the ascent on man”. What is currently lacking in the executive suite at Boeing, as well as at many other once fine companies, is the commitment to craft. Keep up your good works with these postings. I respect and enjoy your thoughts and commentary always.

[@user-pb5js9md5d]

Well said. I too, worked at Boeing before and after the merger as an industrial statistician. The 777 was a great plane built before the merger and its roll out nearly flawless. The 787 came after the merger and the bean counters saved a few bucks by off loading engineering only to ultimately spend 25 $billion more due to three year delays brought on by their greed and incompetence.

[@EricForney-uz4iz]

@@ianbell8701 My father used to tell me, "Anything worth doing, is worth doing well ".

[@ianbell8701]

@@EricForney-uz4izMy father said the same to me. He was in Avionics (aviation electronics).

[@kevinking5406]

I'm an ex lowly Navy aviation ordnanceman. I'm concerned substandard product will get out to the fleet. FYI...I now work for BAE systems. We laugh at Boeing. And it's sad.

[@EricForney-uz4iz]

@@kevinking5406 Valid concerns.

[@rjwh67220]

I worked at Boeing when McDonald Douglas bought Boeing and used Boeing money to pay for it. The difference was immediate. It was never the same since.

[@jamesbosworth4191]

That's because McDonald Douglass had already lost it's way. As just Douglass, they brought us the DC3, 4, 6, 7, and 8, superb planes. Sad what they became.

[@JimAllen-Persona]

Been there. My former employer was bought by its own money (we had a policy of no long term debt) so had money available. Icahn and friends broke the company apart; thew a lot of people out of work, and made a lot of money in the process.

[@williamyoung9401]

Fun Fact: Philip M. Condit, the CEO of Boeing who approved the Boeing/Douglas merger, married his 1st cousin. 👍

[@jamesbosworth4191]

@@williamyoung9401 Disgusting. Just like what happens in trailer parks.

[@antonstoeckl3689]

It was probably on one of my first flights Vancouver to Frankfurt around 1979. I ask my seat neighbor why he is traveling from Seattle to Vancouver to fly to FRA. His response: "I am working for Boeing, but I do not fly with Boeing out of Seattle" He has seen already at this time safety issues with Boeing.

[@katherinesopranos5200]

I'm a professional communicator who has worked with the C-Suite of top corporations, including Boeing. I can tell you that this all is not news to me, especially the executives' behaviors. I quit there because I went from being a public relations person to a cover-up artist for senior management, the 787 program and defense programs. And as someone from the inside of major corporations, I can tell you that nothing has changed in their selfish job-preservation behavior. If you want more details, Mr. Reich, please contact me.

[@dmoriarty5217]

Yes, Robert, you are correct. It's rotten greed.

[@berniv7375]

Free market capitalism is destroying the US economy and the moral integrity of the American people.🗽

[@barbaraeslick558]

I was born in 1969 and remember having actual repairmen that would fix televisions, refrigerators and other major appliances. They were made to last for decades, not being replaced every 5 years

[@solracer66]

My new TV failed in 5 years. I refused to toss it out so I sent the main board to a repair shop I found through eBay and now it works fine again. I hate our throw-away culture.

[@faithfatum4172]

I was born in 1960 and remember when "built-in obsolescence" came into play. This, to *guarantee* future sales/business.🤬🖕🏽

[@parkerbrown-nesbit1747]

I have a dryer that I bought in 2000, and a refrigerator that I bought in 2003. Both are still going strong.

[@chaunceyfeatherstone6209]

@@parkerbrown-nesbit1747 Heh. Dad bought Mom a portable dishwasher for Christmas. Quite apart from the classic Christmas faux pas, it did get converted to a built-in in the new house. Been working since 1975. Freezer from the early 70s, Fridge from 1980. I win!

[@austingwatson]

i repaired tube tv’s and radios as my first real job.

[@dlcs1406]

This is why we need to break up the monopolies people. No, one grocery chain should not own 15 others

[@DavidBlomstrom-wk9ng]

Between Boeing, Microsoft, and Amazon, it isn't hard to guess why Seattle is so screwed up.

[@user-pb5js9md5d]

I worked at Boeing before and after the McDonald Douglas merger as an industrial statistician. I can attest everything Mr. Reich is saying is true. If you want a company to take the gas pipe, have Wall Street Assholes (WSA's for short) tun it. They have no passion or pride in the products and services they provide, but merely see these companies as a way to enrich themselves. Profits are a happy consequence of providing world class products and services in an efficient manner that people flock to buy. But if you put the cart before the horse and obsess about money and not your customers' and employees' needs, your greed will inevitably cause you to cut corners which inevitably leads to inferior products people ultimately then choose not to buy. Boeing is a case study in Wall Street Assholes' greed destroying everything.

[@coonhound_pharoah]

I only tolerated 2% raises while the leadership team was spending all the profits on stock buybacks for a few years. After that I had enough and went to a company with better priorities: its employees.

[@eleghari]

Boeing used to build planes. Now it builds equity...

[@user-gi2sv2pf4y]

Thank you Professor Reich

[@roberthevern6169]

Yes!!

[@hockey1973]

I read a comment. "What's happening with Boeing is happening everywhere. . . it's just harder to ignore a door falling off a plane in mid-air. . ."

[@philosotree5876]

Robert Reich might be one of the few people left inn existence who actually cites their sources.

[@LongTomH]

My career, before retiring, was as a programmer for a company providing computer services for airlines. I saw what Prof. Reich is talking about even then.

[@Farren246]

I actually did a case study of Boeing back in 2012 in business school... concluded that they had identified their problem of focusing entirely on stock price at the expense of their product and production process, and that they were on their way back up. Boy was I wrong!

[@petersnushall7293]

No, your assessment was correct. However, what you neglected in your summary was that while executives recognised the problems, they were not prepared to take unpalatable steps to rectify issues. So the die was set, causing a once noble legacy to become soiled by corrupt, incompetent, greedy finance moguls. Further study might be warranted in whether MD deliberately ran down Boeing in order to improve its own stocks?

[@Chulitatr]

The DOJs recent settlement is laughable and a disgrace. Garland was a very BAD appointment.

[@studmuffin1217]

Nothing can stop Wall Street now. It sucks.

[@dystopiandragon9751]

Greed Over Safety😡🤬😡

[@jim2lane]

Remember during the 90's and 00's how corporate mergers were always touted as beneficial because of "synergies". What a huge bag of Kentucky #7 that was. Corporate mergers were/are all about nothing but eliminating competition

[@jfverboom7973]

That was a piece of crock. These synergies mostly failed.

[@jamesmyers2852]

Top execs today have simple goals: 1) screw over the employees, 2) screw over the customers, 3) screw over the long term health of the company, 4) and leave after 3 years with a huge freakin check from the private equity douchebags who hired the executives to loot the company

[@janieyow3320]

I have been an FAA aircraft Airworthiness/Certification Engineer for over 20 years.... and to this video, I say bravo & Amen!

[@dougmackenzie5976]

I built the first 600 or so GE90s for the Boeing 777, for almost 20 years. I remember when Boeing bought McDonnell Douglas, and the chaos that ensued. McD/D was in trouble due to its penny-pinching and it carried over to Boeing. Glad I'm out of the business, now. We, too were a non-union shop, but in our plant, everyone was an FAA certificated technician, so we didn't suffer the quality issues Boeing was and is dealing with. These days, I only fly planes I maintain, and no, none of those are Boeings. Terrible downfall for a once-great company.

[@solracer66]

I've heard from Douglas people that their company went south when the McDonnell merger happened so perhaps that was the root cause?

[@dougmackenzie5976]

@@solracer66, that would make sense.

[@liannebedard5521]

@@dougmackenzie5976 I am relieved that my late Boeing engineer friend…the guy the other engineers called a genius…cannot watch this tragedy of mismanagement.

[@Max14163]

I remember SPEA (Seattle Professional Engineering Association) from my days at the DC in Seattle. At the time, I was not a member, but maybe should have been.

[@royphillips4751]

Never thought I would see the day.I flew a range of great Military fighters, General Aviation twins and then 20 odd years on the great Boeing 747SP/200/300/400/400ER.The 747 was a fabulous machine . Boeing has ruined its once great reputation.

[@zen-Tii]

Boeing started downhill when they moved headquarters from Seattle to Chicago. The company repudiated it’s heritage.

[@konbonwa]

And then they moved headquarters to Arlington VA, adjacent to DC to be closer to their lobbyists. ☹

[@keithdavis773]

Thank goodness for SCOTUS and their "corporations have feelings too" approach to protect big money in politics.

[@nickknez8294]

This is the story of every big company in America.

[@maggiealena]

We have a worldwide narcissist and sociopath psychopath problem.

[@Max14163]

And it's getting worse.

[@pittarak1]

But it does seem oh, so much worse in the US.

[@fayegregg8199]

Evil greed is at the root of all Boeing's problems!

[@virginiamoss7045]

It's at the root of all of American commerce today. Pure capitalism will fail; regulated capitalism can lift all boats. Conservatives, Republicans, narcissists, power-mongers, and pure evil want pure capitalism.

[@phil20_20]

Money is the root of all evil!

[@virginiamoss7045]

@@phil20_20 Not all evil. Money can be a beautiful thing, not to mention how efficient it makes commerce. The true root of all evil is in human DNA because evolution has selected for this capability over the eons. It's unfortunate, but evolution does select for selfishness, violence, domineering, narcissism, greed, and deceit.

[@altonbrek]

Robert, you are the only one regularly talking sense and educating the American people, who are often left in the dark! 😮

[@zephyr2002]

I worked there as a mechanic for a few years and made some great friends. We all did the best we could under the circumstances. There was a lot of pressure to go faster and save costs at every turn.

[@HandyMan657]

And cronyism, when you put ex-Boeing execs in charge of the FAA like a certain someone did in 2016 this is what happens.

[@TraderRobin]

Recently, a friend informed me that she was terrified of flying! So, I reassured her, by insisting that the doors aren't falling off of ALL the airplanes......just SOME of them!

[@liannebedard5521]

@@TraderRobin I flew a great deal in my college and early career years. I remember a night flight across country when I was a college student., had about $2 cash on me, and a cousin was being dispatched to pick me up. I was hungry, but dinner was hours earlier, so I knew there was no solution. I went back to reading. Stewardess interrupted me with a tray, covered with a large napkin. Would I like TWO meat and potatoes dinners?.. I was the youngest passenger, and one of the few awake this late…and she explained that the crew tried not to discard food… I ate both, slept the rest of the way to Boston…and have not flown in years…

[@GeneralChangFromDanang]

And that MCAS mostly, probably works now and probably won't push the yoke forward and plunge the plane into the ocean.

[@zacquelinebaldwin2555]

Yall need to understand that people making millions don’t care if we live or die

[@JohnMoore-xf5wy]

From 1995 into 1998 I flew the magnificent 747-200, one of the world's finest, most dependable aircraft. What has since happened to Boeing is a disgrace to every man and woman who built that company into one of the world finest aircraft designers and manufactirers to ever exist. This is heartbreaking. Its a total disgrace.

[@Nebarus]

Finance people, who only creates spreadsheets, are in charge of creating hightech airplanes... Good thing they got rid of those pesky engineers in management!

[@Max14163]

In the old days, when actual engineers founded an ran tech companies (Jack Northrop - Northrop, Leroy Grumman, Bill Boeing, Simon Ramo & Dean Wooldridge - RW, STL, TRW, Andrew Viterbi - Qualcomm, Henry Sameuli - Broadcom), things were done the right way (in fact, the old TRW motto WAS "The Right Way!). But sadly, when the MBAs infect the boards of these companies (eg, Wesley Bush, who destroyed everything Kent Kresa built at NGC) things always go South in the long term, after the short term profits are extracted.

[@WillowT442]

Some finance bros imagine that they are also engineers.

[@makalipo]

Unregulated capitalism leads to runaway greed. It’s been proven time & time again.

[@jeanc819]

Only stocks should be allowed to crash, not planes.

[@mattzalot2576]

CEO culture is getting out of hand

[@lil----lil]

This is EXACTLY what's happening at Intel. Intel was the runaway # 1 chip maker in the world for decades - when Engineers were made CEO's... Then they put an "accountant" at the helm....during the MOST critical time of the company's life. TODAY, Intel doesn't have ONE. SINGLE. PRODUCT. That's leading the industry NOT. ONE. Not mobile, not desktop, not ultra mobile, NOT servers, not GPU, and certainly not A.I. NOT. ONE.

[@leonardopsantos]

100 %. Intel will just get eaten by NVIDIA, AMD, and any company producing RISC-V cores. ARM couldn't really make inroads into the server or desktop markets. RISC-V might eventually develop the momentum to break into those markets. When that happens, Intel is toast. That will happen when Microsoft starts using custom RISC-V CPUs for its servers, so you now have Windows kernel for them.

[@dexter_gd3478]

This is almost all corporate America

[@tammystockley-loughlin7680]

It's gotten too big, too many mergers, too close to monochrome. Positive vibes from New Hampshire, remember to be kind to each other and yourself during these trying times.

[@fkaMilo]

CEO's are working for stockholders. The engineers felt this and raised many concerns

[@ericpmoss]

Maybe Congress should be investigating business schools rather than high schools.

[@josesisyowma5242]

Boeing just took a Plea Deal to avoid further criminal charges.. How Convenient

[@taloar1]

And yet, no one will go to jail…

[@jamesbosworth4191]

Of course not. They are wealthy yt republikans.

[@johnwalterc]

When you replace CEO Engineers with bean counters you forget safety for profit.

[@leinster22]

The ghost of GE’s Jack Welch and rapacious greed with over emphasis on shareholder returns haunts Boeing

[@theoldar]

Big money out of politics? With THIS Supreme Court? That's genuinely funny!

[@SuburbanSavage]

In my experience, every employer cares far more about their shareholders than they do about employees. When my father died, my boss at the time said, "how long is this bullshit gonna take?" I couldn't participate in the planning of my dad's funeral. Later when I tried to take maternity leave, the same boss refused to let me take it because I did not ask for permission to get pregnant. He has 6 kids. My state did say that I was owed for maternity leave, but I was told that the next time I had better get permission in writing before getting pregnant again, because I should consider the shareholders before making a life change.

[@jamesbosworth4191]

You should have brought him up on charges with you union. What he did is illegal.

[@flyrobin2544]

They will stop hiring women soon, the accountants will see us as financial risks. Roevember 💙

[@jamesbosworth4191]

@@flyrobin2544 That used to be one of the reasons that they would give for not hiring women - they would get pregnant, then later come back, costing the company more money that a male employee.

[@tammyjantzen9004]

Yet they expected me to work more hours (I was salaried) because I was single with no kids. As if being single meant I didn't deserve to have a life.

[@flyrobin2544]

@@tammyjantzen9004 They put you on salary to make you work more hours for free. I always turned down management positions because of that. Assistant Manager usually make $4 and hour. You just have to say no, to the job promotion.

[@under1000skies]

I worked at Boeing as a subcontractor in 2006. I was a scribe during labor negotiations. I wanted to work full-time, but for the union guys. We got along well. Management had several back-stabbing beeps. They fought the union over everything, and negotiations lasted over seven months that year. Looks like it only got worse.

[@Lycan3303]

Memba when two Boeing whistle blower die mysteriously right after exposing the company....and for some reason their deaths were never investigated

[@rhymereason3449]

I worked for Boeing in the 80's and 90's... all of us down in the trenches warned Execs that they were headed in the wrong direction after the MCD merger when they put Stonecipher from MCD in charge and declared that they weren't going to be an engineering company anymore but rather an "integrator" that would have parts manufactured in cheaper labor markets around the world, ship them back, and just put the parts together here. And then they went on a tear to raise the stock price as if that was the most important goal...

[@coonhound_pharoah]

I worked for Boeing in the 2010's in the military side, aka old MCD. We joked about how we bought Boeing with Boeing's money in the 1990's.

[@himhim6135]

Well, the stock price indeed *was* the most important goal. For those guys and their bonuses.

[@rhymereason3449]

@@coonhound_pharoah We joked about it too... but it really wasn't so funny. There were a bunch of projects that Boeing had going on that MCD had parallel projects in the works. When the merger happened, obviously one of those projects would be redundant and had to go. Stonecipher seemed to almost always side with the MCD folks. I was on one of those projects that got canceled - even though IMHO we had a superior approach and implementation.

[@Freiheit1232]

Any company who is under investigation, should not be able to allocate bonuses to management until it is resolved

[@davidpowell3347]

Any time a company declares a bonus to the "top people" and within days declares bankruptcy "seeks court protection" someone should go to jail after forfeiture of the bonus and just maybe the previous year's pay.

[@barrydesaw3938]

I have dozens of stories about how capitalism makes things WORSE. A case in point: Several years ago I visited a hotel in Vermont called the Stowe Mountain Lodge. (I’d visited years previous to this visit and believed it was perhaps the best hotel in the state of Vermont.) The hotel had been bought up and privatized and chopped up; there was no longer any coherent customer service at the front desk; the rooms were each privately owned and operated, and the front desk no longer felt any obligation to their own rooms! What?! I was DEEPLY DISSATISFIED and will NEVER return. This is only one of dozens of stories I myself have witnessed in my lifetime. (And I am not any sort of extremist! Communism is so discreditable, I will not even discuss it! Just because Communism is not viable does not mean capitalism is pure and holy. No. In fact, capitalism is so corrupting that it has now produced a champion who will be elected president of the United States in 2024, and he will proceed to immediately destroy the nation’s democracy. That too is to the lasting infamy of capitalism!

[@alanserjeant4947]

America is a Constitionaly limited REPUBLIC. It is not and never has been a "democracy" which the founders considered to be mob rule. They were and still are correct.

[@larriobrien]

As a Boeing retiree, I commend you on a succinct and totally accurate portrayal of Boeing and its problems. The bean counters didn't do us any favors.😢

[@ejt3708]

Can we get a list of sectors with effective monopolies in the US? - commericial airplanes - oil - grocery retailers - meat - housing (some markets) - hospitals - concert tickets - full-sized ($) pickups - news media (Sinclair etc) (thx michmash!) - bookstores - entertainment media - digital info (Google) - railroads - defense contractors - propane (only 2 companies in my area) - electricity/natural gas (barely regulated) - cable TV - internet - cell providers - online retail (Amazon) - appliances - fertilizer - baby formula - drinks/snacks (AB InBev, CocaCola, PepsiCo) - food (P&G, Quaker Oats...) - credit cards (Visa mostly) - ?

[@michmash7888]

Here’s a few more for the list: - Media markets (dominated by Sinclair) - Bookstores (B&N seems to be the last big chain with brick & mortar stores) I’m sure there’s plenty more!

[@ejt3708]

@@michmash7888 Thanks! Yeah News Corp is close if not there yet (Fox, WS Journal, Aussie mkts). I will add it, and defense contractors, and railroads to my list. Others?

[@michmash7888]

@@ejt3708 Off the top of my head: Coca Cola and PepsiCo (who also owns Frito-Lay and Quaker Oats, so they monopolize the chip and oatmeal markets). Anheiser-Busch. Proctor & Gamble. And the list of brands that belong to Kraft-Heinz is staggering! Let’s also not forget that most of the baby formula in the US is made by four suppliers. I bet there’s tons more examples!

[@ejt3708]

BUST THE TRUSTS like Teddy Roosevelt used to say. We should not be lloking down our noses at Russians with their Oligarch problem.

[@cynthiaswingle5134]

And due to Boeing two astronauts are stranded at the space station. When will you bring them home Boeing.

[@racookster]

Boeing might not. They could end up coming back on a Crew Dragon... or a Soyuz.

[@Ron-rs2zl]

They are "collecting data." There is no emergency situation. Be patient. No one is stranded.

[@spgroh]

Boeing would just tell the media that the astronauts are on "long term, long distance assignment" and then they would sue NASA for not returning their spacecraft.

[@garytorresani8846]

@@cynthiaswingle5134 when you have poor quality control with your planes, what else would you expect from Boeing?

[@phil20_20]

When NASA charters a Space Dragon. They're going to deorbit the thing.

[@rwksasc]

How do you fix the problem when politicians are beholden to corporations?

[@jeffreybresnahan2866]

Doesn't Boeing build a lot of their aircraft part's in US prisons, using unpaid US prisoners as worker's?

[@Jeteye2844]

I would just like to remind people that McDonald Douglas went bankrupt in part, because the cargo doors and later an engine where ripping off the DC-10's . Boeing today really mirrors MD of the 70's/80's in the worst possible ways.

[@JohnR-gk7ch]

Remember the DC-10 door problem very well. It was undoubtedly a key reason that plane was never a competitor. How ironic the same problems have ocurred at Boeing.

[@vincentkrommenhoek7431]

Still crazy that the shareholders, who pushed this new policy in 1997, got away with it and fired their stooge CEO with a buttload of cash. Shareholders should be accountable.

[@jamesbosworth4191]

Thank you

[@rhenderson9862]

The federal government, the Department of Justice, says you are absolutely wrong!

[@adopequeenatyrantkingaboss8057]

New slogan: "If it IS Boeing, I ain't going!"