What was the rifle that won the West?
If you said Winchester, you were WRONG! It was the Sharps. After the Civil War, Sharps rifles were widely used by frontiersmen. But the post-war Sharps was primarily marketed to the buffalo hunter. When the buffalo disappeared, so did the big, bulky Sharps. Winchester would step in and accommodate settlers of the West with repeating rifles of superior design. The 1886 model fit the needs of big game hunters. And other models would soon follow to fill other markets.
The West didn’t end with the demise of the Sharps. Nor will our civilization today crumble with the passing of General Motors. What’s good for GM is not integral to America. We need an auto industry, but not necessarily our auto industry in its current form.
And the UAW? It may pass too. The Knights of Labor did not survive the depression of 1873.
Let GM reorganize. Or let them founder. Either way, what will emerge will be a better company, more innovative, and more responsive to market needs.
Cross posted at BBOW.
Moe Lane
Steve Maley
Dan McLaughlin
Neil Stevens
Daniel Horowitz
Exactly right, evolve and adapt
beaming Wednesday, January 28th at 6:28AM EST (link)small businesses have to do that or they die. Big businesses have to do the same thing only on a bigger scale.
I’m sure if I went to GM, Chrysler and asked them for a bailout to help my small construction business stay alive today they would laugh in my face and I’ll bet the UAW would laugh even harder.
Some one who knows how to evolve will replace them. Goodbye, it is time to run this country as the founding fathers intended.
About the rifle... that's always debatable...
Ned Reck (Diary) Wednesday, January 28th at 9:39AM EST (link)Do not forget the Henry ’60 and “Yellowboy” Model ’66. But your point is well taken…. without the buffalo, the indigenous-Americans were easily conquered.
IMHO the true long gun that won the west… was the shotgun. As a member of the Single Action Shooter Society… I have spent a great amount of time researching this.
However… your point about GM is RIGHT ON. Let the “G.M.’s” falter on their own business practices. Afterwards, what will emerge will be a more healthy U.S. auto industry.
Ned Reck
On the plains of “Hesitation”… lie the blackened bones of
countless millions… who… at the dawn of victory…
sat down to rest… and while resting….. DIED.
~ Anonymous
Yes, that's right.
bigbagofwind (Diary) Wednesday, January 28th at 4:24PM EST (link)There was, what, fifteen years of overlap between the two companies? Depending on when you mark the beginning of Winchester. I mark it when Oliver Winchester actually started Winchester Repeating Arms Company. So it’s not a perfect analogy. No existing car company (American anyway) is going to slide in. But with American ingenuity, who knows what might happen? I’m glad you saw the point, and I hope others will.
BBOW
Big Bag of Wind .Com
What's more important is
Lammo (Diary) Wednesday, January 28th at 6:38PM EST (link)what rifle is going to save the West. I submit it will be the .223 Remington/5.56x45mm NATO AR type rifle in its multitude of variations from Colt to DPMS to Olympic to SigArms to Smith & Wesson to Stag ad infinitum. Get one now, if you can find one, while you still can.
Don’t be so open minded that your brains fall out. (John Corapi, The Black Sheep Dog)