10/10/2007

Are you prejudice?

When you see a headline like this United Auto Workers Union Sets Wednesday Morning Strike Deadline for Chrysler do you have an automatic/initial reaction or thought? Is that initial thought one of these two;
1-Good! I hope the union sticks it to those Chrysler jerks.
2-What a bunch of whiney jerks! I hope all those union guys lose their jobs.

If your initial reaction is one of those two, then you are prejudice either for or against organized labor.

I support the ideals of organized labor, but the manner in which labor unions excercise their power in this country is oftentimes stupid, immoral, and dishonest. The news report from the headline story reports that the average worker at Chrysler earns $75.86 per hour in wages, pension, and health care benefits. I believe this figure to be a mistake. It is a bad statistic designed to obfuscate. Let's look at some figures and then see if the numbers add up...

$75.86 = 157,788.80 per year assuming a 40 hour work week (that's the total compensation #)

$1,400 = a conservative (high) monthly health care package cost for a family of 5

$1,274.50 = a conservative (high) estimate of monthly pension contributions (15%) of wage (after FICA)

$132,000 = yearly take home (rounded down to nearest thousand)

That is a grossly inflated number, I suspect that the statistic ($75.86 per hour) includes ALL CHRYSLER "WORKERS" (e.g. the CEO, V.P.'s) and not just the hourly UAW wage earners on the line who the article is supposed to be about. I bet the actual number is about 3-4 times less than reported.

I think the media, (in this case FOXNEWS) is partisan and prejudiced against the union employees.
Posted by at
Labels:

8 comments:

Lignarius Rex said...

What a load of Sophistry!


Don’t flaunt your High school math skills at us, and pretend that you (without any research) can dispute the numbers in the news article.

Then, call the newspaper biased? Why? Because you dispute their facts that just happen to be an inconvenient truth that's contrary to your biased opinions?

Well, Here’s a link to Mark J Perry. He’s a university professor of economics and finance at the University of Michigan. www.mjperry.blogspot.com

Go to July 11 2007 and see what his research shows.

Then you should give him a call. Maybe you can straighten the professor out. He could probably learn a thing or two about economics from you.

Lig Rex

1:56 PM
Pyrosapien said...

Several points in your rebuttal.

1. You obviously fall into to category of prejudiced against labor unions.

2. You make the logical fallacy of "appeal to authority" (Mark J. Perry)

3. The "fact" that his numbers are the same as the ones in the newspaper article don't prove what you think they prove. All that you proved was that the newspaper probably used him as their source.

4. My point wasn't that the total compensation was incorrect. My point was that people are prejudiced against or for organized labor. I only posted that link and questioned the figures of an example of prejudice and as a mechanism to draw out those people who are prejudiced either way.

5. You haven't refuted my post, you supported my premise.

6. I could take the time to find a university professor of my own who espouses contrary opinions to Dr. Perry, but what's the use. If a guy with a Phd. is too dumb to get a job that pays better (such as a union job where you only need a high school education) then why should I believe what he teaches? Sounds like he's one of those university elitists who believes he should be treated like royalty for accruing a massive debt in order to get some schoolin.

7. Sounds like university professors need to unionize.

3:15 PM
Lignarius Rex said...

Great, another 200 word pile of sophistry.
Noun: a deliberately invalid argument displaying ingenuity in reasoning in the hope of deceiving someone
Ok smarty pants, I’ll take you point by point.
1.” You obviously fall into to category of prejudiced against labor unions”
I never took a side in the argument you originally posted.
2. “You make the logical fallacy of "appeal to authority" (Mark J. Perry)”.
Don’t slay the messenger. Refute the data if you can. If you can’t then you must accept it.. You’re using the classic “ when did you stop beating your wife” question. You do this because you made a supposition about the empirical data that you can’t prove.
3.” The "fact" that his numbers are the same as the ones in the newspaper article doesn’t prove what you think they prove. All that you proved was that the newspaper probably used him as their source”.
No sir, what it proves is that there is a counter opinion to your high school math sophistry that you still have not addressed. Are the numbers correct? You say they are not, yet cannot demonstrate why.
4. My point wasn't that the total compensation was incorrect. My point was that people are prejudiced against or for organized labor. I only posted that link and questioned the figures of an example of prejudice and as a mechanism to draw out those people who are prejudiced either way.
You used the inaccuracy of the figures to make your point. If the figures are accurate than your point is mute, and has no merit. You can’t say people are using inaccurate figures as an example of anything if you cannot demonstrate that the figures are indeed inaccurate.
5. “You haven't refuted my post, you supported my premise”.
Re read my post kind Sir. I believe that I not only refuted your statement “I believe this figure to be a mistake. It is a bad statistic designed to obfuscate. Let's look at some figures and then see if the numbers add up...” I refuted it with data to back up my refute. To which you still cannot show where I am inaccurate, you just restate your sophistry. As to your premise, I never answered it.
6. I could take the time to find a university professor of my own who espouses contrary opinions to Dr. Perry, but what's the use. If a guy with a Phd. is too dumb to get a job that pays better (such as a union job where you only need a high school education) then why should I believe what he teaches? Sounds like he's one of those university elitists who believes he should be treated like royalty for accruing a massive debt in order to get some schoolin.
Again, you say nothing. You attack the messenger (Dr. Perry) and his motives and intelligence, yet you still haven’t refuted his data with fact. If you could find a “university professor to espouse opinions contrary to Dr. Perry” Then do it. Don’t attack the messenger. Refute the message if you can. If you can’t refute it than admit what you are stating is complete opinion unsupported by fact.

7. Sounds like university professors need to unionize.
What a great little sound bite! Here’s a better one. Sounds like you need to go back and support you argument that people are for or against organize labor. This time use an example that you can demonstrate without all the sophistry.
Lignarius Rex

5:20 PM
Anonymous said...

I can see by you lack of response that you concede the argument. I would appreciate that in the future you would think before you write.

Lig rex

Mom always loved me best!!!!

7:12 PM
Anonymous said...

slow down fellows, you're getting your trousers in a twist. look at the big picture. Offshore cars are killing the American auto industry. Who makes your car/truck My is a FORD My wife drives a Nissan. It's a lot per hour, however top management makes that per hour & more. Labor unions? of course most folks are either for or against, depends if your in one or not. Lots of good, hard working Americans will suffer if the strike goes more than a couple of weeks. The company will suffer likewise after it's inventory is used up. It loses market share to other auto companys, something they can not afford either. Health care costs are killing this country. So are big pensions. Whats the answer? ask Hillory, she seems to be on a roll with all the answers.
Uncle

9:12 PM
Pyrosapien said...

I'm sorry that I ever published this bit of baiting sophistry.

I pray that my brother and uncle can forgive me.

MEA CULPA, MEA CULPA, MEA MAXIMA CULPA!!

1:17 PM
Lignarius Rex said...

Ditto.

Rex

1:21 PM
Anonymous said...

Who knows where to download XRumer 5.0 Palladium?
Help, please. All recommend this program to effectively advertise on the Internet, this is the best program!

3:32 AM

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)