Moore suggests in his film that it is the responsibility of corporations to make a personal and trusting relationship with its employees. Evidence of this can be seen during his interview with one of GM's lobbyists. Moore asks him this question and the response of the lobbyist is that it definitely is not. He says that the only responsibility of the corporation is to make money.
Bill George of the New Straits Times states in his article "Coping well when downsizing hits" that "management has a responsibility to make sure that the company remains profitable, so sometimes drastic measures are necessary"(George). But does this explain GM's reason for closing the plants in Michigan? According to Moore, the company was generating a profit in the billions when it made this decision. Whatever the company's motives may have been, the effects of these job losses are made clear in Moore's film.
So who is to blame for the degradation of Flint, Michigan? Moore would claim that the blame lies solely on the shoulders of the C.E.O. of GM, Roger Smith. Bill George might say that it is the responsibility of the former employees to come to terms with the changes when they arise and understand that change is a main component in the corporate world. Also, the government of Flint, Michigan can be held partially responsible. Their inability to adapt and create successful economic policy was also a factor in the decline in tourism and loss of business in the city. But perhaps all of the parties are partially too blame for such a collapse in one community.
It is certain that the plant closings caused an economic depression and put many people out of work. On the contrary, how long can this one corporation be blamed for such a lasting poverty in one community? Perhaps it is necessary for the ex-employees as well as the local government to adapt to the changes and learn to create new opportunities for themselves, elsewhere if necessary. It is the responsibility of the entire community, not just one entity, to create a successful and prosperous society.
http://www.lexisnexis.com/us/lnacademic/results/docview/docview.do?risb=21_T3028063526&format=GNBFI&sort=RELEVANCE&startDocNo=1&resultsUrlKey=29_T3028063529&cisb=22_T3028063528&treeMax=true&treeWidth=0&csi=151977&docNo=3
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I liked how you showed the other side of the argument in your post. I think that the government could have been a lot more helpful to it's citizens. Perhaps we didn't get the full story in this documentary (Didn't get the full story in a Michael Moore movie? Impossible!) but it really seems like the town focused too much on the problem instead of finding working solutions. I know that makes it seem more simple than the problem actually is but they should have put a lot more effort towards such an incredibly economically devastating problem.
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