The End of Something

Today, I was called back in the dye manufacturing area of our facility to look at some old lab equipment, papers, etc. These things were all that was left in the dye factory from 50 years of being in the colorants business. I remember the stories behind each section of that factory. When it was built. Why it was built. How we financed it. How big of a risk it was. The meetings and late nights spent in the design for each section and how important it seemed at the time. I remember how proud we all were of each section as it went up. More so than my Dad's empty office, the sadness of seeing this facility sit quietly makes me yearn for those days to return.

Now it is empty, a shell of a building where Mr. Gilliam worked until he died at 83. Where Mr. Boone repackaged dye for 25 years. Where "RED Man" got his name and where my brother in law decided to try and cool a blend of malachite green with dry ice while blending it and blew green crystals everywhere. Where Thomas Watkins jumped off the tow motor because of a black snake... and the tow motor just kept on going until it fell out of the building. I remember the back corner, among the sodium sulfate, where you could sneak a nap right after lunch, and the shipping desk where I witnessed many an ass chewing by my Pop, as he would jump up and down about some shipping problem or another. There was also the corner, where for many years, a Friday afternoon poker game ran long into the night. This was place where many a summer intern or new employee learned never to draw to a inside straight. So many memories, so many people, so many customers that are all gone. Most of each are just plain dead.

The skeleton's of the blenders remain, their empty shells stained by tons of dye as they passed through standardization. They look like large inverted "Y's" their discharge nozzles all askew. The dust collection system is being removed, the blenders will be sold, and Schumpeter's cycle of "creative destruction" will be completed.

There are two sides of this story for me. There is the rational businessman side. This side is happy to see this cash monster close down and the empty facility made ready for (hopefully) a new task. The personal family side of me sees the end of something that was good for so many people for 50 years. It was the thing my Dad spent his life building. Seeing it being emptied is just as heart wrenching as watching them lower his casket into the ground. A business is not a thing, it is people that make it go, the customers, the suppliers, the employees. When a business dies, some part of all those people, who had a hand in making it successful, dies along with it. We should all never forget that.

Letter to the Editor of the Burlington Daily Times-News

Dear Editor:

I find myself spending quite a bit of time these days, thinking about how comfortable we all are with the lack of effective government and our increasing dependency on the global supply chain that supply our foodstuffs, fuel, dry goods, and services. Hurricane Katrina has presented, at costs expected to exceed $250 billion dollars, the American people with a vivid demonstration of how fragile our government and this supply chain are. This hurricane has produced a mirror for our society and how we will act when these supply chains don’t work. The uncivil and even uncivilized behavior of the citizens of New Orleans, with their looting, killing, and robbing, indicate what we could expect to see throughout the USA when disruptions occur.

I do not remember seeing the communities that were impacted by the tsunami, loot, rob, and kill each other in the wake of that tragedy. Why would Americans act this way?

I have an opinion, and it is based on my observation that America no longer believes in a positive future. This is the only reason that I can see that we cast our votes with our consumer dollars for the cheapest products and services even though it negatively impacts our community, the environment, and the well being of our social structure. We have allowed ourselves to believe that the only thing that matters is the lowest possible price. We have been “Wal-Mart’ed”, meaning that we want the lowest price today with no consideration for the future of our local communities, our children, our local farmers, our local manufacturing, etc.

We are no longer self sufficient. We do not conserve energy, protect our environment, support local farmers, industries, or service providers, because we see no value in doing so. We are allowing, through our consumption, a burgeoning fiscal deficit, a dependence on foreign governments for food, fuel, and the cash to finance our debt. These actions, in my opinion, are destroying our community.

If there had been a community in New Orleans, would there have been the looting and killing over tennis shoes and flat screen TVs? I think it is harder to loot and kill the neighbor that you know and respect; the neighbor that you depend on for food, energy and services. If it is our belief that goods and services come from foreign companies, and we do not see global markets within the context of a global community, then we have removed one of the barriers that keep our civilization intact.

I think we had better begin to work on building economic, social and ecological bridges within our community to encourage understanding from all of our local citizens that we are dependent on each other. A little conservation of resources, a community that considers security through local commerce, interdependence instead of the lowest price everyday, and a little of the golden rule, might keep us from looting and killing each other when the next disruption of global supply chains occurs. I think it is time that we begin to think of economic policies that put our security and communities first. This means beginning to elect leaders that care for something more than the lowest price.

Sam Moore