Hacker News Reader

Comment by j-pb | Hacker News Reader

> A switch to sales of only zero-emission cars puts thousands of German auto industry jobs at risk since the powertrain of an electric car requires only a tenth of the staff to be assembled when compared with a combustion-engined equivalent, which needs more workers to assemble cylinders, spark plugs, and gearboxes.

The stupidity with wich we argue for retaining useless jobs is baffling.

To quote Volker Pispers. "If you tell the minister of the internal that all those anti terror actions treated jobs in the TNT rod industry. Then you'll really put him in a dilemma."

View on HN

> The stupidity with wich we argue for retaining useless jobs is baffling.

You are calling it an argument in defence of the status quo yet from the article it is merely a statement of fact. And it is a vital fact that could in couple of ways have ramifications on the local economy.

> The stupidity with wich we argue for retaining useless jobs is baffling.

What do you mean by 'retaining useless jobs'? We aren't talking about subsidizing carriage makers or wheelwrights here. We're talking about jobs that will be lost as a direct result of legislation, not market obsolescence.

> We're talking about jobs that will be lost as a direct result of legislation, not market obsolescence

Of course. It's legislation that will make the world a better place for everyone to live.

Just like all the jobs that were lost when asbestos was legislated to be illegal, or a thousand other examples.

Not here in germany. Legislated but very happy. Dont have to shiver in fear of trumpzilla because the holy st. market didnt bring those outsourced jobs back.

Yes, this is stupid. But many voters will be attracted by simplistic statements.

And as a factory worker you are likely much more scared of having to leave your job and learn something completely new… compared to, e.g. the random HN reading IT freelancer.

So the stupid sentence, I'm sure, will resonate well with many citizens (unfortunately).

Of course, there better approach would be to show the potential benefits and job opportunities. But why put in the effort of simple fear-mongering will do?

Agree, I think it's the opposite: the car industry needs to be pushed by the politicians, otherwise they are complacent and don't innovate.

I still think the strict environmental regulations pushed by the green party a few years back gave the German car makers an edge over the US competition. And they complained a lot back then.

I still think the strict environmental regulations pushed by the green party a few years back gave the German car makers an edge over the US competition. And they complained a lot back then.

Huh? Automotive environmental regulations are much stricter in the US compared to Europe.

German, and other European, carmakers have an appalling environmental record, and have for years been getting away with pretty much ignoring the (already weak) EU environmental regulations. Just look at Volkswagen.

Or, just try to breathe the air in London, Paris or other big European cities where the stink of Diesel fumes has become more and more pervasive in recent years.

That's only a part of the picture. Fuels are heavily taxed in Europe, partly due to the environmental impact that cars have. As a result, you really don't see those >4L engines in cars, in fact anything above 2L is rare. While I agree that diesel cars have nothing to do in cities, they are still superior on highways and for longer drives.

It's a mistake to assume there's a direct relationship between fuel efficiency and environmental performance.

Diesel cars are more efficient than conventional petrol vehicles, but at the cost of significantly worse air pollution.

With "a while back" I meant from '98 until 2005 (after that it was Merkel only).

Yes, VW is atrocious, but trust me, it was worse in the 90s.

These jobs are already gone. Most Europeans lines that assemble powertrains, transmissions, etc. are already robotized.

[Edited]

> The stupidity with wich we argue for retaining useless jobs is baffling.

I couldn't agree more. It's basically occupational therapy.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com