Fordlandia

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The stunning, never before told story of the quixotic attempt to recreate small town America in the heart of the.In 1927, Henry Ford, the richest man in the world, bought a tract of land twice the size of the U.S state of Delaware in the Brazilian His intention was to grow rubber, but the project rapidly evolved into a ambitious bid to export America itself, along with its golf courses, ice cream shops, bandstands, indoor plumbing, and Model Ts rolling down broad streets Fordlandia, as the settlement was called, quickly became the site of an epic clash On one side was the car magnate, lean, austere, the man who reduced industrial production to its simplest motions on the other, the , lush, extravagant, the most complex ecological system on the planet Ford s early success in imposing time clocks and square dances on the jungle soon collapsed, as indigenous workers, rejecting his midwestern Puritanism, turned the place into a ribald tropical boomtown Fordlandia s eventual demise as a rubber plantation foreshadowed the practices that today are laying waste to the rain forest More than a parable of one man s arrogant attempt to force his will on the natural world, Fordlandia depicts a desperate quest to salvage the bygone America that the Ford factory system did much to dispatch As Greg Grandin shows in this gripping and mordantly observed history, Ford s great delusion was not that the could be tamed but that the forces of capitalism, once released, might yet be contained. New Read [ Fordlandia ] By [ Greg Grandin ] – kino-fada.fr I gave this up Rating 3 4 star for the author s writing and reportage I just couldn t stomach the subject The book had got as far as Ford deciding to build a city Fordlandia in theand kick out Indians who were in the way, employ others who looked docile and might learn, and import other workforce as needed He wanted to cut out the middleman for rubber and have the cheapest manufacturing possible He also wanted to utterly control the lives of all his workers.He paid well He expe I gave this up Rating 3 4 star for the author s writing and reportage I just couldn t stomach the subject The book had got as far as Ford deciding to build a city Fordlandia in theand kick out Indians who were in the way, employ others who looked docile and might learn, and import other workforce as needed He wanted to cut out the middleman for rubber and have the cheapest manufacturing possible He also wanted to utterly control the lives of all his workers.He paid well He expected workers to buy his cars, paying them off weekly, live in his houses, paying him rent, keeping the wife in work at Ford or else staying home He sent in the morals police to make sure that his workers were doing the right things and owned the ...UPDATE Rereading relistening to the excellent audiobook and finding it fascinating the second time around As with a lot of information rich books, this one has a great deal to absorb.This reads like dystopian fiction, but it s the true story of Henry Ford s maniacal ego, as evidenced by his ill fated attempt to create a sort of Main Street USA on the banks of thecomplete with MANDATORY square dancing Yikes, people Ford hated his own son, admired Hitler, hired armed thugs to put d UPDATE Rereading relistening to the excellent audiobook and finding it fascinating the second time ar...What happened here I say that a lot.For a person who likes decay and ruin, New Mexico is an entropy enthusiasts wet dream My hobby is exploring ghost towns Love em, and can t explain why You want to find a town taken off the maps a century ago Chances are I can take you there The other morning, I was getting my hit of DarkRoastedBlend.com and came across a picture of an abandoned street of perfectly preserved clapboard houses complete with porches and picket fences The caption read For What happened here I say that a lot.For a person who likes decay and ruin, New Mexico is an entropy enthusiasts wet dream My...The subject matter of this book is interesting, but unfortunately it was a real slog for me I think it was just that Grandin put in SO MUCH detail and information that it was overwhelming I mean, it s really good to be thorough in your research, and to back up what you re saying, but no one should EVER have to write another book about this subject EVER AGAIN, because they can t possibly find anyinformation that Grandin didn t include.That said, my overall impressions were that Ford was a The subject matter of this book is interesting, but unfortunately it was a real slog for me I think it was just that Grandin put in SO MUCH detail and information that it was overw...When I started this, I thought there was far too much bio of Henry Ford I was impatient for the Fordlandia adventure to begin Later I realized how the introductory biography was necessary Grandin shows how this project defined and reflected the can do spirit and utter naivet of Henry Ford.While not the first of Ford s company towns, Fordlandia was surely his biggest project The text and photos show the tremendous scale It was planned to span a region the size of the State of Connecticut T When I started this, I thought there was far too much bio of Henry Ford I was impatient for the Fordlandia adventure to begin Later I realized how the introductory biography was necessary Grandin shows how this project defined and reflected the can do spirit and utter naivet of Henry Ford.While not the first of Ford s company towns, Fordlandia was surely his biggest project The text and photos show the tremendous scale It was planned to span a region the size of the State of Connecticut The expense was enormous Large portions of the jungle were cleared and rubber trees planted Just the enterprise of planning and constructing just a hospital, or a school, or just a row of houses in a remote location prior to the prefab innovation is huge In an a...Fordlandia tells the story of Henry Ford s settlement in the , a model of inept planning and design Even by pre green standards, the arrogance and ignorance is shocking chop down the rainforest plant rows of rubber trees that couldn t thrive as monoculture plank down Cape Cod bungalows on a suburban style street grid dress the kids in scout uniforms and send them to American style schools named after Ford s sons Basically the plan was to convert the natives to the American lifestyl Fordlandia tells the story of Henry Ford s settlement in the , a model of inept planning and design Even by pre green standards, the arrogance and ignorance is shocking chop down the rainforest plant rows of rubber trees that couldn t thrive as monoculture plank down Cape Cod bungalows on a suburban style street grid dress the kids in scout uniforms and send them to American style schools named after Ford s sons Basically the plan was to convert the natives to the American lifestyle Ford was indeed ahead of his time but unfortunately, not in a good way the idea of the world s foremost industrialist bulldozing therainforest set the tone for environmental disasters to come E...This sounds like an urban legend gone bad do any go good , so I had to read about Henry Ford s attempt to build the American Dream in the jungles of Brazil The financial impetus was to grow rubber for tires and other auto parts, but by the time he started rubber prices were low and the need was no longer there But Ford still decided to create a town to help civilize the jungle and bring American happiness worldwide It failed of course The most interesting part of this book is the issue o This sounds like an urban legend gone bad do any go good , so I had to read about Henry Ford s attempt to build the American Dream in the jungles of Brazil The financial impetus was to grow rubber for tires and other auto parts, but by the time he started rubber prices were low and the need was no longer there But Ford still decided to create a town to help civilize the jungle and bring American happiness worldwide It failed of course The most interesting part of this book is the issue of Ford trying to create the ideal small town his production line had ruined Thanks to affordable cars the American dream was on the road and Ford never seemed to reconcile with himself for killing what he loved.Building towns was something of an occupation for Ford Alberta and Iron Mountain in Michigan are two industrial examples, and his Greenfield Village was nothing less that his American version of his Fordlandia experiment sans rubber Other companies had done this as well, but Ford was committed t...This look at the quirky, little known venture of Henry Ford s business into theis interesting and fairly well written Readers very familiar with Ford may find it frustrating that a lot of pages are invested in information about Henry Ford and his company in Michigan Readers less attuned to Ford will benefit from the large amount of background that helps frame the story.Henry Ford was an enigma, a man of unexpected views Ford was a pacifist, though one whose company converted to wartim This look at the quirky, little known venture of Henry Ford s business into theis interesting and fairly well written Readers very familiar with Ford may find it frustrating that a lot of...A SLOW READ For most purposes a man with a machine is better than a man without a machine Henry Ford pg 246 Greg Grandin s, Fordlandia The Rise and Fall of Henry Ford s Forgotten Jungle City is an academic look at the sociological history of Henry Ford s industrial empire, particularly during its waning decades 1928 1948 , with particular emphasis on its failed efforts to develop a commercially viable rubber plantation American village in the Brazilian .The story does contain A SLOW READ For most purposes a man with a machine is better than a man without a machine Henry Ford pg 246 Greg Grandin s, Fordlandia The Rise and Fall of Henry Ford s Forgotten Jungle City is an academic look at the sociological history of Henry Ford s industrial empire, particularly during its waning decades 1928 1948 , with particular emphasis on its failed efforts to develop a commercially viable rubber plantation American village in the Brazilian .The story does contain many interesting asides To whit Henry Ford s longstanding regard for his elder Thomas Edison as a mentor and a friend his friendship with Charles Lindbergh having actually been taken on a ten minute flight in Lindbergh s world famous Spirit of St Louis ai...This was an interesting and well written examination of Henry Ford s experimental Fordlandia community, carved out of the ian jungle at the start of the twentieth century Ford was looking to create his own rubber supply, and at the same time put some of his ideas of a better society into action.The author provides a well balanced view of the creation, development and decline of Fordlandia, and also of Ford s life, work and ideals Henry Ford sawin his factories success than just ec This was an interesting and well written examination of Henry Ford s experimental Fordlandia community, carved out of the ian jungle at the start of the twentieth century Ford was looking to create his own rubber supply, and at the same time put some of his ideas...

Fordlandia
  • English
  • 17 July 2017
  • Hardcover
  • 416 pages
  • 0805082360
  • Greg Grandin
  • Fordlandia