It's interesting, becuase there's considerable weight in both the "for" and "against" column.

In the "Achievements" column, of course he was involved in some considerable steps forward in the development of modern industry. As an employer, he sought to pay his workers well - partly mitigating the alienation effect which is a key problem in industrialised labour.

In the "Faults" column, he pushed society towards a rampant mass-consumption which is now placing huge pressure on the planet's resources, although it could be argued that he could not have forseen this.

But the really big issue, from a "faults" perspective, is how rabidly anti-semitic he was. Ford published a newspaper dedicated to attacking Jews in both America and the rest of the world, and later collected these writings into a book, "The International Jew", which is still referenced as a vital work (and still published and reproduced by) various militant Islamic groups and neo-Nazi organisations which consider it a source of great inspiration. At the Nuremburg Trials and on other occasions just after WW2, a number of leading Nazis cited Ford's writings as a significant influence. Baldur Von Sirach, the head of the Hitler Youth, for example, stated that he and many other Nazi youth leaders took up the cause of anti-semitism after reading Ford's pamphlets.

So I think this is a very interesting question.

We've had ILN's view (thank you ILN for commenting) - what do others think?

I don't think he had any achievements at all, besides his horrid literature. I don't consider being an industrialist as a positive thing, even if there are positive side effects to their acts.

I know very little about Ford's antisemitism other than he was an antisemite. Did he actively discriminate against Jews (ban them from working for him etc) or did he just speak and write about them? As distasteful as that is, for me expressing unpleasant views doesn't count for much on the evil side of the scale, no matter how many bastards claim to have been inspired.

On the other hand I think his contribution to industry is overrated. The industrial developments were more ideas of their time than those of a unique visionary. If not Ford, then any of thousands of others could have done the same.

The mass consumption argument is bunk ;)

I know that P.L. Robertson invented the Roberson screw and screwdriver, which Ford started to use extensively because the screwdriver holds the screw in, so you can basically walk around with the screw hanging by itself in the screwdriver without it falling off.

When Ford tried to force Robertson to sell exclusively to him, Roberson refused. Ford phoned his industrial buddies across the US and had Roberson blackballed in America. Which is why the Roberson is common in Canada but not the US.

A wee bit of an asshole, that Ford.

His contribution to industry was just being the first successful one in that field, IMO.

First time I've ever heard of a Robertson screw. Clearly didn't cross the Atlantic all that well either. You learn something new every day.

@ Octavious: There is no specific evidence of Ford actively banning Jews from working for him.

However, it is worth noting that after the outbreak of WW2, right up until the US declaration of war on Germany in late 1942, Ford enthusiastically continued to do business with Nazi Germany. Ford had a large, modern factory in Koln, and this was used to manufacture armoured personnel carriers for the Nazi army. In 1940, Ford began using over 100 slave labourers at the Koln factory, mostly captured French soldiers, in a direct breach of the Geneva Convention. At the same time, Ford refused a request to help build engines for British fighter aircraft.

Of course, once the US entered the war, Ford accepted contracts to build war equipment for US forces (the implications of refusing to do so would have been hugely damaging to Ford's business).

Robinson died broke due to the blacklisting. He didn't have the finances to carry farther than Canada. A great screwdriver - no lost screws in the days before strong magnets.

He was personally a jerk worthy of our scorn, obviously. But he changed transportation forever and freed the common person like few before him in history. This is an incredible achivement worthy of laud.

"Should he be respected as a great man and a father of industry? Or should we condemn him as a friend of the Nazis and one of the 20th century's most prominent anti-semites?"

Looking past Ford, generally speaking, I don't see why these have to be an "or". "And" works fine too. Lots of people and organizations in history have done good and evil, and there is no need to hide either.

"Yeah Doc...I was wondering if you could put a brain tumor back in my daughter. It seems her previous surgeon was quite the sketchy character and, well, I'd rather he just not be creditted with savign my duaghters life..." goes the Thought Police.

I agree with thucy that it should be an and not an or. That said I would definitely argue that his achievement outweigh his faults.

TheoThucy strikes again. Onto our next victim...

Heh, well put, k.

Henry Ford is known by most as the father of the assembly line. I knew nothing about his views on Jews, and I bet none of the people I know would know he was an anti-semite either. So I suppose his legacy as the father of the assembly line is much more well known than his views on Jews.

He even tried to build a city in the middle of Amazon Rain Forest: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fordl%C3%A2ndia

And outside the US (and probably Israel), this anti-semite isn´t well known, in fact, I just learnt about this book on this thread.

"I don't consider being an industrialist as a positive thing"

*sigh*

" "I don't consider being an industrialist as a positive thing"

It's *utterly* repulsive how "enlightened" Libtards in 2014 are going to try to apply their "modern" morality and "understandings" to people living 100+ years ago. It's far less damning to those they cast their asinine judgements on as it is to the (so-called) intellect of the judge.

Fuck, why stop with damning Henry Ford…who’s the asshole that invented refrigeration? Arguably, that fuck has done more to “destroy the planet” than a whole bunch of Henry’s Fords…<rolls eyes…>

It's certainly questionable whether industry has made lives better, but in the interim period of industry it's almost unquestionable that lives were made worse. You can tell that none of the people who glorify the industrial growth and profiteering of people like Ford - have never worked on an assembly line.

I think Ford should be lauded for his recognition of the Jew menace.( I mean, look at Donald Sterling, the ultimate Jew). Ford broke a big job down into a bunch of little jobs.

That was his contribution to Industry.

An excerpt from "The International Jew", Ford's anti-Semitic manifesto:

"It is time to show that the cry of "bigot" is raised mostly by bigots. There is a religious prejudice in this country, there is, indeed, a religious persecution, there is a forcible shoving aside of the religious liberties of a majority of the people"

That's pretty much krellin verbatim. Goes to show that some views never evolve I guess.

2WL - No, not verbatim krellin at all. If you would like to hav ea discussion on my views of bigotry, you are more than welcome to actually ask me.

I know, I know...it's obvious I'm a bigot; after all I think everyone should be treated equally regardless of skin color or gender - and we'll throw religion in, as well. Yes....just horrible, horrible horrible of me...

You're pathetic, man, seriuosly.

Try again. I'm not calling you a bigot. I'm calling you a Henry Ford disciple - how many times have you called Thucy a racist for calling out racists?

While I think most people should feel free to cultivate their own opinion of Ford, Christians should feel compelled to decry the man, especially publicly.

The Jews should understand that normal middle-class Christians have no interest or tolerance for antisemitism. I personally don't care how many cars the man built, if the writing that he sponsored lead to the harm of Hebrews, I would want people to know that I find this unacceptable.

His negative point is that he hated the Jews and was a horrible man.
His positive point is that he made a profit and was a horrible man.
..?

He single-handedly helped create an industry that grew up to do more for the American middle class and American labor movement than any other industry. His company grew to such an extent that it was a visual embodiment of the United States.

Yeah, I think that outweighs his anti-semitism.

I didn't know you were such a commie synapse

"Try again. I'm not calling you a bigot. I'm calling you a Henry Ford disciple - how many times have you called Thucy a racist for calling out racists? "

Henry Ford disciple??? lol Why, because I give the man credit for building an industry? I didn't deny any of the shit that he was involved in - I'm just giving credit where credit is due - they are distinct, different things.

You see, *rational* people can actually look at things and see different, "opposing" qualitie in a single person, unlike Modern Libtardism.

Just a minor point, Krellin, but:

"It's *utterly* repulsive how "enlightened" Libtards in 2014 are going to try to apply their "modern" morality and "understandings" to people living 100+ years ago."

The events I'm talking about took place in the 1940's, which I'm pretty sure was less than 100 years ago, just for the record. Up until at least 1940, Ford publicly continued to endorse the views set out in "The International Jew" and spoke about publishing a new edition. Ford's German factory was definitely using slave labour from 1940 - 1942 (after which the plant would have been under direct control of the Nazi administration).

Do you think that slavery and virulent anti-semitism were considered perfectly acceptable by most sensible people in the 1940's, and that therefore Ford deserves no criticism? Is that really your position?

Fuck, the Middle Class in America is basically credited to Henry Ford, and yet there are assholes here who call him a terrible person for doing this? Oh....I see...because they'd rather be all-but-slaves to the robber barons of old still?

Idiocy. Pure idiocy.

No, Jamie, Henry Ford created the first assembly line in 1913 -- a 100+ fucking years ago.

The Libard morons around here think he did something horrible *just* for the modern industrialization that started under Henry Ford, apart from whatever he did in the 1940's. Please reread this thread.

Ford didn't invent the assembly line - nor was he the first to use it. The Bridgewater Foundry, built in Salford, near Manchester, in 1836, used an assembly line to manufacture machine tools, designed on the basis of standardised parts and standardised designs. Richard Garrett's factory in Suffolk was manufacturing steam boilers on an assembly line as early asw 1853. Ford wasn't even the first person to use an assembly line to build cars - that was Ransom Olds, who was building Oldsmobiles on an assembly line, using standardised interchangable parts, from 1901.I think Ford is given undue credit for the development of the assembly line, although he did make improvements to it, for example in the increased use of conveyor belts.

So, moving away from assembly lines, Krellin, where do you stand on Ford as an anti-semite, publisher of anti-semitic literature, and user of slave labour?