Henry Ford · Public domain edition · 73 cards · 21 chapters
Henry Ford argues that business should serve the many by lowering prices through efficient production, and he recounts his path from early experiments to the Model T. The deck covers his views on experts, standardization, manufacturing methods, and the market.
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Chapter 1 · Question
What did Ford conclude from comparing his 1893 buggy with the 1921 Model T?
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Chapter 1 · Answer
Ford argues the two vehicles differ greatly in construction and materials but are curiously alike in fundamentals, and that almost every point in the Model T can be found in the first car. He concludes the changes came through experience in making rather than any change in basic principle, demonstrating that given a good idea it is better to perfect it than hunt for a new one.
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CHAPTER I4 cards
What did Ford conclude from comparing his 1893 buggy with the 1921 Model T?
Ford argues the two vehicles differ greatly in construction and materials but are curiously alike in fundamentals, and that almost every point in the Model T can be found in the first car. He concludes the changes came through experience in making rather than any change in basic principle, demonstrating that given a good idea it is better to perfect it than hunt for a new one.
Chapter 1
What was the 'biggest event' of Ford's early years, and why did it matter?
At age twelve, driving to town, Ford saw a road engine about eight miles from Detroit — the first vehicle other than horse-drawn he had ever seen. Made by Nichols, Shepard & Company of Battle Creek, it was a portable engine and boiler on wheels with a chain driving the rear wheels. The engineer explained it, and Ford says that engine took him into automotive transportation.
Chapter 1
Why did Ford abandon steam for road vehicles?
Ford built a steam car that ran, with a kerosene-heated boiler, but the boiler was dangerous: getting enough power without a big heavy plant required high pressure, and sitting on a high-pressure steam boiler was not pleasant. Making it reasonably safe required excess weight that nullified the economy. After two years experimenting with boilers he abandoned steam for road vehicles, and he stayed only a year with Westinghouse.
Chapter 1
What did Ford think of experts and the 'wise people' who dismissed the gas engine?
Ford recalls that wise people demonstrated conclusively that the internal combustion engine could not compete with steam and would have only limited use. The author argues such people are so wise and practical they always know exactly why something cannot be done. He says that is why he never employs an expert in full bloom, and that endowing the opposition with experts would be unfair opposition-killing.
Chapter 1
CHAPTER II2 cards
Why did Ford have to chain his first car to a lamp post?
Ford's gasoline buggy was the first automobile in Detroit and was considered a nuisance: it made a racket, scared horses, and blocked traffic. Whenever he stopped, a crowd gathered, and if he left it alone someone tried to run it. He therefore carried a chain and chained it to a lamp post. He also needed a special mayor's permit, making him the only licensed chauffeur in America for a time.
Chapter 2
What did Ford find wrong with business as it was conducted?
Ford was surprised by the large attention given to finance and the small attention to service, which he saw as reversing the natural process: money should come as the result of work, not before it. He also criticized indifference to better manufacturing methods and the practice of selling a car and then charging high prices for replacement parts, treating a dissatisfied customer as a nuisance or a source of more money rather than a violated trust.
Chapter 2
CHAPTER III4 cards
Why did Ford reject existing cut-and-try manufacturing methods?
Ford argued that a thoroughly good motor car sold at a low price could not be produced under existing cut-and-try manufacturing methods. He believed it is always possible to do a thing better the second time, and suggested manufacturers were too hurried to obtain something to sell to take time for adequate preparation. Making to order rather than in volume he called a habit or tradition descended from handicraft days.
Chapter 3
How did Ford describe the real market for a product?
Ford argued that of a hundred people asked how they want an article made, about eighty will not know and leave it to you, fifteen will think they must say something, and five will have real preferences. The ninety-five who do not know constitute the real market. Of those, perhaps ten or fifteen will pay for quality; the majority will consider quality and buy the biggest dollar's worth.
Chapter 3
What does Ford say standardization must include to be good business?
Ford argues standardization is not merely concentrating on a best-selling article, and that the word implies a freezing of design that usually serves the manufacturer's profit rather than the public. He contends standardization may seem bad business unless it carries the plan of constantly reducing price, and the price must be cut because of manufacturing economies, not because falling demand signals dissatisfaction.
Chapter 3
How did the '999' race lead to founding the Ford Motor Company?
Ford built two speed cars in 1903 with Tom Cooper, the '999' and the 'Arrow,' with four large cylinders giving 80 H.P. and a two-handed tiller instead of a steering wheel. Barney Oldfield, a professional bicycle rider who had never driven a motor car, drove the '999' to win at Grosse Point by about half a mile. A week after the race Ford formed the Ford Motor Company, capitalized at one hundred thousand dollars, of which he owned 25 1/2 per cent.
Chapter 3
CHAPTER IV4 cards
What material did Ford discover at a 1905 Palm Beach race, and what did it do for his steel?
After a French car was wrecked at a Palm Beach race in 1905, Ford picked up a light, strong valve strip stem and had it analyzed. It proved to be French steel containing vanadium. No American steelmaker could produce it, so Ford sent to England for a man who could make it commercially and found a small Canton, Ohio, company to run a heat. The second attempt succeeded, raising tensile strength from 60,000–70,000 to 170,000 pounds.
Chapter 4
How many different types of steel did Ford select for his car parts, and why?
After obtaining vanadium, Ford pulled apart his models and tested each part to determine whether it needed hard, tough, or elastic steel. He then selected twenty different types of steel for the various steel parts, about ten of them vanadium, used wherever strength and lightness were required. The other elements varied according to the part's needs. Before these experiments, Ford believes no more than four grades of steel had been used in automobile construction.
Chapter 4
What were Ford's seven required attributes for the universal car?
Ford listed: (1) quality material, with vanadium steel as the strongest and most lasting; (2) simplicity of operation, because the masses are not mechanics; (3) sufficient power; (4) absolute reliability across varied uses and roads; (5) lightness, with only 7.95 pounds per cubic inch of piston displacement; (6) control, via the planetary transmission, so anybody could drive it; and (7) lighter weight meaning lower fuel and lubricant expense.
Chapter 4
What did the Model T's 1908–1909 sales season convince Ford to do?
In 1908–1909 Ford continued Models R and S at $700 and $750, but the Model T swept them out: 10,607 cars sold, more than any manufacturer had ever sold, with the touring car at $850. The season demonstrated conclusively to Ford that it was time to put the new policy in force. Salesmen, spurred by the great sales, thought more models would sell even better—a view Ford rejected.
Chapter 4
CHAPTER V4 cards
What two general principles did Ford adopt for all operations?
Ford states that in all operations a man should never have to take more than one step if it can possibly be avoided, and that no man need ever stoop over. These principles, along with placing tools and men in the sequence of operation, using carriers so parts drop in the same convenient place, and using sliding assembly lines, reduced the worker's need for thought and minimized his movements.
Chapter 5
What was the first moving assembly line experiment, and what were its results?
Around April 1, 1913, Ford first tried an assembly line on the flywheel magneto, which he believes was the first moving line ever installed, inspired by the overhead trolley Chicago packers use in dressing beef. One workman doing the whole job made thirty-five to forty pieces in a nine-hour day; splitting it into twenty-nine operations cut assembly to thirteen minutes, ten seconds, later reduced to five minutes.
Chapter 5
How did chassis assembly time change with the moving line?
Stationary chassis assembling averaged twelve hours and twenty-eight minutes per chassis. A rough experiment drawing the chassis with a rope and windlass down a two-hundred-fifty-foot line, with six assemblers and parts in piles, cut it to five hours fifty minutes. In early 1914, elevating the line to waist height and subdividing work cut labour time per chassis to one hour thirty-three minutes.
Chapter 5
What speeds were tried for the moving line, and what speed was settled on?
For the flywheel magneto line, Ford first tried sixty inches per minute, which was too fast, then eighteen inches per minute, which was too slow, finally settling on forty-four inches per minute. The idea is that a man must not be hurried but must have every necessary second and not a single unnecessary one. The chassis line later ran at six feet per minute.
Chapter 5
CHAPTER VI4 cards
What does Ford say is the hardest thing to fight when gathering many people to work?
The author argues that excess organization and consequent red tape are the hardest things to fight when bringing a large number of people together to do work. He calls the so-called "genius for organization" the most dangerous bent of mind, producing authority charts where each man has a title and strictly limited duties, so messages crawl slowly upward and responsibility is dodged.
Chapter 6
How does Ford describe the Ford factories' organizational structure?
The author states the Ford enterprises have no organization, no specific duties attached to positions, no line of succession or authority, very few titles, and no conferences. Only absolutely required clerical help exists, with no elaborate records. Yet individual responsibility is complete: workman, straw boss, foreman, department head, and the man in charge of the factory are each responsible for their sphere.
Chapter 6
What does Ford say about titles in business?
The author argues titles are greatly overdone and business has suffered. A title can injure the wearer, serving as a badge of emancipation from work, and it divides responsibility until no one feels responsible. He claims many men can swing a job but are floored by a title, and that real leaders who bear titles don't boast about them. His remedy is to abolish titles except a few legally necessary ones.
Chapter 6
What is Ford's policy on hiring based on a man's past?
The author states the company does not hire experts or men based on past experience, and hires only for the lowest positions. Because they do not take a man on his past history, they do not refuse him for it either; he is equally acceptable whether from Sing Sing or Harvard. The author argues there is always some good in a man if he gets a chance, and all that is needed is the desire to work.
Chapter 6
CHAPTER VII4 cards
What does Ford claim about repetitive labour and workers' minds?
The author argues that repetitive labour does not injure a man and that thorough research found no case of a man's mind being twisted or deadened by it. He notes that men who dislike repetitive work need not stay in it, since jobs are classified from Class C up to Class A and beyond into tool making or supervisory roles.
Chapter 7
How did Ford's company classify its 7,882 jobs by physical demand?
Of 7,882 jobs, 949 were heavy work needing strong, physically perfect men; 3,338 needed ordinary strength; 3,595 required no physical exertion. Further classification found 670 could be filled by legless men, 2,637 by one-legged men, 2 by armless men, 715 by one-armed men, and 10 by blind men.
Chapter 7
What policy did Ford set on January 12, 1914, regarding physical condition?
When the minimum wage was set at five dollars a day and the working day at eight hours, Ford's policy also stated that no one applying for work is refused on account of physical condition, and no one is discharged on that basis except in cases of contagious disease.
Chapter 7
How did Ford use bedridden workers, and what was the result?
Men able to sit up worked in their hospital beds, with oilcloth aprons over the beds, screwing nuts on small bolts — a hand job in the Magneto Department. They received regular wages, production was about 20 per cent above usual shop production, no man had to work unless he wanted to, and they slept, ate, and recovered better.
Chapter 7
CHAPTER VIII4 cards
What minimum daily wage did Ford industries have at the time of writing, and what was it before?
The chapter states that throughout all Ford industries there was then a minimum wage of six dollars a day. Previously the minimum was five dollars a day, and before that the company paid whatever it was necessary to pay. Ford argues that returning to the old market rate of paying would be both bad morals and the worst sort of bad business.
Chapter 8
Why does Ford call every business with more than one worker a partnership?
The author argues that when a man finds management or production too much for his own time or hands, he calls in assistants, and that moment he has taken a partner. He may remain sole owner and director, but only while sole manager and sole producer can he claim complete independence. Boss and worker are reciprocal partners, both indispensable, and fighting each other injures the organization both depend on.
Chapter 8
According to Ford, what is the basic question about wages, and what limits them?
The author argues the basic question is not what the employer ought to pay or the employee ought to receive, but 'What can the business stand?' No business can stand outgo exceeding income, like a well pumped faster than it refills. The business itself sets the limits on rewards — you cannot distribute $150,000 from a business bringing in only $100,000.
Chapter 8
How does Ford define 'high wages,' and who does he say makes them possible?
The author argues high wages mean a higher wage than was paid ten months or ten years ago, not a higher wage than ought to be paid; today's high wages may be low in ten years. He holds that high wages cannot be paid unless workmen earn them, since labour is the productive factor, though poor management can waste labour and labour can nullify good management.
Chapter 8
CHAPTER IX4 cards
According to Ford, what determines whether business is good or bad?
The author argues business is good or bad as we make it, not according to fate. He rejects the idea that business cycles are inevitable, insisting that prosperity depends on management and service rather than on waiting for conditions to improve. He attributes so-called bad luck to bad management, especially the unreasoned financial structure that holds demand and the means of satisfying it apart.
Chapter 9
What does Ford say is the real evidence of prosperity?
The author argues a truly prosperous time is when the largest number of people get all they can legitimately eat and wear and are comfortable in every sense. He says prosperity is measured by the comfort of the people at large, not the size of the manufacturer's bank balance. The manufacturer is an instrument of society who justifies his existence by better products at lower prices and higher wages.
Chapter 9
How does Ford respond to the idea of cutting wages during a depression?
The author argues cutting wages is the easiest, most slovenly, and inhuman way to handle a depression, effectively throwing the managers' incompetency onto labor. He says every depression is a challenge to put more brains into management, and wages should not be tampered with before everything else is changed. In his experience, tackling the real issue first may make wage cuts unnecessary.
Chapter 9
What choice does Ford say a business owner faces with inventory during a downturn?
The author argues a business owner can take a direct loss on his books and keep doing business, or stop doing business and take the loss of idleness. He says the loss of not doing business is commonly greater than the money involved, because idleness breeds fear that consumes initiative. Ford cites his own $17,000,000 inventory cut as a choice with no alternative.
Chapter 9
CHAPTER X4 cards
According to Ford, what actually causes a so-called "saturated" market?
The author argues a market is never truly saturated with goods; what is called a "saturated" market is only one in which prices are above the purchasing power of buyers. He adds that unduly high prices are always a sign of unsound business, since they stem from abnormal conditions such as speculation following reports of shortage, or inflation of currency or credit.
Chapter 10
Why did Ford conclude that buying materials ahead of requirements does not pay?
Ford states that buying ahead is entering a guessing contest, not business. Over the years his company figured that gains on one speculative purchase are offset by losses on another, so they buy only enough for immediate production needs, considering transportation. They get the best price for the quantity required, buying neither less when prices are high nor more when prices are low.
Chapter 10
What is Ford's stated pricing policy, and in what order does it proceed?
The author argues the policy is to reduce the price, extend the operations, and improve the article, with price reduction coming first. Ford treats no cost as fixed: he first cuts the price to a point believed to increase sales, then forces costs down to meet it, rather than calculating costs and setting price from them. He claims the company has always made a profit at its fixed prices.
Chapter 10
How does Ford describe the proper order and meaning of standardization?
Ford says standardization is the final stage of the process: you start with the consumer, work back through the design, and finally arrive at manufacturing, which becomes a means to the end of service. He warns that merely cutting out half-a-dozen models is not standardizing but usually only limits business, since a seller taking maximum profit should offer wide choice.
Chapter 10
CHAPTER XI4 cards
According to Ford, what is the primary object of a manufacturing business, and what does finance become?
The author argues the primary object of a manufacturing business is to produce. If that objective is always kept, finance becomes a wholly secondary matter largely concerned with bookkeeping. He regards a bank mainly as a safe, convenient place to keep money, and says the place to finance a manufacturing business is the shop, not the bank.
Chapter 11
When does Ford say borrowing money is comparatively safe, and when is it harmful?
The author argues the time to borrow, if ever, is when a business does not need money as a substitute for what the owner ought to do himself. Borrowing for expansion when the business is in excellent condition is comparatively safe. Borrowing to make up for mismanagement and waste is not, because money cannot correct waste or mismanagement; it only feeds the disease.
Chapter 11
Why did Ford favor selling many articles at a small profit rather than few at a large profit?
The author argues this policy lets more people buy, gives more men employment at good wages, permits planned production, eliminates dull seasons, and avoids the waste of an idle plant. He holds that unless prices are reduced, sales do not continuously increase and the business has no stability, since a business not increasing is bound to be decreasing.
Chapter 11
What did Ford tell the court about dividends and stockholders in the suit demanding larger dividends?
The author testified he holds it better to sell many cars at a reasonably small margin than fewer at a large margin, because it lets more people buy and gives more men good wages. He wants working stockholders who treat the company as an instrument of service, not non-working ones seeking maximum cash, and said if forced to choose between lowering wages and abolishing dividends, he would abolish dividends.
Chapter 11
CHAPTER XII4 cards
What payments totaling $58,000,000 did Ford face between January 1 and April 18, 1921?
Ford owed $33,000,000 remaining on $70,000,000 in notes borrowed in 1919 to buy full stock interest in the company, $18,000,000 in income taxes due or soon due, and a planned $7,000,000 workmen's bonus. Against these $58,000,000 in obligations, the company had only $20,000,000 in bank, leaving $38,000,000 to be raised without borrowing.
Chapter 12
Why did Ford cut the touring car price from $575 to $440 in September 1920?
Ford's sales had fallen every month since June 1920, and the company wanted to bring its product within the public's purchasing power and show it was 'playing the game.' The price was cut below production cost because cars were still built from stock bought at boom prices. The author argues that if all manufacturers had made drastic cuts and cleaned house, the business depression would have been shorter.
Chapter 12
How did Ford's house-cleaning reduce costs and release capital without borrowing?
Ford eliminated departments, statistics, and 60 percent of telephone extensions, cut office staff in half, and reduced foremen from one per five men to one per twenty. Overhead fell from $146 to $93 per car, and employees per car per day dropped from fifteen to nine. Faster freight via the Detroit, Toledo & Ironton Railroad cut the manufacturing cycle from twenty-two to fourteen days, releasing $28,000,000 in capital.
Chapter 12
What did Ford's cash position become by April 1, 1921, and what does he argue this shows?
Cash rose from $20,000,000 on January 1 to $87,300,000 on April 1, $27,300,000 more than needed to clear all debt. Sources included stock turned to cash, $28,000,000 released by faster transit, foreign collections, by-product sales, and Liberty Bonds. The author argues businesses can find resources within themselves instead of borrowing, and that bankers think in terms of money rather than goods.
Chapter 12
CHAPTER XIII3 cards
What does Ford say about economy and thrift versus use?
The author argues economy is the rule of half-alive minds and is itself a form of waste—waste of the juices of life through non-use. He distinguishes waste by the prodigal from waste by the sluggard who lets substance rot unused. He says use is positive and life-giving, and that teaching a child to invest and use is better than teaching him to save.
Chapter 13
What is Ford's view of government's role in ending poverty?
Ford argues government is essentially negative and cannot give positive aid to any really constructive program. It can only give negative aid by removing obstructions to progress and ceasing to be a burden on the community. He holds that individual initiative, ingenuity, and intelligent leadership—not law—must produce results against poverty and special privilege.
Chapter 13
How does Ford propose combining farm and factory work seasonally?
Ford suggests farmers work in factories during farming's dull season, and factory workers go to the land during the factory's dull season, taking slack out of work and balancing artificial and natural life. He cites Northville's valve factory and a Flat Rock plant using water power, where workers can have farms and drive to the shop by automobile.
Chapter 13
CHAPTER XIV4 cards
Why was the Fordson tractor put into production a year early?
Because of the Allies' wartime food emergency. All early production, apart from trial and experimental machines, went directly to England. Five thousand tractors were shipped across the sea during the critical 1917-18 submarine period, and every one arrived safely. British Government officers reportedly said England could scarcely have met its food crisis without their aid.
Chapter 14
What did the Royal Agricultural Society's test of the Ford tractor conclude?
The report found the motor did its work with ease, ploughing a measured acre in 1 hour 30 minutes using 2 gallons of paraffin per acre. The tractor weighed 23 1/4 cwts fully loaded, was light for its power, easily handled, and turned in a small circle. The design was judged of ample strength and first-rate quality, and the report recommended building as many as possible.
Chapter 14
How did Sorensen's price compare with the Ministry's best tender?
Lord Milner showed Sorensen tenders whose best price was about $1,500 per tractor with no delivery guarantee. Sorensen said that was out of all reason and that they should cost no more than $700 apiece. Asked if he could make five thousand at that price, he said yes, and promised to start shipping within sixty days. A contract was signed on the spot with a 25 percent advance payment.
Chapter 14
What design goals did Ford set for his tractor, and why?
The author argues the farmer needs power to run tools more than new tools. He wanted a tractor that was light, strong, simple enough for anyone to run, and cheap enough for anyone to buy. He rejected the weight idea, holding that excess weight was not needed for pulling power. The result weighed 2,425 pounds, used a four-cylinder engine started on gasoline but running on kerosene, and gripped through lugs on the driving wheels.
Chapter 14
CHAPTER XV1 cards
How does subdivided industry supposedly eliminate the need for charity?
The author argues that minute subdivision of industry opens places fillable by the maimed, halt, and blind, letting them earn adequate livings as productive workers. He claims there are more such places than there are blind men or cripples, and that putting an able-bodied man in a job a cripple could do is waste.
Chapter 15
CHAPTER XVI4 cards
According to Ford, who has actually controlled railroad management instead of railroad men?
The author argues that bankers, not railroad men, have been the guiding hand of the railways. Because managers could borrow freely to cover errors, they borrowed rather than corrected mistakes, and money was made from floating bond issues and speculating in securities rather than from public service. Lawyers then grew large legal departments to keep operations within the law, leaving active managers with little real control.
Chapter 16
What did Ford's company do with the Detroit, Toledo & Ironton Railway's administration and legal department?
Ford says the road was bought because its right of way interfered with River Rouge improvements, not as an investment. After taking over in March 1921, the Detroit executive office was closed and administration given to one man; the legal department went with it. Outstanding claims were settled quickly, and legal expense seldom exceeded $200 a month. Payroll fell from 2,700 to 1,650 men.
Chapter 16
How does Ford describe the work rules and wages on the DT&I after reorganization?
The author says titles and offices not required by law were abolished, and the rigid chain-of-orders system was replaced by personal responsibility. A man is paid for an eight-hour day and expected to work those hours; if an engineer finishes a run early he does other work. Overtime is not paid but deducted or saved for a day off with pay. The minimum wage is six dollars a day, with no extra men.
Chapter 16
What results does Ford claim from applying industrial principles to the DT&I?
Ford reports the road's income exceeded its outgo, with everything done out of earnings rather than large investment. Freight time to Philadelphia or New York dropped from eight or nine days to three and a half, and freight movement time was cut about two thirds. Track was reballasted, new rails laid, and rolling stock overhauled in the company's own shops. He denies the surplus is merely from diverting Ford freight.
Chapter 16
CHAPTER XVII4 cards
What did Edison tell Ford about the future of the internal combustion engine?
Edison said there was a big future for any light-weight engine that could develop high horsepower and be self-contained. He argued no one kind of motive power would ever do all the country's work, and that electricity could not do everything. He told Ford to keep on with his engine, predicting a great future if Ford achieved his goal.
Chapter 17
How did Ford use his organization to support the Weeks-McLean Bird Bill?
The bill for migratory bird sanctuaries was stalled in Congress because birds do not vote. Ford asked each of his six thousand dealers to wire their representatives in Congress, making it appear birds might have votes, and the bill passed. Ford states this was the only time he used the Ford organization to influence legislation, and that it was never used for any political purpose.
Chapter 17
How did John Burroughs's view of the automobile change after Ford sent him one?
Burroughs had detested money, industry, and the noise of factories and railways, and declared the automobile would kill appreciation of nature. Ford sent him a car to try. After learning to drive it, Burroughs found it helped him see more, and he made nearly all his bird-hunting expeditions behind the steering wheel, with the whole countryside open to him instead of a few miles around Slabsides.
Chapter 17
What does the author argue about war and war profiteering?
The author argues war never settles anything and left the world's orderly processes a loose, disjointed mass. He contends no patriot makes money out of war, since the rich from war are not those who fought or helped behind the lines. He says business should side with peace because peace is business's best asset, and that war fortunes are losing caste.
Chapter 17
CHAPTER XVIII3 cards
What kind of democracy does Ford say he supports?
The author argues he is for the kind of democracy that gives each person an equal chance according to ability. He is suspicious of those who speak glibly of democracy, suggesting they may want a despotism or want others to do what they should do for themselves. He favors attention to service and facts over empty forms of government.
Chapter 18
What does Ford say about the claim that doing less work creates more jobs?
The author calls this a fallacy, saying it assumes idleness is creative. He argues idleness never created a job, only burdens. The industrious man does not run his fellow worker out of a job; rather, the industrious man partners with the industrious manager to create more business and more jobs. He says a healthy business is one where every man does a day's work he is proud of.
Chapter 18
What does Ford say about strikes and whether they succeed?
The author argues strikes always fail even when they seem to succeed, because a strike that wins higher wages or shorter hours and passes the burden to the community only makes the industry less able to serve and decreases jobs. He says some strikes are justified to draw attention to an evil, and justifiable strikes are usually the employer's fault, but no American ought to be compelled to strike for his rights.
Chapter 18
XIX. WHAT WE MAY EXPECT.2 cards
According to Ford, what are the primary functions that hold the world together?
The author identifies agriculture, manufacture, and transportation as the primary functions. He argues community life is impossible without them, calling them as primitive as human need yet as modern as anything can be. As long as these survive, the world can survive any economic or social change, since they are the foundations of society.
Chapter 19
What role does Ford assign to government and law in solving poverty?
The author argues law is never constructive, only a policeman, so it is wasted effort to look to state capitals or Washington to cure poverty or abolish special privilege. Government should be a servant, never a master; the moment people become adjuncts to government, retribution follows. Our help comes from ourselves, not Washington.
Chapter 19
CHAPTER XIX4 cards
According to Ford, what are the two types of fools regarding money?
The author argues there are two fools: the millionaire who thinks hoarding money accumulates real power, and the penniless reformer who thinks taking money from one class and giving it to another will cure all the world's ills. Both are on the wrong track, comparable to someone trying to corner all the checkers or dominoes under the delusion of cornering skill.
Chapter 20
What does Ford say business exists for, and what is profit's role?
The author argues business exists for service, not profit, and is a profession needing recognized ethics. Profit is not inherently wrong and is necessary for business to extend, but it must come as a reward for good service rather than being the basis. He claims applying these principles makes larger profit unavoidable, not smaller.
Chapter 20
What four principles make up Ford's creed?
The author's creed: (1) absence of fear of the future or veneration of the past, since failure is only an opportunity to begin again; (2) disregard of competition, as whoever does a thing best should do it; (3) putting service before profit, with profit as result not basis; (4) manufacturing is not buying low and selling high but fairly transforming materials with minimal added cost and distributing to consumers.
Chapter 20
What does Ford claim about scarcity of life's necessaries?
The author argues any real scarcity of necessaries—not a fictitious scarcity caused by lack of money in one's purse—is due only to lack of production, which in turn is often due to lack of knowledge of how and what to produce. He asserts the earth can produce enough for decent sustenance of everyone, and that business faults clog its progress like disease within a body.
Chapter 20
C.2 cards
What did Ford's first advertisement emphasize instead of a pleasure appeal?
The first advertisement presented the car as a utility for everyday business, professional, and family use, stressing sufficient speed without breakneck velocities, compactness, simplicity, safety, convenience, and a reasonable price. Ford states they never made the pleasure appeal and never bothered with a "sporting car," aiming instead at service.
Chapter 21
Why did Ford's sales jump to 8,423 cars in 1906-1907?
Ford dropped touring cars and made three runabout and roadster models that differed little in manufacturing or parts but somewhat in appearance. The cheapest sold for $600 and the most expensive for $750. Ford argues this demonstrated what price meant, since sales were nearly five times the previous best year.
Chapter 21
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Text used: Project Gutenberg eBook #7213 (Public domain in the United States). Generated from the full text; cards paraphrase the source.
Version: Public domain edition. Retrieved 2026-10-29. Cards reviewed 2026-10-29.
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