Henry Ford's utopia, dystopia of others
- Amazonia, 1928. The car company Ford built in the jungle a village called Fordland, on the banks of the Tapajos, a tributary of the Amazon.
Henry Ford (1863-1947) intended to produce rubber for use on the wheels of his cars, until then the rubber production monopoly was in the hands of British and Dutch. But by the way, they built a utopian village for the 3,000 workers who were going to work on the ground floor and in the factory, and they filled the jungle with their typical white, single-parent houses in the United States, who dream of the lives of the poor workers of any country. The church, hospital, nightclub and pool were also built, as well as one of these bright water deposits that appear in the typical landscape of the United States. And for American employers they made a special, more luxurious neighborhood, because inequality is a fundamental part of the “American dream.”
For Brazilian workers to play as if they were good Americans, Ford banned smoking and drinking alcohol locally, as well as playing soccer (of course, the sport they call soccer, not the “real” football of Americans). In addition, to ensure compliance with the standards, the employers had permission to freely explore the houses of the workers. The usual hours from 9:00 to 17:00 were applied; the workers said that at sunrise and sunset they worked normally, at noon, that they could not sunbathe, but did not listen to them.
American food was also imposed on the inhabitants of Fordland. Beyond taste and customs, the American diet caused stomach problems in the rainforest
American food was also imposed on the inhabitants of Fordland. Beyond taste and customs, the U.S. diet caused stomach problems in the rainforest, so in 1930 several workers jumped into the factory dining room. The bosses had to flee to the jungle until the Brazilian army shut down the rebellion. And the workers went back to work -- to produce little.
The engineers of the company Ford organized the rubber plantation ignoring professionals who knew the wet and steep lands perfectly. Under these conditions, between 3 and 4 trees decided to plant about 80 trees in the growing area to increase production. But because of moisture and concentration, pests ate production. Accepting the total defeat, Ford completely abandoned Fordland in 1934 and 40 kilometers from Belterra restarted the project, leaving that second attempt of synthetic rubber.
No gram of rubber produced in Fordland became part of a Ford car. And even Henry Ford never stomped the idyllic dream town, among many other phobias, that had intense germ phobia.
Poloniar ikerlari talde batek Sevillako Italica aztarnategiko Txorien Etxea aztertu du, eta eraikinaren zoruko mosaikoak erromatar garaiko hegazti-bilduma xeheena dela ondorioztatu du.
Txorien etxean 33 hegazti daude mosaikoetan xehetasun handiz irudikatuta. Beste... [+]
Judea, 2nd century AD. In the turbulent atmosphere of the Roman province, a trial was held against Gaddaliah and Saul, accused of fraud and tax evasion. The trial was reported on a 133-line paper in Greek (pictured). Thinking that it was a Nabataean document, the papyrus was... [+]
Vietnam, February 7, 1965. The U.S. Air Force first used napalma against the civilian population. It was not the first time that gelatinous gasoline was used. It began to be launched with bombs during World War II and, in Vietnam itself, it was used during the Indochina War in... [+]
Archaeologists have discovered more than 600 engraved stones at the Vasagård site in Denmark. According to the results of the data, dating back to 4,900 years ago, it is also known that a violent eruption of a volcano occurred in Alaska at that time. The effects of this... [+]
Japan, 8th century. In the middle of the Nara Era they began to use the term furoshiki, but until the Edo Era (XVII-XIX. the 20th century) did not spread. Furoshiki is the art of collecting objects in ovens, but its etymology makes its origin clear: furo means bath and shiki... [+]
In an Egyptian mummy of 3,300 years ago, traces of Yersinia pestis, the bacterium that caused the Justinian plague in the 6th century and the Black Plague in the 14th century, have just been found.
Experts until now believed that at that time the plague had spread only in... [+]
Greenland, the end of the 10th century. The first Scandinavian explorers and settlers arrived on the island. But by the 15th century these settlements had been abandoned and the original Inuit remained. But in 1721, the missionary Hans Egede organized an expedition and the... [+]
In 2017, Indonesia and the Netherlands signed an agreement to return the heritage stolen by the European country because of colonialism for three centuries. The Indonesian responsible for the return process, Gusti Agung Wesaka Puja, explained that this agreement "was important in... [+]
Greece 1975. The country began the year as a republic, three weeks earlier, in the referendum on 8 December 1974, after the citizens decided on the end of the monarchy.
A decade earlier, in 1964, when King Paul I died, his son Constantine took the throne at the age of 23.
But... [+]
Copenhagen, 18 December 1974 At 12 noon a ferry arrived at the port, from where a group of about 100 Santa Claus landed. They brought a gigantic geese with them. The idea was to make a kind of “Trojan Goose” and, upon reaching the city, to pull the white beard costumes... [+]
Tennessee (United States), 1820. The slave Nathan Green is born, known as Nearest Uncle or Nearest Uncle. We do not know exactly when he was born and, in general, we have very little data about him until 1863, when he achieved emancipation. We know that in the late 1850s Dan... [+]
New York, 1960. At a UN meeting, Nigeria’s Foreign Minister and UN ambassador Jaja Wachucu slept. Nigeria had just achieved independence on 1 October. Therefore, Wachuku became the first UN representative in Nigeria and had just taken office.
In contradiction to the... [+]
Researchers at Johns Hopkins University have discovered several cylinders with inscriptions at the present Syrian Reservoir, the Tell Umm-el Marra. Experts believe that the signs written in these pieces of clay can be alphabetical.
In the 15th century a. The cylinders have... [+]
London 1928. At the Victoria and Albert Museum there was a very special painting: in the painting there is a black man, with wig and Levite, surrounded by books and scientific instruments. Thus it was catalogued in the Museum: “Unique satirical portrait representing a failed... [+]
Ethiopia, 24 November 1974. Lucy's skeleton was found in Hadar, one of the oldest traces of human ancestors. The Australian hominid of Australopithecus afarensis is between 3.2 and 3.5 million years old.
So they considered it the ancestor of species, the mother of all of us. In... [+]