Originally Posted by base2

Dude, who is John Galt?
Industry is driven by the motivated, by the makers, the creators. Those that privatize the gains and socialize the losses. Those that see a thing or an opportunity and snatch it, keep it for themselves. Those that push & shove, influence and take where others yield. Subserviant, marginalized, disempowered, masses is the flip-side of the coin. The cartels corrollary might be better known as "industry trade associations," "Strategic Partnerships," or "lobbying groups." When they work for blue collar workers, they are known as, "Unions." How's that old saying go; "What's good for the goose is good for the gander?" Nothing new here...Move along.

But whatever, dude. Discount the reality of how a company becomes a multi-national, global mega-corp all you want. Paint whatever vision you want of what you think I believe. Thus far, I haven't said one thing one way or another. I've only reflected what I've digested from other posters here, on this thread. I asked what Shimano is doing & feel I've got a pretty comprehensive answer from this thread. You'd be surprised what you come up with when you turn off the media that tells you what to think & turn on your brain to find out what you really think. You don't know what I think. This is not P&R. Let's keep it that way.

I was asking about small business, Mom & Pop brands. Campy, SRAM are not small businesses, Mom & Pop type operations. Know of any? I'd like to build a bike that supports economic diversity in my community. Care to join me? I've got the rear wheel with a Texas made hub & a Florida made rim being built at a custom frame builder in Seattle right now. The Son hub for the matching front wheel is in the mail right now. It was made by a 30 person company. I need American-made disc brakes & calipers next.

Maybe it's time for a new thread, these last few posts have started the thread drift phenomenon pretty hard.