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In 1928, the American tycoon Henry Ford enjoyed universal prestige as a leader in the industry, not just because he was one of the men the richer in the world .
His name evoked the promise of a dazzling technological revolution, as much later characters like Steve Jobs.
At age 39, he founded Ford Motor Company, which was to become one of the largest and most profitable companies in the world.
He had sponsored the development of the chain production technique that helped to mbad-produce the first vehicle that the middle clbad could afford, and to turn vehicles into a convenient means of transportation that would have a profound impact on . the future .
After all these accomplishments, at age 65, he was ready to give the official start signal to a pharaonic project that
In the Amazon
At that time, the Brazilian forest had ceased to be what it was from 1879 to 1912, when it controlled the rubber trade at at a when this rubbery gold reigned over the world .
The industries of North America and Europe were insatiable, and the trees Hevea brasiliensis originating in the Amazon basin, were growing wild in the rainforest, keeping in their trunks a milky latex producing rubber The highest quality of the planet.
But explorer Henry Wickham managed to take thousands of seeds from this precious tree, which eventually could be made as never before in the Amazonian jungle: Hevea brasiliensis .
The rubber trade pbaded into the hands of what was still the British empire.
In 1928, the Amazonian region – which used to produce 95% of the rubber tree in the world – satisfied only 2.3% of world demand .
The news that Henry Ford came to reactivate the troubled economy and introduce a new way of life could not be more welcomed by the inhabitants of northern Brazil.
The New Empire against the Ancients
For its part, the American tycoon had planned his plan with the intention of producing his own source of rubber, necessary for the manufacture of tires and reels such as valves, hoses and seals
In the 1920s, the Ford Motor Company controlled virtually all the raw materials used in the manufacture of cars, from glbad to wood, going through the iron.
But the rubber was controlled by the Europeans who produced it in their colonies and he did not like the fact that they were the ones who set the prices.
That is why, 90 years ago, two merchant ships loaded with equipment and furniture sailed on the Tapajós River, the only access road to reach the 110 000 square kilometers in which, shortly after mooring, found Fordlandia .
Ford's Vision
However, Ford was not just a skillful businessman; was also famous for his ideas .
On the one hand, he was one of the most prominent anti-Semites of his time and he clearly explained it in his journal and other writings, as well as in his rules concerning the Jews who worked in his field.
On the other hand, it is attributed to what is called "Fordism", described as the mbad production of economic goods accompanied by high wages for the workers.
Indeed, in 1914, for example, he proclaimed that all Ford workers would receive a daily wage of US $ 5, the equivalent of US $ 126 today, doubling the minimum wage, then .
] For him, companies, for their own sake, had to make sure that their employees could pay for the products they manufactured, in order to stimulate consumption. If higher wages could temporarily reduce earnings, they would earn more in the long run and the economy would be more sustainable.
Ford was convinced that the values that had made his business a success would improve his character. populations everywhere else on the planet.
Planting his ideal
Fordlandia's plan was detailed.
Ford grew up on a farm and, as many, nostalgic made him believe that there was nothing better than the people of the Midwestern United States.
It was once possible to build, with a grid design, concrete roads lit by lamps, prefabricated Michigan homes and organized in a neighborhood called Villa Americana for Americans – with running water – and another for the natives. .
In addition, a community pool, hospitals, schools, generators, a sawmill, a water tower, as well as shops, restaurants and even a theater, where Hollywood films are shown and dances. 19659002] And of course, a rubber factory .
The form and content of
But aspirations for Fordlândia covered much more.
disenchanted with the crude society that he came out of that industrial capitalism that he had himself helped to create, Ford dreamed of building a place consistent with his ideals .
Although the workers offered a good salary, in addition to housing, health and free education, they had to stick to what their owner considered " American values ".
This meant working hours of 9 to 5, as in Detroit, even though the heat of the Amazon imposed other beats, even behavioral buildings, including a strict right prohibition of alcoholic beverages.
With hobbies, the focus was on gardening, golf and all those who wanted to dance, I could do it, provided that it was country dances of quartets.
This cultural transplant is at the root of many of the problems that plagued Fordlandia during its 17-year career.
Epic Adventure, Epic Failure
The battle was tough on many fronts.
There were frequent uprisings of workers including one in December 1930 in which the management had to escape by boat and appeal to the owner of the Pan Am airline to take one of his airplanes Brazilian military personnel in the region.
American administrators, on the other hand, did not prove to be ideal either: their poor knowledge of everything around them – especially of agriculture – led them to make serious mistakes [19459052] ]. jpg ” clbad=”img img-responsive image-large”/>
In the first two years, the city had many directors. Some could not adapt to the conditions in the Amazon and suffered from nervous breakdowns. There was one who drowned in the river in the middle of a storm and another who left after three of his sons died of tropical fever.
The jungle also caused casualties among Brazilian workers who came to perform the show. The dream of the American tycoon .
And the plantations suffer the same fate as those that many others have tried to create on these lands.
The climate that made trees bloom also favored pests and diseases that had evolved with the tree for millennia. Planting in monoculture fields made them more vulnerable to infestation.
Although production is better in another plantation called Belterra, what Ford served mainly in Brazil was to house American soldiers during the Second World War.
In 1945, the Americans ended up packing and returning home leaving ghosts behind.
Although never entered Fordlandia Ford invested nearly two decades and a fortune in his Amazonian dream
He wanted to tame industrial capitalism and the invincible invincible but overestimated his strength.
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