:16:02
Just when things were looking bleak,
Ronald Reagan arrived in Flint...
:16:06
and took a dozen unemployed workers
out for a pizza.
:16:10
He told them he had a great idea.
If they tried it, they'd all be working again.
:16:14
He suggested that maybe some of us...
:16:16
could find better jobs elsewhere...
:16:19
like in Texas, or in the southern states.
:16:23
That's when I spoke up...
:16:25
because I have a son, a home.
:16:28
I'm trying to do it by myself. I can't just
pull up stakes and take off by myself.
:16:32
We don't hold public office,
we're nobody special...
:16:35
but he wanted our opinions and views.
:16:37
It was at a level I could understand,
and I liked his ideas...
:16:42
that he voiced to us.
:16:47
None of Reagan's luncheon guests
got back into the factory in later years.
:16:51
The only bright spot of the whole affair...
:16:53
was the individual who borrowed
the restaurant's cash register...
:16:56
on the way out the door.
:17:09
Meanwhile, Flint's more fortunate were
holding their annual Great Gatsby Party...
:17:13
at the home
of one of GM's founding families.
:17:16
To show they weren't totally insensitive
to the plight of others...
:17:19
they hired local people
to be human statues at the party.
:17:31
What's it like in Flint these days?
:17:34
Things are tough here
for the people that are laid off.
:17:37
There's still people working.
:17:39
I don't think it's as bad
as people may believe.
:17:44
We started something,
and we're gonna finish it.
:17:46
- We're gonna be the leaders.
- What did we start?
:17:49
We started the industrial revolution...
:17:51
an art form that's never been created
in the history of mankind.
:17:55
- What was that industrial revolution?
- The cars. Steel.
:17:59
It took off from there.
We invented the wheel again.