The Answer Was in The Dipstick!

“There’s a reason for the mass exodus from Democrat-run states that have mismanaged their economies and driven residents to the nearest Republican-led state.” —White House Spokesman Harrison Fields

By Robin Itzler

Editor's Note:  This is one of the commentaries selected from Robin's weekly newsletter Patriot Neighbors, with some additions from me.  Any cartoons will have been added by me.  If you wish to get the full edition, E-mail her at PatriotNeighbors@yahoo.com to get on her list, it's free.

As Nazi Germany marched goosestep across Europe, they forced conquered countries and their private companies to give their raw materials to the brutal Third Reich to support Germany’s wartime manufacturing needs.   Remember, France surrendered, and was a conquered nation.

Company owners and executives who refused were sent to death camps or shot without trial. Yet, there were many courageous men and women who devised subtle ways to hurt Nazi Germany.   Citroen had to build vehicles for the Nazis, but, what did French vehicle manufacturer Citroen do during the occupation? Sabotage the dipstick!

France fell in June 1940, following the nonstop Nazi blitzkrieg. Almost immediately, one of France’s largest automotive manufacturers (then and now) was pressed into serving the Third Reich. However, Pierre-Jules Boulanger, the president of Citroen, did not want to help Nazis achieve their vile goals. But if he refused, he would be replaced or shot, and the vehicles would still be built for Hitler’s Nazi military machine.

Boulanger’s ingenious solution was very simple. He made sure all the Citroen vehicles produced for the Third Reich had the notch on the dipstick lowered. This made the Germans believe they needed less oil to run the car or truck. Since it took a while for the vehicles to fail, German authorities assumed it had to do with wartime activity, not Citroen sabotage.  A gutsy move on his part since that's not something he could have achieved on his own, and the only secrets that are safe are those that aren't shared.  He could have been exposed any time during the war, and he would have been shot, along with anyone who aided him. 

When France was liberated by the Allies, Citroen immediately corrected the dipstick notation to show the correct level of oil needed to keep the cars and trucks running at maximum potential.  Boulanger saw the issue at a foundational level.  It was an issue of grasping "the basics", and acting accordingly.

Definition leads to clarity, and clarity leads to understanding, and make no mistake,  it really is all about "the basics", and it's time we started seeing things clearly, and promptly start ignoring the "experts".  You know, the people who got us into the mess we're now in.   

See problems at their foundational level, and the problems will then be defined, and clarified. Once that happens solutions become obvious.  Applying them will require bold initiatives, guts, and the willingness to be abused by those who will resist fixes with every once of strength they have.  But that doesn't change the fact the answers still lie in understanding "it's all about the basics", in Citroen's case, the answer was in the dipstick.