I am one of those consumers who are not completely knowledgeable, and I don't think I'm qualified to have a weighty opinion. However, I do think that "global issues" have to include getting enough clean water to drink without buying it in bottles, assuming you have the money to pay for it; and that "sustainability" has to include manufacturing quality products. As to John Deere, the farmers I know are buying Kubotas after discovering that the price of a Deere plus the cost of continual repairs and downtime is much more than what a Kubota costs. All that said, I'd be interested in a larger treatment of the Ford model. I know about paying your workers enough to buy your products. But I don't know anything more than that about the model.