Lots of people hail Henry Ford as a hero of the working class cause he raised wages and reduced hours. But it’s important to remember that while he did take that positive step forward, he also tried to walk it back during the Great Depression.
He raised the wages of his workers first to $5 an hour, then to $7. This was during a time when entry level grunts were lucky to make $2 an hour. He also reduced the workweek from 6 days a week with 12 hour days to the modern 40 work week with a 2 day weekend. But when business started going bad, he tried to lower it again to $4. He employed work-place police and encouraged them to use violence to keep folks in line and discourage talks of unions. Everyone knows that the road to hell is paved with good intentions, but Ford demonstrated that the road to heaven can be paved with bad intentions. Selfishness, once tempered with intelligence, leads to virtue. Ford had some smart moments, but he died an idiot, and his whole life he was a judgmental and cruel bastard. He helped other people cause it was good for business, and only for a limited time.
For a few years, Henry Ford was an evil genius in the sense that he realized that if he helped other people, he would benefit. But that didn’t last long, and in the end, he died the way most rich people live. Not evil geniuses. Just evil.