Made in America

[kfclark]

Jobs in America

Joe Smith started the day early having set his alarm clock (MADE IN JAPAN) for 6 am. While his coffeepot (MADE IN CHINA) was perking, he shaved with his electric razor (MADE IN HONG KONG). He put on a dress shirt (MADE IN SRI LANKA) , designer jeans (MADE IN SINGAPORE) and tennis shoes ( MADE IN KOREA). After cooking his breakfast in his new electric skillet (MADE IN INDIA) he sat down with his calculator (MADE IN MEXICO) to see how much he could spend today. After setting his watch (MADE IN TAIWAN) to the radio (MADE IN INDIA) he got in his car (MADE IN GERMANY) filled it with GAS (FROM SAUDIA ARABIA) and continued his search for a good paying AMERICAN JOB. At the end of yet another discouraging and fruitless day checking his Computer (MADE IN MALAYSIA...WITH TECHNICAL SUPPORT IN INDIA) , Joe decided to relax for a while. He put on his sandals (MADE IN BRAZIL) poured himself a glass of wine (MADE IN FRANCE!) and turned on his TV (MADE IN INDONESIA), and then wondered why he can't find a good paying job in.. AMERICA ......

[kdfrawg]

I think that may be a question we should be asking the administration, the congress, and the big corporations, without which almost none of that would be a problem. Well, to be fair, maybe we should take a whack at our voting habits and our spending habits. They didn't just do it to us. We asked them do it to us. As a nation, we keep voting for people who make this sort of policy and we keep spending our money in a way that elevates the concept of cheap above all else. If we weren't doing that on a consistent basis, furnaces would still be made in Milwaukee and Walmart would have one store in Arkansas.

[flo]

what's real disheartening is to see the tag say "made in india from American material" - what's wrong with this picture  Next time you sit in your lazy boy recliner - check and see if it was made in america.  Their factory at Neosho Mo. a few years ago decided it was cheaper to have the parts made over seas, shipped back here and "assembled" by americans. 

[frawin]

Americans can thank that very thinking for the higher price of gasoline. China and India are the fast growing consumers of Oil/Gasoiline Diesel in the world. America gave them the jobs and now they have the money for automobiles and that means demand for gasoline.
Frank

[kdfrawg]

That is a fairly common business practice these days. "Offshore" equates with "cheaper" in the eyes of corporations, so they send all of the jobs there. Then, somehow, when those goods get back here for sale, a lot of them are not very cheap. Try to find a decent pair of sneakers that was not made in Asia. Try to find a decent pair of sneakers that costs less that $50. What is wrong with that picture? Often, it turns out that "cheaper" only applies to what the corporations spend, not what we spend.

One result of all this is the huge lie of how well America is doing financially. If you look at it, wages have declined steeply. All of the skilled jobs are now done in Mexico or China. Non-wealthy Americans can afford less and less. But CEO's are making big money. Michael Vick is making big money. The stock market is making big money. Unfortunately, that has absolutely nothing to do with us.

[flo]

I'm part of the "unfortunately" crowd

[kdfrawg]

Boy, Flo, me too. And I would guess that there are very few million-dollar aslaries among our membership, or huge stock portfolios, or any other similar thing. We're just us, and I am actually pretty darned happy about that.

[dandymomma]

I have to toot my company horn for a second.

I work for Northwest Metal Products in Fife, WA. We make and distribute AMERICAN made products, from AMERICAN steel, to AMERICAN wholesalers.

[kdfrawg]

That's one.



Actually, I'm glad your company is there.

[kdfrawg]

Here's a bit of information about Walmart and this issue.

http://letters.wakeupwalmart.com/dia/organizationsCOM/wakeup/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=1914