Letter to the Editor
American jobs
Published Thursday, October 22, 2009
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To the editor:
Chinese food is great. Of course, I can’t eat it too often because it is bad for my cholesterol. I would hate to die of a heart attack with an egg roll in my hand. Everyone loves Chinese stuff — just look at the lines at Wal-Mart.
I don’t want to be a Wal-Mart basher. Other stores sell a lot of imported goods, and everything isn’t from China. They are just trying to maximize profit.
I remember in the 1980s when Wal-Mart was younger. Their motto was “buy American.” They proudly advertised that they offered products made in the USA. They even put a big American flag tag on items made in the USA. That was before Sam Walton died. I guess his kids decided it is better to maximize profits than support American jobs.
I shouldn’t point the finger because I, too, am guilty of buying the least-expensive product without considering where it was manufactured.
But I am reforming. I have resolved to take extra time while shopping to find products made in the USA, even if they aren’t cheapest. Many people don’t know it, but we have had huge trade deficits during the past 30 years. It’s OK to run a deficit occasionally, but since 2000, we’ve had annual trade deficits of more than $350 billion. This year, it is more than $524 billion and growing (much of it oil).
The falling dollar will help the imbalance, but we are the people who can really help. We can buy American. We can make a serious effort to check labels and buy American-made products. We can support businesses that sell American-made products. We can encourage the businesses we patronize to stock American-made products.
If you would like to learn about how to buy American-made products, a quick Google search will yield ample information. I still will eat Chinese food. I might even die with an egg roll in my hand, but I will do my best to make sure another American job doesn’t die while I push a cart full of Chinese goods to the checkout.
Community Discussion
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Amen Mike, amen!
sometimes there is no choice. Look around your house now. What is not made in China? Its not Walmarts fault, although they are very big! Santa Claus House, most of that stuff is made in China. Thats too bad too.
There's rarely anything left that is still made in America. KitchenAide mixers still are, as is Lodge cast iron cookware, but I challenge you to find many items for your kitchen that are made in the western hemisphere, much less for your whole house.
CSA's are one way to keep the money local, so to speak. Farmer's markets and holiday bazaars too... but who wants to pay near-double for stuff like soap and candles when you're struggling to heat your home or find a job?
"I'm living in America, at the end of the Millennium..."
Good luck in your search Mike. I think when you start looking at tags you're going to find it difficult, to the point of near impossibility, to find the things you need daily that are actually made in this country. Even a lot of the food at the grocery stores comes from other countries (hope you're not a vegetarian!)
Way, way, way back when, when Detroit was going through the last major crises with auto industry and people were assaulting owners of foreign cars, I was shopping for a new truck and I made the conscious decision to "Buy American". I bought a Chevy S-10 and imagine my surprise and disgust (at the hypocrisy) that it had a Nissan engine!
I think it is a noble thought and we should all support American workers whenever possible but the fact is - THE FACT IS - we are no longer the manufacturing monolith we once were. The vast majority of products we use every day, are simply NOT MADE in the United States.
Wasn't NAFTA a great idea? Yeah, sure it was...
http://www.historycentral.com/Documents/...
Where was you when NAFTA and all the open our doors to slave labor
trade treaties was being pushed through by dems and repbs that allowed
american companies to move overseas and build their products with
slave labor and sell it here for american prices. The big corporate
interests have sold the country to the cheapest labor they could
find in the world and many of you stood by and cheered for free
enterprise. Now we have hardly anything made in america anymore
and you have finally woke up to whats happened. Your a bit late!!
Of course you can always blame it on the unions or obama and keep
cheering for those who have destroyed our economy.
The truth is that there is no incentive to manufacture goods or employ people in the United States anymore. The risks are far too high. We pay the second highest corporate tax (soon to be raised another 4.9%) to a mega-bureaucracy run by a tax cheat -- who claims that he failed to pay taxes because he couldn't understand the tax code!!!
Obama, get a frickin' clue!
Buy American unless our product is inferior, or, we just don't make it. That is how we did it in the old days, when imports were cool. Back then, you imported stuff because we just didn't have it available here, not because it was the cheapest piece of junk on the market.
One out of six Americans are unemployed. The number of people living in this country in poverty is at one of the highest levels in history. So much for buying anything. At the rate this country is going, how long before Americans begin to migrate to other countries to find employment. Americans have learned to buy what they can afford and the sorry fact is , it is nothing manufactured in this country. Heck even the rich (who can afford to buy) buy their clothes made in sweat shops in the US staffed by illegals and run by foreign designers. Buying American does not mean you are buying goods made by Americans.
About 100 years ago, the United States was the China of its time, producing tons of goods at cheap prices for the rest of the world. Other countries came along and did the same thing - remember when it seemed that every cheap gadget was made in Japan? I wouldn't worry about China - there's a lot of hungry people in India and Malaysia and South Africa just waiting to undermine the Chinese when it comes to producing cheaply manufactured goods.
Speaking for myself, I live so far off the road system that much of my food and building materials comes from the land around me. Of course, the mill to turn the logs into lumber and the chain saw come from all over the world.
The Chinese are having their moment. It will pass.
What happens if China calls in on their loan to the United States? And then they determine that they really need room for people, rather than money? What if they want, let's say, Alaska? Or even New Hamphsire? What happens then?
Prior to NAFTA, the U.S. levied import taxes on goods manufactured overseas, in part to protect U.S. manufacturers. Those import taxes kept the playing field (prices for similar products manufactured inside vs. outside the U.S.) relatively level. However, due to the cry of foreign Gov'ts, as well as NAFTA, those import taxes are either greatly decreased or all but gone. U.S. manufacturers found they now had to compete directly with foreign manufacturers who had significantly lower overhead costs, primarily due to wages and benefits, but also because in some (many? most?) cases foreign manufacturers were producing a much inferior product. Had U.S. shoppers cared about the quality of the products they were purchasing, or about supporting their fellow countrymen, it might not have ever been much of an issue. But as we all know, that's not the way the money in our pockets work. Most of us want (or need) to stretch our income as far as we can, and as that product made overseas appears just as shiny as the American made product and was lower priced, we ignored the rest of the equation.
While Wal*Mart has helped keep prices low for American shoppers, due to it's own internal policies it has been a very large contributor to the move of U.S. maufacturering overseas. A couple of interesting reads regarding Wal*Mart and the role it's played in U.S. manufacturing are "Wal-Mart: The Bully of Bentonville", by Anthony Bianco, and "The Wal-Mart Effect" by Charles Fishman.
Both authors give Wal*Mart credit where credit is due (and it IS due some genuine credit for keeping prices low) but also expose Wal*Mart internal policies that have hurt U.S. maufacturers and have contributed to the U.S. manufacturing situation (or lack thereof) that we now find ourselves in.
Personally, I rarely shop at Sam's Club, and will only shop at the local Wal*Mart if I can't find what I'm looking for elsewhere. You can still find American made products at Sam's (I just bought some tube socks with a big ol' "American Made" sign on the package), but you have to look for them.
I'd suggest picking up either one or both of the above books and reading them. It's always good to be an informed shopper.
Mike,
I like the letter. I too will start looking at labels closer, since I am one of the guilty ones.
I'm all for buying products that say Made in the USA. My wife and I do that all the time but shopping locally and buying Made in the USA at the same time is difficult.
Don't forget many of the goods we buy from other countries are in fact manufactured by American companies who have taken the jobs elsewhere for the lower wages and in some cases easier access to materials and lack of environmental or worker protections.
But, the real reason we have such huge trade deficits is oil. We can't buy more than half of our oil from other nations like Canananada and Mexico and ever think of smaller trade deficits. And if you think we can drill baby drill our way out of this predicament I've got a bridge I'd like to sell you.
The only way to solve this in the near future seems to be conservation. Until we move to another fuel source like hydrogen we will be stuck in the situation we have now. Funny how the words conservation and conservative are so close yet so far apart.
Ever read the labels in Fred Myers and other stores, most of their stuff is made outside the US also, so your thinking by not shopping in Walmart makes a difference, is really not so bright. By the way, made in America, doesn't mean the fabric that made those socks came from this country nor that the company is American.
During/after WW2 America was fortunate enough to not have our manufacturing base destroyed. Japan, Mexico, Germany, China, Russia, and others were willing to start anew. Automation in manufacturing took most of the manual labor away. Eventually the only way American manufacturers could compete was on the turf of our enemies. We have been over run by immigrants. Most of us are lazy and will not work difficult, labor intense jobs. We also have pages of regulations to comply with, whether good or bad.
Even if it was not Walmart, it would have been Kmart or Costco or another retail entity.
Oh and I may be wrong but I thought NAFTA was the North American Free Trade Act and did not have anything to do with China. It only affected trade with Mexico and our friends the Canananandians.
Read the books I posted above and you'll get a clearer picture of what I meant.
FreeDarfur - of course many/most of the products sold elsewhere are made overseas. I look at labels, I know where goods are manufactured, and in general I know what I'm buying.
But Fred Meyer's, at least that I'm aware of, doesn't have corporate policies that mirror Wal-Marts. As for the socks, there was an American worker involved in the process of manufacturing them. In my book, that's better than buying a product produced 100% overseas. Again, read the books, as I'll not try here to rewrite what those authors have already penned.
Taters - that is exactly what NAFTA is. But NAFTA is simply another symptom of a skewed system that leaves U.S. workers out of the equation. Look at the massive number of U.S. manufacturers that built plants in Mexico and then shut down their U.S. plants. It's almost all about labor costs. Again, read the books. Get informed. Then make decisions on where you want to shop.
My Toyota was manufactured in the United States.
If I'd bought a Ford instead, I would have bought a truck built in Mexico.
So much for xenophobia.
Chinese people have to eat to.
BTW: I recall Wal-Mart getting popped for mislabeling foreign-made goods as "Made in the USA." I don't remember now precisely when it happened, but I believe it was before old Sam moved his base of operations up to that great bargain shopping center in the sky.
"Chinese people have to eat to."
Yeah, and these days, quite a few of them grab their lunch at McDonald's.
Give it up, gang. Globalization is here to stay.
Cheering your message Mike. You think it's bad here, check the port authority in Boston. The man in charge is from China, earns about 1 million a year and 80% of the cargo into Boston harbor comes from China. China manages the Panama Canal.
China is a global threat.
One China "model for the world"
Want American jobs? Buy Made in America!
I think I own one of the last 7-1/4" worm drive Skillsaw's that was made in the USA. It went for around $165 or so. I was in Home Depot and saw the exact same model, exact same saw which said "made in China" on it and it had the same $165 price tag on it as well. My point here is if it is so much cheaper to make things in China why doesn't the price reflect that? If they were struggling with overpaid workers and environmental expenses here in the USA then why not a lower price now that they can exploit their workers and dump their crap into the atmosphere and rivers?
It is so disappointing to see such economic illiteracy.
Ask any economist (they can be liberal Paul Krugman or libertarian Milton Friedman), and they will tell you that it foreign goods are NOT a threat to the economy in the aggregate.
A trade deficit is nothing more than an inflow of capital. It is not a deficit in the classical sense. It does not require to be paid down nor does it accumulate into a debt. If you go buy a gallon of milk at the grocery store and give the cashier $3, you now have a $3 trade deficit with that grocery store. Is that a bad thing? No, because you both are better off at the end of the day because of that mutually agreed upon trade.
Before taking a stance on such a heavy weight economic issue, please read what the economists who study this issue actually have to say. Ignorance may be bliss, but there is nothing to respect about it.
If free trade is bad, then how come our standard of living has only continued to sky rocket over the past few decades?
http://newsminer.com/news/2009/jun/10/un...
BTW, Mr. Shay, it's OK to be a Wal-Mart basher. Bashing Wal-Mart is always fun.
http://www.peopleofwalmart.com/
"If free trade is bad, then how come our standard of living has only continued to sky rocket over the past few decades?"
I am not a great economist here but could our great standard of living of late be temporary in nature with a lifespan of a few dozen years? Could the effects of the gradual moving the jobs overseas and the huge profits generated in the markets finally be catching up with us? Outsourcing and offshoring was a massive shift that didn't happen suddenly 20 years ago but rather slowly happened over a period of years. Quite possibly the full effect of that shift overseas has had a delay factor which could just be beginning to hit with the housing market etc. It is possible that it has created an imbalance in the system that didn't have an instant result but now that it has had a few years to filter through the economy we find that one of the pillars if our prior economy, a strong middle class, has been weakened and now the full weight is bearing down on that weakened pillar.
We have a Wal-Mart? Oh,Thats right, connected to that new liquor store!
There are many products at Walmart that are made in America too, and Walmart is an American owned company, if you don't want to buy an import you don't have to and you don't have to boycott Walmart either you can just buy the slightly more expensive version of the same product, try actually going to a Walmart and comparing labels instead of repeating biased news articles in your letters to the editor.
Walmart sells the same stuff as Fred Myer and Safeway, why don't you pick on them too?
It has been much more difficult to even determine where many products are made. This was never a problem in the past, companies that manufactured in the USA had that logo proudly displayed, something much more rarely seen nowadays. Laws also required that imports have their country of manufacture listed. Many still do but some don't even bother because nobody seems to care anymore I guess.
Really it's not hard to read a label, it's not, I don't know who would have such a problem but there are many willing to testify that it's imposible, like tying your shoes or doudle checking the fine print (few whiners think to read fine print)
If you can read and think you can look at the back of the label and see where it's made.
"If you can read and think you can look at the back of the label and see where it's made."
Okay, I guess I did not make myself clear gbob. My point is that they DON'T LABEL THE COUNTRY of manufacture on many products anymore. Comprendo?
Americaisgreat123,
It is true that a trade deficit is not always bad. It is also true that even though we are running a trade deficit, we are still selling more and more overseas. The problem is that we are buying more than we sell and the imbalance is growing. It is very simple minded to read my message as trade is bad.
You said:
"A trade deficit is nothing more than an inflow of capital. It is not a deficit in the classical sense. It does not require to be paid down nor does it accumulate into a debt."
A trade deficit is an outflow of capital not an inflow. An inflow of capital is good for us. A net outflow can only be sustained for a limited amount of time before the wealth is gone. Ask any economist what happens when a country ships its wealth overseas for an extended period of time. That country will soon be owned by the foreigners. A trade deficit means that we are sending more money out, than we are taking in. We can only do this for a limited amount of time.
Our standard of living may not be rising as fast as you think. I submit that a large part of that rise has to do with:
1. the fact that we can buy cheaper imports
2. The fact that the government is borrowing a huge amount of money rather than asking us to pay as we go.
3. Years of easy credit (with which people bought a bunch of imported goods).
4. Inflated home values (which are falling now, along with the standard of living for many people)
Ask an unemployed American or individuals loosing their homes how much their standard of living is increasing.
http://news.goldseek.com/GoldSeek/125622...
Also, I never said anyone shouldn't shop at Wal Mart, I said we should encourage them, and other venders we use, to carry American made products.
make your own.
After all of this talk, I think I'm going to the Pagoda tonight.
yes but you will be hungry again in an hour?
why not go for real Amerikan, Alaskan food?
"Walmart sells the same stuff as Fred Myer and Safeway, why don't you pick on them too?"
Because at Wal-Mart, it's all about the customers.
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_nQZLOCqglvA/SR...
Went to the Pagoda the other night.Ordered the "Chicken Suprise".My wife reached for the pot and the lid rose up,two little eyes peered out at us.Called the waiter over and explained.He said,"I so sorry! I think you order Peeking Duck." Don't forget to vote!
I started to buy foreign in 1972 with the purchase of a Honda car. I hac previously owned cars from GM, Ford and Chrysler all of which came with defects. I was pleasantly surprised when the Honda had none. Part of the problem is that we had given up on the idea of quality and service. Part Union and part management problem. I haven't given up on American made now owning Japanese Korean and Chrysler products. I will continue to buy quality rather than point of origin.
I comprehend. I also make a conscious effort to read labels on everyday stuff I use and appearantly you're buying completely different items than the one's I buy, most of the generic brands at Walmart DO have a country of origin on the back, if you really looked into it for yourself you'd know that.
One of the cable news ch. had a story about legalized medical pot.
They showed what could be found for sale in a Colorado Pot shop.... the stuff was all imported!
---- Christmas is coming up.. most toys and Christmas paraphernalia is made in China.
Why, because no one can afford to make it in America's of taxation (federal state local), wages (union/non mandatory cash health benefits), energy (gas/electricity), environmental laws.
The above has caused millions of workers to be replaced by bots. High union labor coasts are forcing numerous local governments nation wide to out source work to India.
-------
The was a email picture of Hiroshima in 1945 vs today. Completely rebuilt ultra modern.
Detroit today looks like Hiroshima did in 1945!
After 50 years of Democrat control. The auto industry is no more; and, it has been replaced by Government Motors which will shortly turn out "Ugo" electric cars.
Don't believe me? Ok. Next time you see an adv for an electric car, figure out far it will go on one charge! [Hint 1 Kwh per mile. Current batteries hold 8 Kwh]
Oh, Lemon Tree.. Oh, Lemon Tree! This one is being watered/ fertilized with your tax money.
Its greed simple greed that will be the death of the USA if it happens. We didn't loose Our country we lost our government by letting the lobbyist take over. They just do the bidding for whoever pays them the most. The banking industry has 5 lobbyist for every congressman. The insurance industry has 6 lobbyist for every congressman. It is greed pure and simple.
We as American working class make the same today as Our working class parents made when adjusted for inflation. Most families these days have both parents working just to stay afloat and to stay middle class. The middle class has shrunk and continues to shrink. The upper one percent of Americas wealthy (The Wealthiest of the the rich) own 23 percent of the entire wealth. 1% has 23%. Its heading in the wrong direction and its pure greed. We are destroying ourselves from within. Trickle down economics never worked and never will.
[quoting]What happens if China calls in on their loan to the United States? And then they determine that they really need room for people, rather than money? What if they want, let's say, Alaska? Or even New Hamphsire? What happens then?[quotation]
Those who fail to study history are destined to repeat it. "What happens then" might well be a repeat of the Scots Highland Clearances, in which people were uprooted in order to make way for more valuable sheep. One of the results of the clearances was a prevalence of Scots surnames on all continents of the earth, as the displaced refugees sought new homes.
Meanwhile, it is an interesting twist of fate that I drive an "American" Dodge truck manufactured in Mexico, and a "foreign" Toyota automobile built in Georgetown, KY.
Slick Willy Clinton and his cronies sold out America's manufacturing base, and replaced America with America Inc.
You can tell people in Fairbanks don't have a reality of how the lower 48 is impacted by the current economy. Talk to people in other States and you will begin to realize how lucky this community really is. Talk to clerks in Walmart. Home Depot Loews, etc who have accepted transfers to Fairbanks because where they were working in the lower 48 the employees have literally become part time employees. The elephant in the living room is the fact that the current average work week in the US is 32 hours. People will shop where they can get the best deal for their dollar and considering the economy, if they can get it at Walmart so be it. While CEO's who took billions in bailouts are now getting $19 million rather than $38 million in a bonus, why should the person who is trying to buy their kids Christmas presents at Walmart feel any quilt because it was not made in the US. Seems the CEO's have no guilt for taking tax payers money and then getting millions in a yearly bonus. get your priorities in line.
That person shouldn't feel guilt for getting the best deal for their family. But if they are in a store shopping, they can look at labels and choose the American product whenever possible.
I might be able to buy all the things I need from US manufactures but as an indidivual I can't afford to have them shipped here. We are limited to what is available and as many have pointed out, many local stores carry the same products.
Some things just aren't made here so we must use imports. But we can actively look for products that support jobs in the US. I could not afford to buy an American product at double the cost, but I could pay 20 cent or a few dollars depending on the product. Common sense has to apply.
We can be active supporters of American jobs.
Is the computer you are posting on made in the USA?
One way to look at it...about 50% of your $$ spent on Chinese products stays in the USA.
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