One picture of what happenned to “Made in America”…
Posted by MJ on March 23, 2008
The other day for no good reason I found myself in a Ollie’s Bargain Outlet “Good Stuff Cheap” and snapped a picture of this sign that was displayed there.
Yes, this sign was meant to be a joke but it did get me thinking. What ever happened to made in America? I remember in the 80’s the TV commercials promoting people to buy American and logos on products proudly stating made in the USA. Local small companies will still promote made in America but corporate America has gone global enabled by free but not fair trade agreements and so is to busy destroying unions and outsourcing jobs to China to really care. It’s sad to think about really…
Maybe when the Presidential candidates are talking about their plans to help the economy they should focus more on the this concept of “Made in America” which what I mean by is job creation with good wages and benefits here once again. I would call it a people centric approach rather then a big business centric one. Band-aid programs like the tax rebate plan does nothing but allow more mindless consumption that does not really help fix the root problems in our economy.
THIS POST WAS EDITED FOR CLARITY ON 3/29.
p3bfco said
I have an answer to Buy American. Buy USED! All the money stays here!
All kidding aside, I am concerned with the erosion of industry in this country. Many people say that the industrial age is old news and has been replaced with the information age. That me be so, but I have not yet seen a war won on a laptop.
We must maintain the ability to maintain ourselves. That means food, clothing, energy and equipment. Without it we will become (and are becoming) a “third world” nation.
At the rate of change the two new superpowers will be China and India with the new Russia as a close third.
Want to bring back industry into the US. Get the government out of the businessman’s pocket and out of his boardroom.
Rick
MJ "revoltingpawn" said
P3bfco…
While I agree with your comment not so sure about your “solution”.
Over the last 20 years we have seen the deregulation on many industries so the government has been getting out of the way of business. What have we got in return? Mortgage and housing crises, tax breaks to move production overseas, free trade agreements and not “fair” trade, corporate scandal after scandal and now a looming recession.
The businessman’s pocket book has been seeing record profits so see no problem there. The problem is corporate America keeps selling us out for a few bucks. Let’s get back to supporting small business, labor, and our infrastructure for future growth and stop pandering to corporate interests that are not ours.
ChenZhen said
…and buy a Ford or GM product lol
wickle said
BAH!
Deregulation is a big part of what helped companies move overseas! By calling anyone who supported trade standards a protectionist, retailers and their lobbyists have managed to force manufacturers overseas.
Wal Mart is a particular offender, having built its reputation as a good-ol’-American (TM) company, it then started forcing manufacturers overseas deliberately.
While I realize that I’m treading dangerously close to turning Lefty lately, the real answer here is for an ethical change: away from profit-means-righteousness to, well, right.
The people calling for deredulation are the same ones who said that Most Favored Nation status for China would bring democracy to the Chinese people. How’s that been working, do you think?
Maybe we should ask a Tibetan monk.
p3bfco said
I personally lean toward isolationism rather than globalism. I believe in taking care of America first.
To understand what is going on today you must understand what went on in the 1800’s.
We were the leader in the industrial revolution. Why? Because business was regulated to make it “fair”? No – rather the government had a hands off approach to business. Business, large and small boomed and we developed the greatest standard of living known to man. Sure, there were the robber barons, but there was also the establishment of the middle class. Something unheard of 100 years earlier and something in danger of extinction today.
Today, you can’t do anything that is not regulated and or taxed. Government has not removed itself from business, it has forced businesses offshore with its incessant regulations and overbearing taxes.
One quick fix…. Enact the Fair Tax http://WWW.FAIRTAX.ORG and watch manufacturing jobs pour back into the country.
Rick
MJ "revoltingpawn" said
P3bfco…
You seem to be mixing a couple of concepts together as one – taxes, trade, and regulation
Your fair tax just addresses the tax issue and you “lean toward isolationism” but against deregulation? They would seem to oppose each other. To stop globalism you would have to regulate what corporate America can do.
You seem to not understand the fundamental reason businesses are moving overseas. It is not taxes but cheap labor that is the main driving force. We need to encourage (enforced thru trade agreements) other industrial nations to adopt standards in areas of labor, environmental, and regulation to level the playing field.
The industrial revolution was great but what happened in the end? Government keep their hands off and the corporations came about which turned into monopolies. The end result was the depression. That was the reason for regulation but we now are again in deregulation mode. What do we see now? Corporate America out of control and not acting in our best interests and the worst recession in memory looming.
You are living in the past and manufacturing jobs will never be the base of our economy again, sorry.
Isolationism is not viable anymore but not that it ever was. There is a whole world out there and we need them as much as they need us. Many new challenges now face us all so we will need to all work together.
DB Reese said
I hear comments like force, strongly encourage, demand, I hear these and I wonder how it is we have gotten so far away from freedom.
China as a favored nation status was more than an error in judgement- where does that money train lead to?
Cheap labor is cheap labor, business’ are in business for making money, thats how they pay the salaries of those still in this country as well as their shareholders. Do you want the government to tell you how and where you can spend your money? No I dont either, but you’re bordering on doing that very thing.
Free trade has been great for the other countries hasn’t it? We allow their products to come in untaxed all the while countries like Japan still impose large tarriffs on Made in the US of A items. Fair and equal trade means just that and if the other countries do not want to live up to that agreement then I think that tarriffs should be levied against them.
Changing of the attitudes was menioned as well- now you’re talking my language, but who’s? We have come to expect or demand cheap goods and services, while also demanding higher wages- someones getting left out there. You can’t always get something for nothing, and as valuable as our time is to us I seriously doubt that someone is willing to pay us for nothing. See the circle trend there?
anyway great discussion.
DB
MJ "revoltingpawn" said
DB Reese…
Thanks for the comment and agreed with some of the points you raised but also was confused by some others.
“I hear comments like force, strongly encourage, demand, I hear these and I wonder how it is we have gotten so far away from freedom.”
Not sure how this statement was relevant to this discussion.
We seem to agree that we need fair trade as opposed to free trade and yes we should remove China’s most favored nation status but that will not happen. We are to indebted to China to the tune of billions of dollars that will only increase as the war in Iraq continues.
“Do you want the government to tell you how and where you can spend your money? No I dont (sic) either, but you’re bordering on doing that very thing.”
Not sure how you came to that statement? First of all, the government is for the people by the people and shouldn’t be forcing the people to do anything but this does not apply to corporate interests. Lets stop helping corporations outsource jobs by giving them tax breaks to move their manufacturings overseas for starts. Government does not need to force but simply encourage certain behaviors thru economic policy.
“We have come to expect or demand cheap goods and services, while also demanding higher wages- someones getting left out there.”
Thats why I said before… “We need to encourage (enforced thru trade agreements) other industrial nations to adopt standards in areas of labor, environmental, and regulation to level the playing field.” We need to rise the standard of living in other nations to ours instead of lower ours to meet them. This leads once again to focusing on people (labor) instead of corporate interests.
yankeestestsite said
Hi all,
Made in USA isn’t dead. There are people looking for products and there are still lots made in the USA. The problem is the big chain department stores don’t sell the stuff made by small business and manufacturers. So, if all you have to shop at is walmart, then your reality is, nothing is made in USA. I’ve created a website to help consumers find things Made in USA. If any one is interested they can visit the blog at http://www.madebyyankees.com and the Quick Query database at http://www.madebyyankees.net. We are underconstruction and making the website blend together and I have errors in the wordpress theme in the categories section, so please be forgiving. Also, if you know how to fix the errors please help because, I come from the COBOL & RPG programming error..
DB Reese said
Mj
I can see where some of my comments are more than ambiguous.
Encourage, enforce, demand are all relevant to the discussion I believe. Influencing or modifying behavior to get yours or anyone else’s desired results completely takes away or can take away a persons freedom of choice. Which leads to the second comment you quoted.
Corporate outsourcing is a problem in America for workers I will agree with you on that absolutely. But the tax breaks you speak of make it sound like the government is giving them money to move, which it is not. Money that is earned through the corporation (in sales to America) is still taxed, money earned in sales while overseas to other countries is not. The tax break they should get, if any, should be from keeping them here instead of letting them leave.
Encouraging other nations to standardize (essentially thats what you are saying) their labor markets with minimums on labor or labor practices get complicated and dicey at best. The line between demanding a global economy gets blurred, it is a crap deal for workers abroad to be sure. But understanding that the cost of living in many places is no where near that of ours puts it into a little better perspective. You mention leveling the playing field- we’ve put it so far out of reach for so many countries, industrial or otherwise, that the only way to do that is to lower our own standards. Everything from cost of living (that would be nice) to wages and real property prices would plumit sending the financial markets well past the point of return any time soon.
Sold our selves (was going to say souls) to China absolutely, or more to the point- while we weren’t really paying attention let them slip in under the radar and start buy billions in t-bills and it has expanded from there. Japan and Germany as well hold vast amounts of real property and securities in America.
Don’t get any of this wrong, I agree with you on the principle of America for Americans that I think you are trying to convey. I just think that demands on citizens and corporations to fix the problem that less than educated politicians got us in is not the way to approach it. Wide sweeping changes need to occur, yes sir. The place for that to start is at the trade table- what we CAN do is start electing officials who understand what has happened and how to fix it,,,,stop the useless banter on the campaign trails about crap most Americans do not agree with or want any way.
Hope that clarifies a little.
DB
Great topic and discussion by the way.
Victoria Tane said
I’m an artist who is dedicated to buying American goods whenever possible. In my endeavor to find an American made toaster oven for baking polymer clay, I spent over 3 hours on the internet. I wasn’t looking for the lowest price. I was willing to spend up to $200 as long as it was USA made. I typed in every permutation of American Made which took me to numerous websites featuring hundreds of toaster ovens. I had to scroll through pages of verbiage and in some cases even download user manuals to find that none of them were made in the USA — and that most of them were made in China. The closest I could find was one assembled in the USA of Chinese materials. I posted an ad on Craig’s List and on the local freecycle message board to no avail. I went to Salvation Army – no luck there either. On my trip to the kitchen and bath store I found one that was made in India and the rest were all made in China.
My partner had better luck when he put in a search for “hobby oven.” It took him to the QVC website which advertised a stainless steel craft oven, “MADE IN USA.” Several days later my oven arrived and when I turned the box over to check the country of origin, sure enough, there it was, “MADE IN CHINA.” Hoping perhaps that maybe only the box was made in China, I removed the oven and looked on the underside to see that it was also stamped “MADE IN CHINA.”
Having been a former vendor for QVC, who sold a product of my own invention, which, I manufactured in the USA, I was familiar with QVC’s meticulous quality control. Indeed their call letters stand for Quality Value and Convenience. Their shipping and receiving standards were so scrupulous that a vendor could incur a $500 chargeback for just placing the label on the wrong side of the box – and that was just the box! As a first time customer I looked forward to receiving the benefit of their diligence, thinking that if the product had the QVC imprimatur, I needed to look no further – but it was not to be. After working my way up the ladder of customer service representatives, I was told that it was likely a problem with the vendor not giving them the right information — also that the product was shipped directly from the manufacturer and not from QVC. The manufacturer later called me to say that he sold it to one of his distributors who sold it to QVC and there must have been some mix-up as the oven was made in China, shipped to the USA, where some “stuff was then done to it”, and then sent on.
I pointed out to the QVC service representative that it was QVC’s responsibility to get the correct information before they posted it on their website. Not only did I want to return the oven but I wanted them to replace it with one that was made in the USA. They registered my complaint, issued me a UPS call tag, and promised to check into the problem, and get back to me in a few days. Among the many agents with whom I spoke, one observed that if I wasn’t able to find a USA made toaster oven what made me think that QVC would have any better luck?
And therein lies the rub! Why would I have the audacity to put my faith in the ability of a retailer that does $7 billion a year and has the buying power of several small countries to actually offer the domestically made product they advertised on their website? Let me pose the question in reverse. If QVC wasn’t able to find a USA made toaster oven, what made them think that I would have any better luck? This is disturbing on many levels, the most obvious being the misrepresentation of the country of origin. Less obvious is the manipulation of the customer into feeling good about buying American goods while cynically manufacturing them in a country known for exploiting its workers, making unsafe toys and dog food, and polluting the environment.
As an aside, QVC has removed the oven from their website and I’ve not yet heard back from them. Call me an optimist, but I haven’t given up hope that we, as a nation, are still capable of producing quality goods for a decent profit without exploiting others in the process — but only if we demand it!
And, by the way, does anyone know where I can find an American made toaster oven?
Jim said
Still 17,000 US Manufacturers out there employing many people. I found many, with manufacturing job openings, at MadeInAmericaJobs.com. There are troubled areas of course but lets ensure we keep what we got and continue to make America a great place to live. Sell QUALITY, like companies are selling green.
emann said
Saturday, June 20, 2009 is buy Made in America Day. It will take time and effort of everybody.
Hoping this one day will make everybody conscious of their purchases on a DAILY basis.
Please consider supporting the companies that feel it is important to manufacture products in our country.
Rhonda henry said
Please make every effort to purchase items made in America. Think about it. Every item (99%) are made in China, India, Israel, Taiwan, Brazil, Mexico, etc…….!!!
This list is too long. I have mentioned a few.
I am one fed up American. I buy a lot less these days for this very reason. I look at the LABEL. We AMERICANS need to stand up for our rights. If you add up all the imports (from everywhere but the USA) vs. the exports, you will find there is hardly any manufacturing left in America. Stand up Americans. I want my country back and back to the people who have toiled for its very existence. We are giving it all away to special interest groups. They have our jobs and invade our country coming here illegally. They are never satisfied. We are allowing it. Buy only from American businesses here. Support each other. When we buy from foreign born we are turning our backs on our fellow AMERICANS. Let’s do like we did 50, 100 years ago. Sweep around our own doors first, then, if there is anything left over, help out. I miss America, the beautiful.