Do you want the option of "buying American"? (furniture store, dog food)
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A guy at a furniture store told me today that American consumers have chosen to buy inexpensive goods from China en masse, which has resulted in a loss of jobs and manufacturing in America. He said that American goods are generally more expensive than Chinese goods because Chinese labor is cheap.
I say- now that America has seen the damage that that extent of globalization has wreaked upon us, we want our choice back... even if we still choose to buy Chinese when allowed the option of buying a comparable but more expensive American product.
Many people seem to be resigned to "you can't buy that stuff made in America anymore- it's all made in China these days". I say- there must still be American manufacturing, and we can get back what we've lost.
I say it's a matter of choice. Whether or not I choose to buy the Chinese crap because I'm looking to save a buck or two, I want the CHOICE to buy the American product... I don't want my choices to be Chinese, Chinese, Chinese, Malaysian, or Chinese like they are in most stores.
If I had the option of "buying American", I would choose that in a heartbeat. "Buying American", would help the economy and stuff like that... haha Don't really know much about the economy, other than it isn't doing that great right now. I generally only like GM cars. They're American right? But anyways, I would definitely "Buy American" when given the option. It would help support the country that supports us. Remember that quote by John F. Kennedy: "Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country."
I would definitely buy American if I could. However, that is almost impossible. We only have GM cars, technically American, but actually the parts are probably from Canada and Mexico. I think as Americans we have become accustomed to getting what we want, when we want it, and at the lowest price. American workers are paid more, and the cost of doing business in the US is higher, which results in higher prices.
I voted yes- I buy American MADE as much as possible. It is difficult but I do as much as possible. You can find American made if you research and do your homeowrk I would rather buy something made in America by a foreign company than something made in China, Mexico or eleswhere by an American company. One example is our cars. My Toyota Camry and my husband's Toyota Corolla were both made in America-Kentucky. Not only are they great quality and get good gas mileage but American workers had jobs and thus contributed to the community and economy.
I have been fortunate in that I am finding more "made in the USA" in my searches than this time last year. I read an article that with the increase in gas prices some companies are moving manufacturing back to the US from China because the gas prices to ship are out of control. Hopefully we will see an increase in this.
More Americans are buying American-made products when they can because of all the problems with products made in China. From dog food to toys to cereals, etc., there doesn't seem to be the checkpoints in China that we have here to provide at least some semblance of safety to the buying public.
Here is the problem as I see it and it is very discouraging. My husband and I built our own house this year and we bought thousands of dollars worth of items. Some from other countries and some from here. Let me tell you for the most part quality stinks. Just because it is American made doesn't mean it is good quality. We have returned and had to re design many American products because they were junk. On top of that we paid more for the American made stuff. I'm sorry but there just isn't any true pride and quality in our products anymore. Look at GM they screwed Americans making junk products, charging top dollar and they knew it. And I don't care where the parts were made. GM is an American company so where was there quality control? There wasn't any. Too much greed. How could you ever trust them again. They ran their business into the ground because of their greed and Americans have to pay for it.
And I'm supposed to buy American. The quality in so many products is disgusting.
So I don't think we really have much of a choice at all. Most items are junk and we just have to deal.
I think for the over all good of the future of our country, we should all be willing to pay a little more and live with a little less in order to support keeping jobs within America. We should also demand all sales and customer service jobs back. We should all refuse to sell out in order to get more stuff cheap.
I try to buy American when ever possible. It's sad when you go to the supermarket and read the labels and a lot more canned goods and fish are imported from China and Indonesia.
I do though buy my pasta's and tomato's from Italy
I think for the over all good of the future of our country, we should all be willing to pay a little more and live with a little less in order to support keeping jobs within America. We should also demand all sales and customer service jobs back. We should all refuse to sell out in order to get more stuff cheap.
Then talk to American people and tell them they should take pride in their jobs. We whine about everything. GM employees were making twice the amount of Toyota or Honda emoployees. Do you think they were happy with their jobs? Do you think they lived within their means and saved money? No.
I am all for keeping jobs in America but we need to "get over" ourselves thinking we are so superior. Show me good Amreican quality and I will buy. But right now I am so disgusted with the quality of all products. I hate shopping.
You know folks the off shoring of manufacturing didn't just start, it's been going on for at least 54 1/2 years (that's my age). I remember getting toys marked "Made in Japan" at Christmas, played with those last because they broke easy. I worked for a glass maker in the 1970's that was busily building plants all over the world (and the US too for that matter). Much of the product made off shore ended up here at Heinz and Avon, to mention two customers. In some cases manufacturing labor priced itself out of the market, in other cases stricter environmental laws made manufacturing a losing proposition, in other cases the company leaders were maximizing profit for stock holders. Which, by the way, is their job. That will upset some people but the cold hard truth is that companies owe allegiance only to the stockholders, not their employees and not to where the plants are located. I remember the whole thing in college was even then, more than thirty years ago, was how the US was going to be a "knowledge" society not a product producer. Since the college was located in the mining and manufacturing area of PA we all laughed. Guess who was right.
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