Keep buying crap made in China suckers

[khabibissell]

Also, I was reading about Henry Ford a while back and read about a concept he embraced which was later dubbed "Fordism". Basically, it said that if you pay your workers higher wages, it will benefit the company in that the employees will turn around and buy the products they are producing. This makes alot of sense to me, but unfortunately these days the competition from overseas might be too strong for this to work.

In my opinion, the US government needs to restructure our trade agreements and start doing more to promote buying from companies that produce goods within our borders (which would include some Japanese auto companies as they have many plants here as well).

[khabibissell]

I am so fed up with the unions destroying industry in America like the UAW and GM that I will by commie before union.

Put a hammer and cycle on the product and have it next to a USA product with a stupid UAW logo on it. I am buying commie.

In order for American labor to be competitive in price on the global free market Unions would have to go.

This is not the 1950's anymore the unions have served their purpose.

Look, I don't work for a union (I'm in IT), but to say that Unions "destroyed" industry in the US is ridiculous. The causes are difficult to pinpoint exactly, but I would say that the global economy/global trade agreements have played the largest role. How can we compete with countries that don't have any pay standards in place, don't provide adequate healthcare/pension plans and take advantage of their workforce?

Do you think that people that work in manufacturing should be paid minimum wage or something more in line with what workers make in China? Do you think that safety standards and safeguards meant to protect workers in the workplace are unnecessary? Unions have brought alot of good to the workers of this country and abolishing them would be a taking a huge step backward. What if there are no unions in place and the economy is still in a shambles... who do you think is going to pay the price first, upper management or blue collar workers? The budgets for safety standards, ensuring adequate staffing to perform dangerous tasks, and most of all employee compensation will be the first to go. Without union contracts, the greedy fat cats that are only concerned with the bottom line will do anything to increase their profit margin, even if it means screwing their workforce. Unions are the only thing we have to protect workers in the non skilled labor workforce.

[DonP]

Face it people. We are all fucked. Who here is making more than they made 10 years ago? Prices have gone up over the past ten years, but wages haven't. And the "cool" thing these days is to cut pay / 401K / etc.

[Jayster]

I try to buy Australian where I can.

I love lamb, and all of the lamb I've found in Georgia is from Australia - so I'm helping in a small way to support you guys.

[Flametop]

All those small American flags you see on the wooden sticks that people wave at parades and have out on Veterans Day and the 4th of july. you know the ones right? Look at the label sometime. Thats right. Made in China.

Wrong...we have several local companies that make flags and flag related products in this area. Nine times out of ten when an area organization uses and or provides flags for display, they are American made.
Yes Virginia, there really is a Santa Claus.

[broken_fusion]

All those small American flags you see on the wooden sticks that people wave at parades and have out on Veterans Day and the 4th of july. you know the ones right? Look at the label sometime. Thats right. Made in China.

[AK47]

I am so fed up with the unions destroying industry in America like the UAW and GM that I will by commie before union.

Put a hammer and cycle on the product and have it next to a USA product with a stupid UAW logo on it. I am buying commie.

In order for American labor to be competitive in price on the global free market Unions would have to go.

This is not the 1950's anymore the unions have served their purpose.

[VitaminG]

I try to buy Australian where I can. But beyond groceries, it's not easy. Manufacturing jobs are being offshored. Most of our clothes are made in Asia now. If I want a cheap tshirt, it's made in China. If I want an expensive tshirt (from an upmarket store), it's probably made in China too, only now I'm paying $80 for it. Last couple of tshirts I bought directly from the US, made in Haiti. Similar thing, I think. Manufacturing offshored to a nation where employees aren't protected & are prepared to work for cents just to keep their families alive.

Consumers are partly to blame. Obviously company directors are looking to maximise profits (and their performance bonuses) so if they can sell something for the same price but greatly reduce their overheads, they are going to do it. But the general public who want to maximise their buying power keeping no-name brands like Altec & Soniq in the shops. I'm as guilty as anyone - I can't afford a top of the line German flat screen TV without taking food out of my kids' mouths, but a Chinese made Samsung is a nicely featured device right in my price range.

[khabibissell]

I still haven't forgotten them Chinamen for what they did to us in Pearl Harbor.

You know that was Japan right? The Chinese were actually fighting Japan in the second world war... and we were helping them. Just like we are now!

[Joe_Steeler]

I still haven't forgotten them Chinamen for what they did to us in Pearl Harbor.

[khabibissell]

Khabibissell - that was an excellent post. I am anti union, but you make an excellent point about the 'high water mark'.

Unions are not perfect but its not due to the reason they exist, which is to protect workers rights. The thing that makes unions bad are the greedy, corrupt asshats that run them. Of course, the same can be said for people in positions of power within our government and big business.

Greedy world we live in... Its a fricken shame. We need someone within our government that has integrity and a set of balls to step up and fix it.

[Jayster]

Khabibissell - that was an excellent post. I am anti union, but you make an excellent point about the 'high water mark'.

[khabibissell]

A few things need to happen. Americans need to accept a lower wage, but at the same time wages in other countries need to come up. The average factory worker in China makes about 30 a month. They also need to increase tarrifs and taxes on imported items.

Why should Americans accept a lower wage? The economy is in the shitter because of decisions that the rich and powerful have made... It sure as hell isn't because of average middle class workers. All lower wages will do is put an end to the middle class. That's not a good thing. The United States is the most powerful country in the world. A Hardworking, CITIZEN should be all but guaranteed to earn a decent middle class living right out of high school/trade school... even without having to go to college in my opinion. I'm not talking about government handouts, I'm talking about being able to earn it through hard work. The loss of skilled trades and manufacturing opportunities in recent years makes this all but impossible now (or will in the very near future if things don't change), especially if the government/big business has their way and does away with the unions or forces them to renogtiate from a position of weakness. Say what you will (unions are not perfect), but unions are the reason we have reasonably safe, high paying manufacturing jobs in this country. Think about it... if a union job is the high water mark as far as pay and benefits go, what will happen if that high water mark is reduced significantly? Non union pay will go down as well, you can count on it.

[hippietim]

I say let the free market take over. Get rid of all the trade restrictions and import tariffs and all of that and let the best product win.

Free market? You want a free market? Really? That can't happen until you get rid of anti-trust laws, environmental laws, etc. Now that's a free market.

[bombtek]

Hey, I am with Bill on this 100%. It is truly a global economy in that just about every assembled product here in the US that is sold through a distributor has some parts that were not made here.

I have no problem buying foreign gear. It is the most affordable stuff out there. As for being junk, some of it is,some of it is quality made stuff.

We here on this forum are forever talking about "bang for the buck" types of gear.

Most on here agree that the Model Series Charvels are among the greatest bang for the buck guitars out there. They were made in an Asisn country. They were made there because it was cheaper for them to be made there. Kind of the exact same thing that we're talking about now.

I really and truly wish it was the case that our American made gear was the best "bang for the buck" stuff out there. But unfortunately it is not.

I bust my ass to make my paycheck. I stretch out every dollar as far as it will stretch when I buy equipment. I research everything that I can to the extent that the internet allows to see what is will fit my needs in the most cost effective way. In nearly every case, American made products come in close to last on my list.

It would be awesome if this wasn't the case, but truth be told, when it comes to electronics (which is predominately what I talking about above), our stuff is more much more expensive than our foreign competitors for no good reason. Much of the internal components are the same. The product does the same thing. Why wouldn't I want to spend less on it?