Get a Clue - US Economic Condition - W/Solution

[Varient]

RECIEVED VIA EMAIL,... Passed among friends.:



A physics teacher in high school, once told the students that while one grasshopper on the

railroad tracks wouldn't slow a train very much, a billion of them would . With that thought in

mind, read the following, obviously written by a good American . Good idea .. . . one light

bulb at a time . . . .

Check this out . I can verify this because I was in Lowe's the other day for some reason and just

for the heck of it I was looking at the hose attachments . They were all made in China . The next

day I was in Ace Hardware and just for the heck of it I checked the hose attachments there . They

were made in USA . Start looking .

In our current economic situation, every little thing we buy or do affects someone else - even

their job . So, after reading this email, I think this lady is on the right track . Let's get

behind her!

My grandson likes Hershey's candy . I noticed, though, that it is marked made in Mexico now . I

do not buy it any more . My favorite toothpaste Colgate is made in Mexico now . I have switched

to Crest .. You have to read the labels on everything .

This past weekend I was at Kroger . I needed 60W light bulbs and Bounce dryer sheets . I was in

the light bulb aisle, and right next to the GE brand I normally buy was an off brand labeled,

"Everyday Value . " I picked up both types of bulbs and compared the stats - they were the same

except for the price . The GE bulbs were more money than the Everyday Value brand but the thing

that surprised me the most was the fact that GE was made in MEXICO and the Everyday Value brand

was made in - get ready for this - the USA in a company in Cleveland , Ohio .

So throw out the myth that you cannot find products you use every day that are made right here .

So on to another aisle - Bounce Dryer Sheets . . . yep, you guessed it, Bounce cost more money

and is made in Canada . The Everyday Value brand was less money and MADE IN THE USA! I did

laundry yesterday and the dryer sheets performed just like the Bounce Free I have been using for

years and at almost half the price!

My challenge to you is to start reading the labels when you shop for everyday things and see what

you can find that is made in the USA - the job you save may be your own or your neighbors!

If you accept the challenge, pass this on to others in your address book so we can all start

buying American, one light bulb at a time! Stop buying from overseas companies!

(We should have awakened a decade ago . . . . . . )

Let's get with the program . . . . help our fellow Americans keep their jobs and create more jobs

here in the U.S.A.

 

[Majic Walrus]

You want to help keep American jobs by putting large manufacturers like GE out of business by boycotting their products? They might have plenty of outsourced manufacturing facilities but I bet you that they employ twice as many Americans as the "Everyday Value" company.

 

[Ugfugly]

ok Varient, let's start with you. How about you post on this thread the things you've purchased this week that's made in America so the rest of us can have an idea and go from there?

Like that e-mail said, most things are foreign made and people just don't have the time to search each and every item purchased to see if it's made in America.

So the ones sending these spam mails, how about you make the difference? List everything that you buy that is made in America so the rest of us won't have to look? If you really want to make a change, you can do it :P

 

[Varient]

Sigh.
Such animosity(SP) on the concept of actually READING THE SIDE OF A PACKAGE AND CHOOSING TO BUY THINGS MADE IN AMERICA.

And THE LAZINESS of ASSUMING that I'm unwilling to do the same?

Slacker much?

No heat,... but if "the big company" is making the products overseas,... then all you are typing about is a sales/distribution staff here,... I'm not feeling you MW as far as "how many" " YOU FEEL" are employing more Americans.

Bottom line - Explain (Better for America) how buying products manufactured outside our country is better than buying stuff here before you get on any kind of high horse regarding whether we are "boycotting".

We've become a culture that will cheerfully screw anyone to cut a deal or get a discount that benifits us. - And it is killing us as a nation.

Because (explaining to save a post) If you remove the competition by undercutting your prices,.. making it impossible to be competed against,... you can then dictate how much people will pay after you get rid of the compitition. Great inside this country,.. where people can work and feed their families,.. poor when we are competing with people who get paid one quarter or less the amount our economy requires for someone to survive here.

Supporting "Outsourcing" on a world market is what is killing our middleclass. What?? R U Rich or well off?

Currently in California for example,.. a person fresh out of high school MUST either live with their parents or have ROOMMATES (not "roommate").

In ref to YOU UGFUGLY: Are you so useless that you need me to compile a LIST of things I have bought where I CAN read the side of a box AND tell where things are made?
Currently you read as PART OF THE PROBLEM - so certain that anyone with something to say is doing nothing.

The scary part? You probably think you are being witty,... we celebrate mediocrity nowadays where a "cutting remark" has more put to it than real conversation.

Instead of discussing the issue,... (the very real problem that we can't survive as a pure consumer nation - which went past both of you.),.. we have "the toddler response"

"Do it for me - it's too hard to think."

If I've in anyway offended you,.. deal with it - as your posts were insulting in their presentation.

Peace.

 

[huskerwebhead]

I won't pretend to be an economic genius, so I won't comment on if this will or will not effect US Workers in a positive or negative way. I don't have enough information on how many people said companies employ here.

That being said, I always try and buy "made in USA" when I can, but I confess I usually don't look for it. Mainly cause I don't think about it as much as I should. Like most people I'm just trying to get by and I go for what is cheaper or is (as I perceive) as the better product. Maybe that means a GE lightbulb over a generic brand. I think a big problem is that most products do not advertise the "Made in USA" enough. Put it on big bold wording on the front of the package instead of hiding it on the bottom in tiny text. I know that if it was easier to spot outright I would likely go US over another brand...even if it is a few cents more. I would expect lots of other people would do the same.

People are lazy, myself sometimes included. There's no way around it. If people want to make this kind of thinking a success they have to make sure it's very noticeable and easier for people to make the choice.

 

[Majic Walrus]

Sigh.
Such animosity(SP) on the concept of actually READING THE SIDE OF A PACKAGE AND CHOOSING TO BUY THINGS MADE IN AMERICA.

And THE LAZINESS of ASSUMING that I'm unwilling to do the same?

Slacker much?

No heat,... but if "the big company" is making the products overseas,... then all you are typing about is a sales/distribution staff here,... I'm not feeling you MW as far as "how many" " YOU FEEL" are employing more Americans.

Bottom line - Explain (Better for America) how buying products manufactured outside our country is better than buying stuff here before you get on any kind of high horse regarding whether we are "boycotting".

GE is a bigger company than Everyday Value. GE has more higher paying jobs for sales people and distribution people than EV. EV makes less money because it spends more money making it a smaller company. When you support "megacorporations" you support the influx of massive amounts of money into the US.

We've become a culture that will cheerfully screw anyone to cut a deal or get a discount that benifits us. - And it is killing us as a nation.

Because (explaining to save a post) If you remove the competition by undercutting your prices,.. making it impossible to be competed against,... you can then dictate how much people will pay after you get rid of the compitition. Great inside this country,.. where people can work and feed their families,.. poor when we are competing with people who get paid one quarter or less the amount our economy requires for someone to survive here.

Supporting "Outsourcing" on a world market is what is killing our middleclass. What?? R U Rich or well off?

So it's better to not have jobs outside of the US? Outsourcing SAVES the world economy by bringing money into smaller and poorer nations. Those people might make less than an American does but the cost of living is equally as low.

Currently in California for example,.. a person fresh out of high school MUST either live with their parents or have ROOMMATES (not "roommate").

So?

In ref to YOU UGFUGLY: Are you so useless that you need me to compile a LIST of things I have bought where I CAN read the side of a box AND tell where things are made?
Currently you read as PART OF THE PROBLEM - so certain that anyone with something to say is doing nothing.

The scary part? You probably think you are being witty,... we celebrate mediocrity nowadays where a "cutting remark" has more put to it than real conversation.

Instead of discussing the issue,... (the very real problem that we can't survive as a pure consumer nation - which went past both of you.),.. we have "the toddler response"

We don't survive as a pure consumer nation Mr. Buy-Things-MADE-in-the-USA.

"Do it for me - it's too hard to think."

If I've in anyway offended you,.. deal with it - as your posts were insulting in their presentation.

Peace.

Sorry that I offended you. My intent was to point out that your email forward post was woefully underthought.

 

[C. Lee]

That email says that the GE lightbulbs are made in Mexico....that will come as a surprise to the people at the GE lightbulb plant in Lexington, Ky....10 miles down the road from me.

 

[Varient]

I won't pretend to be an economic genius, so I won't comment on if this will or will not effect US Workers in a positive or negative way. I don't have enough information on how many people said companies employ here.

That being said, I always try and buy "made in USA" when I can, but I confess I usually don't look for it. Mainly cause I don't think about it as much as I should. Like most people I'm just trying to get by and I go for what is cheaper or is (as I perceive) as the better product. Maybe that means a GE lightbulb over a generic brand. I think a big problem is that most products do not advertise the "Made in USA" enough. Put it on big bold wording on the front of the package instead of hiding it on the bottom in tiny text. I know that if it was easier to spot outright I would likely go US over another brand...even if it is a few cents more. I would expect lots of other people would do the same.

People are lazy, myself sometimes included. There's no way around it. If people want to make this kind of thinking a success they have to make sure it's very noticeable and easier for people to make the choice.

(With an honest attempt not to get political)

I'm all for competition in a capitalistic society.
But:
I consider it greed when you lobby for and get things set up so a company garners no penalty for producing overseas and selling here,... when WE have to pay tarriffs and import taxes on any of our stuff going out.

I consider it greed when you hire someone in a place with shoddy / unsafe working conditions w/little or no health insurance, @ wages that wouldn't pay a paperboy in America - then sell the product in a place that simply can't make it for the same cost just to make a profit.

We simply can't continue to support this.

 

[Varient]

That email says that the GE lightbulbs are made in Mexico....that will come as a surprise to the people at the GE lightbulb plant in Lexington, Ky....10 miles down the road from me.

I'm thinking the easy answer lies in what the product is. Perhaps 60 watt bulbs made by GE mostly get made in Mexico.

My arguement (which has yet to be explained,.. too busy defending the email)remains that we can't survive this way.

After awhile we will produce little or nothing we need and will instead depend on other countries.

What? become an entire country of consultants?

Reality check: I know we will never truly be a country that is 100 percent consumer, but there is a point we are fast approaching where we are setting ourselves up to be a feudal society.

 

[Paradoxium]

It is worth noting that GE cook their account books. They are basically insolvent. In other words they are living off of tax juice, and their main venue of moooney making is through the financials.

 

[C. Lee]

I'm thinking the easy answer lies in what the product is. Perhaps 60 watt bulbs made by GE mostly get made in Mexico.

My arguement (which has yet to be explained,.. too busy defending the email)remains that we can't survive this way.

After awhile we will produce little or nothing we need and will instead depend on other countries.

What? become an entire country of consultants?

Reality check: I know we will never truly be a country that is 100 percent consumer, but there is a point we are fast approaching where we are setting ourselves up to be a feudal society.

I've been saying this for over 20 years. I try to buy American as much as I can, we have local farmer's markets that I get most of my fresh veggies from....things like that.

 

[Paradoxium]

Outside of the financials, pretty much every manufacturing and goods production -esque companies are contracting by the month. It should accelerate if something like cap and trade happens. I would follow C. Lee's advice. Either help internally or encourage businesses to export more to cover the trade deficit

 

[huskerwebhead]

(With an honest attempt not to get political)

I'm all for competition in a capitalistic society.
But:
I consider it greed when you lobby for and get things set up so a company garners no penalty for producing overseas and selling here,... when WE have to pay tarriffs and import taxes on any of our stuff going out.

I consider it greed when you hire someone in a place with shoddy / unsafe working conditions w/little or no health insurance, @ wages that wouldn't pay a paperboy in America - then sell the product in a place that simply can't make it for the same cost just to make a profit.

We simply can't continue to support this.

I don't disagree. I'm just pointing out that if people want this kind of thinking to be more realized when people are shopping, make it as easy as possible to make those distinctions (between US and Foreign products). I would think (hope) that most people would buy American if it was staring them in the face.

I'm thinking the easy answer lies in what the product is. Perhaps 60 watt bulbs made by GE mostly get made in Mexico.

Or, the email author is just pulling companies/products out of his ass to try and be more poignant. That being said, the fact is irrelevant in the discussion.

 

[Varient]

GE is a bigger company than Everyday Value. GE has more higher paying jobs for sales people and distribution people than EV. EV makes less money because it spends more money making it a smaller company. When you support "megacorporations" you support the influx of massive amounts of money into the US.

???
GE is worldwide,... let them pay to sell that stuff here. No breaks by doing (my opinion) shifty business dodges to get more cash.

Everyday Value is 300+ products made by Americans sold to Americans @ reduced prices.

If there was really a "massive influx of money into America" (More like a massive influx of cash into select individuals pockets -*Gasp* I read like a socialist - GEEZ), why are we suffering such a massive economic downturn? Why are the MAJORITY of our companies in trouble local competing against foriegn interests that are really American companies producing overseas?

So it's better to not have jobs outside of the US? Outsourcing SAVES the world economy by bringing money into smaller and poorer nations. Those people might make less than an American does but the cost of living is equally as low.

SMH They make less,.. and allows the company to charge what they want on the low to remove the competition. So we are destroying our own economy not out of greed,.. but to pull the rest of the world up? OK.

So?

So,... you see nothing wrong with an economy that requires you to be Elite before you can even start on working toward the American dream? That we have gone so far out of control that what used to take a high school diploma now requires a BS minimum with no promise that that will even be enough?

We don't survive as a pure consumer nation Mr. Buy-Things-MADE-in-the-USA.

Take me literally if you must - NO country on the planet is a pure consumer nation,... there comes a point where a country moving in that direction FAILS before getting there. Why are we letting the greed in our big business drag us in that direction?

Sorry that I offended you. My intent was to point out that your email forward post was woefully underthought.

Underthought?
It read like "self defense" to me.
We are currently in a position where we need to do more than what we have been doing.

Peace.

 

[Majic Walrus]

???
GE is worldwide,... let them pay to sell that stuff here. No breaks by doing (my opinion) shifty business dodges to get more cash.

Everyday Value is 300+ products made by Americans sold to Americans @ reduced prices.

EV is smaller than GE. I'm all for GE getting more cash. The more cash GE gets the more people that they need to run GE the more people that run GE the more jobs. The more jobs are available for Americans.

If there was really a "massive influx of money into America" (More like a massive influx of cash into select individuals pockets -*Gasp* I read like a socialist - GEEZ), why are we suffering such a massive economic downturn? Why are the MAJORITY of our companies in trouble local competing against foriegn interests that are really American companies producing overseas?

The current economic crisis has nothing to do with products made in America or elsewhere the current econmoic downturn relates more specifically to the banking and finance sectors of business not production and manufacturing.

SMH They make less,.. and allows the company to charge what they want on the low to remove the competition. So we are destroying our own economy not out of greed,.. but to pull the rest of the world up? OK.

No. We aren't destroying our own economy. The initial premise isn't valid.

So,... you see nothing wrong with an economy that requires you to be Elite before you can even start on working toward the American dream? That we have gone so far out of control that what used to take a high school diploma now requires a BS minimum with no promise that that will even be enough?

That idea is socialist ******** that I used to buy into so I know where you're coming from. The fact of the matter is that if you work hard, try hard, and have the intiative and drive to live the "American Dream" then by all means you can do it.

Bill Gates, William Hanna, Steve Balmer, Steve Wozniak, Steve Jobs, Benjamin Franklin, Penn Jillette, Paul Allen, John Jacob Astor (America's FIRST multimillionaire), William Blake, Sonny Bono, Ray Bradbury, George Carlin, Mark Twain, Charles Culpepper, Ray Kroc, Walt Disney, Albert Einstein, Thomas Edison, Carly Fiorna, President Millard Filmore, Andrew Fox, John Glenn, and finally Andrew Jackson are a few people that all share something in common.

They never finished college. Half of them didn't even finish high school. They had the drive to be successful and they were successful.

Take me literally if you must - NO country on the planet is a pure consumer nation,... there comes a point where a country moving in that direction FAILS before getting there. Why are we letting the greed in our big business drag us in that direction?

We aren't. We aren't failing. People act as though this economic crisis is the end of America as we know it or like big corporations are something relatively new. They are a necessary evil to maintain the standard of living that we have today. Economic crisis or not America is still a wealthy nation.

Underthought?
It read like "self defense" to me.
We are currently in a position where we need to do more than what we have been doing.

Peace.

I agree that we need to do a lot more than what we have been doing. Buying products that are "made in America" is not one of those things. We need to strengthen the educational system to match our foreign counterparts and we need to focus on small business incentives for Americas to start own and operate their own small businesses. Those things are true. However that does not mean that we all need to become anti-Corporation and go start playing Cyberpunk and fearing about Disney and McDonald's taking over the world.

 

[Paradoxium]

The problem is, America needs to export more, and build up more capital. Even if people buy more domestic goods it still doesn't address this problem. So Varient is wrong somewhat on this matter.

Most of the income gap has to do with the economic regulations by the Federal Reserve which skewers the money to a small margin of financiers.

This is not capitalism.

So Magic Walrus is somewhat wrong as well. Not all earnings and profit actually jive with real productive contribution to the economy. Especially from the financials.

Of course the only thing Obama has managed to do is give the Federal Reserve more money/power, and bailout these cronies.

 

[Ugfugly]

In ref to YOU UGFUGLY: Are you so useless that you need me to compile a LIST of things I have bought where I CAN read the side of a box AND tell where things are made?
Currently you read as PART OF THE PROBLEM - so certain that anyone with something to say is doing nothing.

The scary part? You probably think you are being witty,... we celebrate mediocrity nowadays where a "cutting remark" has more put to it than real conversation.

Instead of discussing the issue,... (the very real problem that we can't survive as a pure consumer nation - which went past both of you.),.. we have "the toddler response"

"Do it for me - it's too hard to think."

If I've in anyway offended you,.. deal with it - as your posts were insulting in their presentation.

Peace.

No. You're the one who want people to change. You're the one with an agenda.

I'm fine with things as they are. America needs to find a way to compete or they will suffer. Unfortunately, I watch out for number 1. So long as I can afford what's on the shelf, I will purchase it.
Sure I will buy American if I can but I'm not going to stop and read every label that I have to purchase in the grocery store or wherever. That's just too time consuming.

You want people to change? Give them an incentive. Give me a brand name that you know is good, affordable etc and made in America then maybe next time when I go to the store and I see it I'll remember.

I'm not stupid, or lazy or whatever you'd want to call me. I'm just ambivalent. I will buy what I -think- is quality or what suits me.

 

[Varient]

I've been saying this for over 20 years. I try to buy American as much as I can, we have local farmer's markets that I get most of my fresh veggies from....things like that.

I'm glad someone else was seeing this too.
Whats irritating - To see this and watch it get ignored


Props.

 

[Varient]

No. You're the one who want people to change. You're the one with an agenda.

I'm fine with things as they are. America needs to find a way to compete or they will suffer. Unfortunately, I watch out for number 1. So long as I can afford what's on the shelf, I will purchase it.
Sure I will buy American if I can but I'm not going to stop and read every label that I have to purchase in the grocery store or wherever. That's just too time consuming.

You want people to change? Give them an incentive. Give me a brand name that you know is good, affordable etc and made in America then maybe next time when I go to the store and I see it I'll remember.

I'm not stupid, or lazy or whatever you'd want to call me. I'm just ambivalent. I will buy what I -think- is quality or what suits me.

Things are not fine.
America does compete,.. but we are selling out on our own products.

Incentive? You must mean something immediate in a positive bent that is supposed to be "the carrot?"
Sorry,.. I don't have that,.. I'm too busy trying to avoid the Stick that I see on the horizon.
In my view - I see the Middleclass steadily decreasing the upper class showing a mild gain,... and the lower class being loaded on in leaps and bounds.

And I attribute our current business practices in search of the most cash with the least amount of legal work as being the cause.

Solutions? This Email in my view is a good start.

Peace.

 

[Majic Walrus]

Things are not fine.
America does compete,.. but we are selling out on our own products.

Incentive? You must mean something immediate in a positive bent that is supposed to be "the carrot?"
Sorry,.. I don't have that,.. I'm too busy trying to avoid the Stick that I see on the horizon.
In my view - I see the Middleclass steadily decreasing the upper class showing a mild gain,... and the lower class being loaded on in leaps and bounds.

And I attribute our current business practices in search of the most cash with the least amount of legal work as being the cause.

Solutions? This Email in my view is a good start.

Peace.

You complain because people are poor but accuse people who are seeking to make money of doing something evil. That doesn't make sense. Companies trying to make money cannot be the cause of not having enough money.

 

[Varient]

You complain because people are poor but accuse people who are seeking to make money of doing something evil. That doesn't make sense. Companies trying to make money cannot be the cause of not having enough money.

no.
I complain that people are poor and accuse THE people who are changing/tweaking laws/regulations in place to prevent these kinds of abuses who then PROFIT of doing something evil.

It's like Changing the answers on a test so you can pass by giving the teacher what he/she wants to make YOUR answers the right answers - The rest of the class does poorly except for your cronies who either think like you do,... or know the answers you put down.


"Companies trying to make money cannot be the cause of not having enough money"

Pardon.
Remember when Japanese cars first got here for the regular folk? that was the begining of the end of the US auto companies. they sacrificed quality trying to match the low cost of what was literally JUNK because too many Americans were buying them because they were extremely cheap transportation.

Uncontrolled Importing is bad for the country

Lack of viable exports are hurting our country, (where else can you have the available oil reserves,.. but we export it instead of using it ourselves because of the sulfer content,... which btw we have the tech to remove in the patent offices,.. but we make more money this way??
(holy spit!)

Outsourcing from everything I've read is Bad for the country.

V.

 

[Majic Walrus]

no.
I complain that people are poor and accuse THE people who are changing/tweaking laws/regulations in place to prevent these kinds of abuses who then PROFIT of doing something evil.

Laws and regulations are the problem. To hell with tweaking them, we should do away with them.

It's like Changing the answers on a test so you can pass by giving the teacher what he/she wants to make YOUR answers the right answers - The rest of the class does poorly except for your cronies who either think like you do,... or know the answers you put down.

I don't think it is, but then again I fail to even halfway understand your analogy.

"Companies trying to make money cannot be the cause of not having enough money"

Pardon.
Remember when Japanese cars first got here for the regular folk? that was the begining of the end of the US auto companies. they sacrificed quality trying to match the low cost of what was literally JUNK because too many Americans were buying them because they were extremely cheap transportation.

They sacrificed quality that is not the customer's fault nor is it the Japanese automanufacturers fault. The consumer spoke and what it said was that it would rather have a cheaply made foreign car than a well made American car.

What's the problem here? Consumers having too much of a choice?

Uncontrolled Importing is bad for the country

I don't necessarily agree, but frankly we're not even talking about "uncontrolled" importing.

Lack of viable exports are hurting our country, (where else can you have the available oil reserves,.. but we export it instead of using it ourselves because of the sulfer content,... which btw we have the tech to remove in the patent offices,.. but we make more money this way??
(holy spit!)

To a certian degree I agree with the example you've given. Companies should be allowed to export oil if they are currently prohibited. Sounds like you support fewer laws that hold companies down.

Outsourcing from everything I've read is Bad for the country.

V.

Everything you've read is wrong.

 

[bullets]

I agree that we aren't putting enough out to foreign countries and we should work on that.

 

[Bob ROARman!]

(With an honest attempt not to get political)

I'm all for competition in a capitalistic society.
But:
I consider it greed when you lobby for and get things set up so a company garners no penalty for producing overseas and selling here,... when WE have to pay tarriffs and import taxes on any of our stuff going out.

I consider it greed when you hire someone in a place with shoddy / unsafe working conditions w/little or no health insurance, @ wages that wouldn't pay a paperboy in America - then sell the product in a place that simply can't make it for the same cost just to make a profit.

We simply can't continue to support this.

Competition is what makes people act in unethical ways. What we get is corruption, social stratification, labor abuse and exploitation, and in the end it leads to what we have now and have had for a long time, a rich ruling elite. We don't have democracy, we have an oligarchy. We have owners, not a president.

It is competition (among other things) that holds us back from any kind of large scale effort to come together and solve real problems with other countries. We should be past this. We should realize this by now. The well being of people will always be second to profit. ALWAYS. That's not going to change. You cannot expect decency in a system like this. Lies and deceit will always be the tools that are used. Not honesty and caring for one another. There's no money in that.

 

[Kable24]

"My grandson likes Hershey's candy . I noticed, though, that it is marked made in Mexico now . I do not buy it any more."

OK, I work for Hershey's at the main plant in Hershey and yes, some of the products are made in Mexico, but the majority is still made here in Hershey. We have manufacturing plants all over the world. It's a global business. I don't understand the boycotting of an American company because they are expanding.