grannysoo
Well-known member
Bez+":3tt3l90z said:Well, if you want to buy a new winter coat and you have the following choices:
1. Buy American at 250 bucks from the local store in town
2. Buy a similar quality coat from Wal-Mart - produced in a foreign country for 85 bucks
If you "want" or if you "need". 2 completely different things.
3. Check with the Salvation Army or Goodwill and find a perfectly good used coat.
4. Put off your "wants" and satisfy your "needs".
Bez+":3tt3l90z said:So I will repeat myself: Heck buy "Insert Home Country" always sounds good.
But it is not that simple today. If you think it is - then it is you that is the simpleton.
I don't assume that it is that simple. However the simpleton attitude of consumerism runs amuck in America. The consumerism mentality that drives America is slowly destroying it from within.
Bez+":3tt3l90z said:And then what - borrow more money? Again? Another trillion dollars of stimulus?
Sooner or later someone has to pay the bill - and it will be far higher than you might think.
I for one don't underestimate the price of what is happening. The politicians will borrow more money again, and then they are going to print more of it to pay it off. The price that our country is going to pay will be the thing that nightmares are made of…..
donnaIL":3tt3l90z said:Part of the problem is that we in the US have a disposable attitude..so we will just buy a "cheap" something made in china and replace it.....
No one will be buying anything if they don't have jobs...so I say buy US products & keep some $ here.
The disposable attitude has been beaten into the brains of every person in the world. If business can't continue to sell you products over and over, perhaps they won't be as large a company. Perhaps on the other hand, if the product lasted, you would have more disposable income to spend on other things that might be produced by the same company.
LoveMoo11":3tt3l90z said:A lot of things aren't even made in the U.S. anymore, so you don't have the option of buying American. So many companies are outsourcing to other countries because it is cheaper. Its all about the money, people don't think about the long term effects. The American workers are suffering because they are losing work and the Chinese, etc. workers are suffering because they don't get paid squat. Also, a lot of these countries don't have the same regulations we do regarding manufacturing which is why there are problems with lead paint in toys, etc. I think the best approach is to just buy local when you can. Sometimes you just don't have a choice.
Buy local, buy regional, buy national .... when you can. It's not always possible however.
MO_cows":3tt3l90z said:I resent buying "made in China" the worst. They learned the lesson of corporate greed and expoitation from the West too well. There has been expose after expose about the horrid working conditions s much their labor force is exposed to. China is the country that put toxins in pet food ingredients and BABY FORMULA for Pete's sake, for a few more bucks. They had to shut down factories for months to try and clear up the smog in Beijing for the Olympics. Gee, I wonder if any of the working stiffs employed at those factories got paid for their P.R. layoff time??
Pick up a package of shrimp, tilapia, much frozen seafood. "Product of China". I put it down and walk away because I don't even want to speculate what corners were cut or how horrid the production scenario was that brought it halfway around the world at that price.
Toxins in the pet foots, baby formula, milk, hamburger buns made from cardboard, and the list goes on. How about brake parts for your car/truck that were cast in sand molds instead of forged? So many times, there is a reason for things being so much cheaper, and you're going to pay for it!
I don't pick up ANY food from China. I also don't pick up any seafood that is not wild caught, regardless of which country it comes from. Study up on fish farming and you won't eat farmed fish.
novatech":3tt3l90z said:Somehow we must switch from being a consumer nation and become a productive nation. I have no dought that we are in for some very tough times ahead.
Exactly.
I'm not for trade protection or closed borders. I do think that we should take care of our own. I also think that we should support buying locally or regionally as much as possible.
I still think that we need to manufacture more than debt instruments………