Friday, July 18, 2008

Nothing Is Forever

----some people object to change, others just flat are ignorant as to why things do change, but change they do.

What did YOU do for a Living Daddy?


The link above is an article alerting us to some interesting economic trends----one might ask our Presidential Candidates what their views are on this topic? Will they appeal to their backers by saying ban foreign goods, lets make it in the USA ---(CAN American workers produce the product at a viable cost?)-----will they espouse instead a FAIR balance of trade, and insist that foreign countries not block American goods unfairly, and let their markets decide how much American goods they want---like how come there IS such an imbalance of trade , everyone sells to the USA, but nobody buys our products?? are America's products not as good quality wise, or possibly, they are just over priced??----how many of us have looked and decided much as we would like to---we just can't afford to buy USA built products? What are OUR presidential candidates positions on this?---better yet, what are OUR congressional candidates positions on this?--------what is YOUR position on this topic----what are YOU doing about it?

3 comments:

  1. I think Americans buy way too much to begin with. We have become a nation who consumes just for the sake of consuming. When that happens, price becomes an issue and concerns over quality become secondary. Just look at the Wal Martians coming out with crap you know they do not need but have to buy it because we have become programmed to shop.

    I think if Americans could be re-trained to consider quality first and price second, some of this trade imbalance you speak of would get better. Not all, but a shift in attitudes about buying quality over cheap could not hurt.

    Market forces will make this happen to some degree. As the price of energy goes through the roof, the energy to manufacture even the cheap goods will make them more expensive. Once the price difference between a use it once and toss product approaches the cost of a product that will last longer or is actually fixable, many people will opt to pay more. I think our throw away society is in for some serious attitude adjustments in the not so distant future.

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  2. I was going to say exactly the same thing as Mr. Macrum, but he beat me to it. Home run to dead center, Crummy, and in fact, I think the ball just smashed the windshield of an old Skoda in the parking lot.

    Example: vice grips. Last year or so I bought a set of five. Kept three here and brought two to the cottage. They're of varing size and shape and I thought they'd be useful. Well, they are useful, but only if you don't ask them to do too much. Mostly they're crap. They were made overseas and they were relatively inexpensive. Now, if I had to do it again, I would buy two only - don't really need five - and I would get ones made in the USA, like the set I used to have that disappeared when a toolbox was stolen out of my garage a couple of years ago. They would cost more than the set of five, but I sure as heck wouldn't have to worry about breaking them.

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  3. You and I were lucky enough to grow up in one of the best times in U.S. history. Just after WWII most of the world had been destroyed and the U.S. was in the position to rebuild it as well as the homes and products for returning GIs. We were in the power seat economically. As countries raised their standards of living they realized that they could export their goods and having a lower standard of living could do it cheaper. Then U.S. companies realized that they could send the work overseas to compete with other U.S. companies. That was the downward sprial. Now what we produce is a mere pittance compared to what we once did.
    As for quality yes I will buy American. And like El Cerdo said I'd rather have two good ones rather than five crappy ones. And yes we do have too much stuff. How many people out there have to rent a storage space because the house is overflowing with a bunch of junk they don't use anyway?

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Speak up, don't be a nebish---your opinions do count.