USA

[StoopTroup]

I know it's impossible to do this with everything but just as the tale of the locusts says...one thing at a time.

I remember the push for the Made in the USA by Wally world and then to find out they weren't really following that line of BS.

Anyway...we seem to all agree and disagree about things from time to time but I think it would be cool to see more of this....


I thought this was a good idea.ESPECIALLY the fact at the end of this email.
Good idea . . .
one light bulb at a time . . . .

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 Lowes 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. (Can be true for any store.) 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!

American women could also start to patronize a local American Nail Technician because they pay TAXES and care about their clients as well as being more educated and invest in the best nail products made for nails unlike the dental acrylic and inferior supplies that foreign budget salons use!!! American nail technicians are being outsourced LITERALLY in the same neighborhood!!!

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.

[Scott D]

What I seem to remember was when old man Walton was alive they were heavy on the Made In America thing. Once his brats took over the company it was pure profit over credibility.

[StoopTroup]

That's about the size of things. They tried to keep people thinking they were for Made in America with statements like "When doing our buying we always try to purchase made in America". The truth is...price was always going to be their driving factor.

The crap we get anymore is absolute junk. Made in America stuff isn't always better but I do think the percentage of better products is higher when it's Made in America.

[Half a Hundred]

Good ideas until it became needlessly nativist and xenophobic at the end.

[StoopTroup]

Well...all good things come to an end. I think it's just time to right the ship a bit.

[delhalew]

I've been trying to do this as much as possible. Particularly with produce and clothing.

[Frozen Sooner]

Wait, there's a bunch of women who go to foreign countries to get their nails done?

[StoopTroup]

Wait, there's a bunch of women who go to foreign countries to get their nails done?

They get their cones done in France.

[Okla-homey]

IMHO, in the final analysis, you are either a free-market capitalist or you aren't.

Competition, whether here at home among competing manufacturers of a given range of products, or internationally among the universe of manufacturers of a given range of products, means the consumer gets the best quality possible. That said, if the CHICOM's or Borswanans or Arkansans build a better, or cheaper mousetrap, I'm fine with buying that mousetrap.

Trade protectionism generally only ensures product mediocrity because the protected manufacturers have no incentive to beat anyone in product quality but their domestic rivals.

[StoopTroup]

Not that they are any better...but I went to Tarjay this morning. Take that Wally! I bought a bag of Starbucks Colombia and a Brita filter. They were convenient and I had bakery goods in the car and the coffee cake was talking to me.

[StoopTroup]

I luv da Columbia. It would even be better witout a dicktater.

[yermom]

IMHO, in the final analysis, you are either a free-market capitalist or you aren't.

Competition, whether here at home among competing manufacturers of a given range of products, or internationally among the universe of manufacturers of a given range of products, means the consumer gets the best quality possible. That said, if the CHICOM's or Borswanans or Arkansans build a better, or cheaper mousetrap, I'm fine with buying that mousetrap.

Trade protectionism generally only ensures product mediocrity because the protected manufacturers have no incentive to beat anyone in product quality but their domestic rivals.

to some point, i agree, but with the CHICOMS, for example, you are also supporting human rights abusers and lose any accountability for quality. IMO it should be the retailer held responsible for lead in toys, etc... if they are just going to buy from anyone.

my problem with Walmart is that most of what you buy there seems like it's disposable. you buy it, use it like once, then replace it, and you make China rich in the process

of course, with Walmart's business practices, they could have also bankrupted the American companies they were buying from anyway...

[StoopTroup]

IMO it should be the retailer held responsible for lead in toys, etc... if they are just going to buy from anyone.


Great point.

[Okla-homey]

to some point, i agree, but with the CHICOMS, for example, you are also supporting human rights abusers and lose any accountability for quality. IMO it should be the retailer held responsible for lead in toys, etc... if they are just going to buy from anyone.

my problem with Walmart is that most of what you buy there seems like it's disposable. you buy it, use it like once, then replace it, and you make China rich in the process

of course, with Walmart's business practices, they could have also bankrupted the American companies they were buying from anyway...

I think you're on to something very important. Cheaper rarely equals better. In fact, the CHICOMs don't really make anything better than available anywhere else.*

Therefore, perhaps if the US consumer was a little more savy as to buying quality over price alone, the CHICOM's would'nt be selling so much stuff here.

That said, a lot of people, including people who can afford to buy a quality item that will easily outlast its cheaper competitor, simply buy the cheaper one...again. And again.

Example: one of my favorite clothing manufactuers is called "Bill's Khakis." I've turned a few here on to them. Without a doubt, they make a pair of khaki pants that will outlast anything else on the market, and to my knowledge, they are probably among the last khaki pants makers in the US. The thing is, a lot of people recoil in horror at the notion of paying 100 bucks for a pair of khakis. They'd rather buy "Dockers," or some other lesser quality pants, made, BTW, in the Third World, for half the price. Notwithstanding the fact the "Bill's" pants will still look great for years after the other pair was consigned to the rag bag and replaced a couple times with equally inferior pants.

*except for virtually every firework bought anywhere on the planet

[StoopTroup]

I had to buy some patches for my Son's Cub Scout Uniform this week. On the back of one of them was "Made in China". It made me sad.

[StoopTroup]

USA!

USA!

USA!