americans, buy american or quit yer' bitchin'.

i haven't stepped into a walmart for 4 years.
i'm just soooo sick and tired of americans bitching about the economy.
we can make a difference.
i'd love to have a thread about american made products that are available.
here are 2 of my favorite.

chaco sandals
chaco link

dr. bronner's
link


[edit on 20-5-2010 by rubbertramp]

Originally posted by rubbertramp
i haven't stepped into a walmart for 4 years.
i'm just soooo sick and tired of americans bitching about the economy.
we can make a difference.
i'd love to have a thread about american made products that are available.
here are 2 of my favorite.

Well, put your money where you mouth is, friend, and make a thread.

Americans are complaining because there is a limited supply of American made goods.

If you add up the cost over quantity ratio, it pays to buy from China.

Why? Because they want it that way.
Because the cost of living in America is 135% higher than any other country.
Because we need higher wages to pay for the higher cost of living.

The American Dream is a sham. You have to pay more to have more.

www.madeinusa.org...

www.stillmadeinusa.com...

Here's a couple links I got from a fellow member on made in the US goods.
Thank Slayer

What gets me is that people complain but at the same time continue to support the businesses that have taken their businesses overseas.

Responding to reply from havoc;

If you add up the cost over quantity ratio, it pays to buy from China.




Everything I've ever purchased that was made in China was pure unadulterated crap, Junk, garbage and often toxic. Maybe it's not cost over quantity that you should compare but rather cost over quality. I think you will find completely different results.

Personally, I try to stay as "China Free" as possible when it comes to purchasing anything.

Buy American!

[edit on 20-5-2010 by Flatfish]

[edit on 20-5-2010 by Flatfish]

Originally posted by rubbertramp

i'd love to have a thread about american made products that are available.
here are 2 of my favorite.

chaco sandals
chaco link

Erm ... 73 laid off at Chaco moves production to China

reply to post by schrodingers dog


damn you!
how depressing!
thanx for the heads up though.

Originally posted by Flatfish
Everything I've ever purchased that was made in China was pure unadulterated crap, Junk, garbage and often toxic. Maybe it's not cost over quantity that you should compare but rather cost over quality. I think you will find completely different results.

Personally, I try to stay as "China Free" as possible when it comes to purchasing anything.

Buy American!

I concur.
But I think you took my statement the wrong way.

I should've clarified.
AMERICANS buy from China because it's cheaper.

Of course it's junk. Everyone knows that.

But, if you wanted quality, you buy 'American'.
If you wanted cheap, you buy Chinese, because its made in high quantity.

Apologies for the mis-direction.

Although, I haven't been witness to anything well made in 25 years.
Seems everything is poorly constructed.

If you want the highest quality, you buy the most expensive.
You think anyone is going to do that at a time like this?


...I think not.

reply to post by havok


i agree, i'd reather buy an american made knife that i can resharpen and use for years.
the other choice is about 15 chinese made junky blades.
i think that ratio is probably pretty accurate.


[edit on 20-5-2010 by rubbertramp]

reply to post by rubbertramp


It's tough ... I try to buy American made goods if the they are available for what I am shopping for but it's next to impossible to identify 100% US made products, with US harvested resources and parts. I drive a Ford and I'm pretty sure most of the car parts are made in other countries. It's also difficult to ask people who are already struggling not to buy stuff at Walmart, even if it does feed the vicious cycle.

But I do try ... most importantly I buy 95% of all our food locally grown from farmers' markets.

Since America no longer produces anything on a large, cost-effective scale, I'll tell you what; when locally produced goods & services won't eat all of what little income I do have, I'll start buying "American." Until that happens, I'll save as much as I can where I can. If that means I have to shop at Wally World, so be it. If that makes me a bad American, oh well.

reply to post by schrodingers dog

perfection is near impossible concerning this topic. couldn't agrre more.
but, ya' know the most important part.
you said it right here.

But I do try ...

i'd rather pay a bit more for something made overseas at a mom and pops store than buy the same item for less at walmart.

reply to post by Legion2112


Great post. I don't like Wal Mart, but I do go there sometimes. When you are not making vast sums of money, you do what you can to survive.

Originally posted by Legion2112
Since America no longer produces anything on a large, cost-effective scale, I'll tell you what; when locally produced goods & services won't eat all of what little income I do have, I'll start buying "American." Until that happens, I'll save as much as I can where I can. If that means I have to shop at Wally World, so be it. If that makes me a bad American, oh well.

nothing personal, but this is a defeatist attitude.
what do you buy at wally world that you believe you can't get elsewhere at a comparable price?
i am interested, this is one of my thoughts concerning this topic.
we can help each other.
walmart does sell some u.s. made goods.
dollar general sells more u.s. good than most other dollar store tryp places.

What really disturbs me is the fact that ALL these companies are going to China.
Greed is finally taking over lives.

Let's face facts here.

I own many things made right here in the USA.
Some of them were made years ago and they aren't made in the USA anymore.

Why? Simple. Greed.
Make more money and spend less.
Take away perfectly good jobs just so you can make more money.
That is the only problem and it isn't going away anytime soon.
Thank NAFTA and Clinton for that one.

Capitalism at it's finest.

Every car manufacturer and motorcycle produced in the USA has other nations' parts.
Harley-Davidson isn't even fully made in the USA.
I checked mine.
The coil is made in Mexico.

The problem remains, if it isn't made here anymore, then the company is forced to buy it from somewhere else. I.E., car manufacturers.

I hate buying something that says MADE in USA, only to find a minuscule part made in China, or Pakistan.



At least I can say that my favorite beer, Sam Adams, is brewed in America.
Don't know where the packaging comes from or the bottles.
But at least the brew is.

Sounds good. In theory.

Just a few examples from my personal experiences; I have a Dodge parked in my driveway. American made, right? Wrong. Assembled in Mexico. Parts from Canada, Germany, etc. When I was driving over the road a few years ago, I hauled car parts from Michigan to Canada for assembly there, glass from glass plants in Canada to glass plants in the US because it was cheaper to produce the glass in Canada than here. The US plants would just change the tags before they shipped it back out. And you can just about guess what all is hauled to the Mexican border to be taken across for Mexican workers to piece together and then shipped back to the US.

How many electronics do we have in our homes? How many of those do we think are manufactured in the US? I have an AT&T phone on my desk that says made in China on it's base. When I still had cellular service with Sprint (glad that's over with), I called customer service one evening and low and behold I could not understand the Indian accent enough to complete the call. I had to go to the local store the next day to take care of my problem.

I really wish we could do a lot more to support our own economy, but I'm afraid targeting Wal-Mart is just a drop in the bucket since there are so many more things that are manufactured out of country now than we can point at.

"The first few times you hear a company is moving outside the U.S., it kind of shocks you. Then you get numb to it," said Larry Neer, a father of six displaced from a $12.85-per-hour logistics job last year when JDS Uniphase moved electronics assembly to Guadalajara, Mexico, from Indianapolis. "It just seems like that's the common thing to do now."

www.ibj.com...

BP Solar halted production of solar cells at its plant in Frederick, Maryland, this month, according to Chemical & Engineering News, and will lay off 320 of the plant’s 430 workers. The plant had already shed 140 jobs in prior cuts.

BP Solar’s headquarters will remain in the U.S., and the firm will continue to sell solar panels here, but the panels will now be manufactured in Xi’an, China, and Bangalore, India.

Earlier this year China became the world leader in the manufacture of wind turbines and solar panels. China’s manufacturing boom coincided with China’s passage of a law last year requiring utilities to derive 15 percent of energy from renewable sources.

trueslant.com...

No matter which country you live in, everybody wants a decent job. I don't blame other countries for our job loss. IMO, America's job losses and loss of manufacturing are just reflective of the inept policies through various administrations.

And we Americans have been there on the whole ride. The truth be said, America can produce quality products. But quality products cost money and not all Americans have the money to buy quality stuff.

It is about survival and many times buying cheap is the only way to survive.

reply to post by havok


the brand that opened my eyes was levi's
about the only thing i'd wear for many years.

food is another major issue for me.
obviously there is no such thing as a good american grown banana.
and in the winter american produce is near impossible to find.
during the rest of the year i purchase from every local farm, farmers marker, fruit stand i can find. for a few months a year i don't even purchase fruits of veggies in grocery stores.
estimated cost difference is minimal, a lot of times what i find at a farmers market is CHEAPER than the grocery stores.

I can understand times being tough and all but this says it all:



When you can, buy home made goods. It supports fellow workers.

reply to post by intrepid


it's a viscous un-ending circle.
buy cheaper, cause were getting broker, and more and more jobs go over seas.