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Post by sandsman1 on Sept 1, 2009 23:18:26 GMT -5
and i gotta say ill be looking at who is making what im buying from now on -------
here it is
This email has been floating around for a while. Worth sending again though.
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 . I needed 60 W 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 .
------ End of Forwarded Message
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Post by rocklicker on Sept 2, 2009 2:01:05 GMT -5
I have been buying clothing made in the USA for about 6 years now... infact EVERYTHING I wear is made in the USA and I am very proud of that. That doesn't apply to gifts or the RTH tshirt of course. I haven't been in mall to buy clothes in years because they don't have any 99% of the time. I check the labels everywhere I go and prefer made in USA products even if it means having to spend a little more and saving up to do it. We just got done saving up for a new amish made bed and glad we did. It's beautiful and all our hard earned money stays in the USA. This applies to everything. It drives my wife crazy sometimes because I refuse to buy things sometimes. We are having a heck of a time finding bedding and measuring spoons. There are of course some things you can't avoid but it's all about making little decisions one at a time if you are able. When you start reading lables you will be surprised at what you find. I won't set foot in a Walmart unless to buy mineral oil and baby oil for the saws ;D Thanks for bringing this up Sands. Steve
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Post by Bejewelme on Sept 2, 2009 5:08:18 GMT -5
Sands: Good point, when Hershey closed several of their plants here over the last few years, lots of friends lost their jobs, the plant in Reading closed! The whole town is almost deserted now. Selling electrical goods, so much comes from overseas, I am always happy to see the bids that specify MADE IN THE USA!!!!! Amber
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Post by superioragates on Sept 2, 2009 6:49:18 GMT -5
I totally agree with this, everyone should do it. I have been trying to do this for a couple years now, there are things we cannot find "up in the woods" that are made in the usa, but we try to buy everything we can that is. SAVE A JOB!! Buy it at home, from fellow Americans who NEED their jobs desperately right now. Good topic Sands! Marie
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Post by Hard Rock Cafe on Sept 2, 2009 7:50:26 GMT -5
A woman wrote a book about her family's experiences trying to live a year without buying anything made in China. In short, they had to go without a lot of things because China was the only producer. For example, there was only one non-Chinese manufacturer of tennis shoes and it was in Israel. www.amazon.ca/Year-Without-Made-China-Adventure/dp/0470116137If you are really serious about "buy American", stop shopping at Wal-Mart. And good luck buying an "American made" car: the brand may be American, but a majority of the components are foreign. In fact, there are a number of Fords that aren't even assembled in the U.S. While it may be appealing to buy American at a gut level, I'm not sure you can realistically do it anymore or that it really makes much difference. Those "American made" cars that are assembled in the U.S. from foreign components still provide jobs to Americans. But so do the Hondas that are made in Marysville, Ohio, and the Mazdas made in Tennessee, the Mercedes made in Georgia, etc. Corporations exist to make money. Manufacturers are going to source their products whereever they can do it for the least amount of money, including raw materials, labor, and shipping. Software makers (indirectly my line of work) have been sending work to India for years, but the labor costs have gone up, so now they're sending the work to the Philippines and now China. There haven't been any steel mills in the U.S. for decades and the taconite (iron ore) industry is faltering. These are just 3 examples, but you can take any industry and the result is the same. I'd also recommend reading "The World is Flat" about the globalization of the world economy: www.amazon.ca/World-Flat-Thomas-L-Friedman/dp/1553651758Sorry to be contrarian, but it's just not as straightforward as it seems. Chuck
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Post by akansan on Sept 2, 2009 8:06:35 GMT -5
Chuck, I read an interview from either that woman or another family doing it during the process. It was crazy some of the things they had problems finding - toys, games, even some foods.
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brent
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since November 2008
Posts: 1,316
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Post by brent on Sept 2, 2009 9:10:32 GMT -5
I am always impressded with American Pride. From the Canadian side of the boarder, things aren't always that simple. Saskatchewan imports beef from Brazil(when we have a hard time selling our local beef), and Brazil imports our potash. It's all polatics. There are more jobs in the potash industry than in the cattle industry.
When I was a scrap dealer, the price I got was based in large part to what China bought. If we buy alot of steel, China buys more scrap and I made more money. A manufacturer I worked for used steel from the U.S., Canada, and China(depending on type). They also would buy steel from the U.S., make parts in Canada, and send them back to the U.S. to assemble.
I buy products that give me the best value, regardless where they are "made". If you reject a product because of where it was made, you might be taking away american jobs from the people who supply the materials to the countries where the product is made. I wish I lived closer to the boarder so I could buy more Amerian products hat actually come from Canada and support my country.
Oh...just a side note....If you want to buy U.S. made, then we could turn off the oil, gas and electrical that Canada sends to the U.S.
The world has become too interconnected to try and isolate yourself from the rest of the world.
My two cents for today.
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Post by sandsman1 on Sept 2, 2009 12:23:51 GMT -5
I'm sure its prob hard to find everything made in the USA but when I'm shopin and i see something next to what i pick up and its made in the USA you can bet ill grab the one made here -- and if alotta people do it I'm bettin some of the corps that moved over seas to find slave labor and make a bigger killing and not pay tax's in the USA just might feel the squeeze -- and I'm pretty sure ill smile every time i do--- so that alone will be worth it
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Sabre52
Cave Dweller
Me and my gal, Rosie
Member since August 2005
Posts: 20,487
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Post by Sabre52 on Sept 2, 2009 15:16:03 GMT -5
Yeah, I've got to take kind of a contrarian view too. This issue is not as straightforward as it seems. After all lots of Americans are employed at Harbor freight or Walmart too. Lots of folks are employed stocking the shelves, transporting, wholesaling or selling foreign products too. If you don't buy foreign sneakers, you make the guy in the mall selling them lose his job then he can't buy his lunch at Mac'y D's etc etc. My brother in law used to sell American made trains to China so they can transport their raw materials, cars etc. The whole economy is pretty global now and Americans main money maker is innovation, not production because the American worker is expensive to employ. If you save a dollar buying something foreign made, you might spend that dollar in an American restaurant and if tons of folks didn't save some money shopping at Walmart, those same folks might not eat out or take in a movie etc. It's actually all so intertwined, it's actually difficult to calculate the effects of buying just American. Also, there are some odd laws governing how something qualifies for the made in America label too. I figure it's better to just shop for value and quality for the cheapest price. Money I save just goes back into he American economy in other ways. I might even save enough to buy some American rocks......Mel
PS: The one place I do try to buy American is food and produce. Having worked for the Ag Dept for years and done a lot of pesticide investigations, I don't trust pesticide use regulations in foreign countries or our systems for sampling incoming produce. Plus, I like to support American farmers who have it pretty rough these days what with water shortages and tons of new pest infestations that are occurring with the breakdown of our border quarantine systems.
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Post by Hard Rock Cafe on Sept 2, 2009 15:54:07 GMT -5
Agreed, Mel. I'm making more of an effort to buy local produce and meat to cut back on the greenhouse effects of transportation. Of course, that's hard to do here in the winter.
There's a whole lot of beef coming in from South America and it usually isn't labeled for origin. I know that a lot of the prepared food manufacturers are buying Argentinian and Brazilian beef because it's cheaper than American beef. (There's that profit motive again.) But there are early signs that may be turning around again.
Chuck
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brent
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since November 2008
Posts: 1,316
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Post by brent on Sept 2, 2009 18:15:14 GMT -5
To add to what sabre said. When trying to buy local produce, it can get tricky. Here in Canada, you need a high percentage of a products contents to be Canada grown to qualify as "made in Canada". You won't find jams, for example, listed as "made in Canada" because there is a large amount of sugar in it, which is imported.
Corporations might be setting up in other countries for labor and tax reasons, but it is also possible they are accsessing markets. We as north americans can be a bit full of ourselves, thinking we are the world. As a manufacturer, if I want to access a large market(like china), it would be wise to set up in that country to sell to the local market. There is over a billion possible consumers in China compared to four hundred million in the U.S. and Canada. Also from China, it would be easy access to the rest of Asia and Europe(probably another billion people).
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karenfh
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since November 2006
Posts: 1,495
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Post by karenfh on Sept 4, 2009 18:39:35 GMT -5
Here in my little town, I try to buy locally. Not a lot of choice on where things are made, but if I buy locally at least the $$ stay here in my little town. In a town of 2,000, sometimes you have to get creative to buy all your Xmas and bday presents locally, but I do my best. I buy all my groceries here, altho if I happen to be out of town I do sometimes get things that are not available here. Like fresh rye bread... Small towns have to stock what sells, as is the case everywhere. So, if I happen to be near a huge store, I do take advantage and stock up on my favorite 'weird' stuff. I did buy my Ford locally. Partly because it was a local dealer, partly because I had done research on the make and model, and partly because Ford did not take any bail outs. My Edge had a few problems w/a transmission seal, but the local guys took care of me, and got 'er done. My (local) 2 cents. k
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