When you have a choice, do you try to buy American?
Posted at 6:00 AM on September 29, 2009
by Anna Weggel
(32 Comments)
Filed under: Culture, Economy
Requirements that stimulus funds be spent on American products and materials have sparked a dispute over whether such rules hurt American business in the long run. Some of that controversy is being aired in a debate at noon today on Midday. When you have a choice, do you try to buy American?
Comments (32)
"PA" FYI - higher education is free in India - and, I believe in China also. Has anyone heard the term 'job arbitrage'? What this means is that, if totally unfettered, manufacturing will migrate to the country with the lowest wages. US to Mexico to China to Vietnam is the current path. I suspect China will not let this chain continue to be intact at the cost of their economy.
My experience is that many of the goods produced overseas are inferior to those produced in the US - this ranges from plumbing fittings that 'don't fit' to athletic shorts that come complete with loose threads.
You get what you pay for! I try to buy all of my tools at Sears where you can still get Craftsman 'Made in America' hand tools.
Paul Nelson
In many cases this argument stretches beyond "quality" or "a good deal".
Would you buy a quality product that is a good deal, but was produced by sweatshop/slave labor?
I do choose to buy American when I can. Some opponents of this claim it's because US firms fail to innovate. They do, they innovate by moving their operations to other countries where the labor is cheaper. It isn't because the processes in these countries are better. Often they are less efficient. The goods are cheaper because they don't have to pay their workers nearly as much because they are in developing nations. If you think it is just manufacturing jobs, think again. We have been telling Americans for years go to college. Learn skills like math and science and you will be rewarded with high paying jobs that will be secure and not outsourced. Tell that to my former colleagues who lost their jobs as chemists to workers in Singapore due the combination of a great but temporary tax break and a salary savings of at least 30% per employee.
Key word here, "choice". Like I have a choice? Since everything is made in China what choice is there? Once in America there was slavery. Now I don't know how many consumer products were made by slave labor at the time perhaps other than agricultural products, but since Abolition up to about the 1960's everything had a Made in USA label. Since then, the capitalists have re-instituted slavery once again. This time the slave labor comes from Central America, Southeast Asia and Red China. Maybe in the day one had a choice between made in the [free] North or the [slave] South, today we have no choice. Everything is made by poor starving Bangladeshi's, Vietnamese and Chinese in horrid and polluted conditions for prisoner's wages. Once wonders then why we Americans pay $100+ for a pair of Nike shoes made by slaves.
+ Bold: Minimal choices for US goods
Good luck finding any US made goods like CFL's, Kids school supplies (pencils/erasers/scissors/crayons/glue/plastic rulers/folders, etc)
United States manufacturing jobs for common goods will be non-existent soon and we will become a farming, mining, and service based economy. It will be a rude awakening to the middle class. We need to help each other to bolster in country jobs.
I dont specifically look for a made in the USA label. I buy what I feel is the best quality for the price I can afford. In certain areas like food or safety, I am willing to pay more for higher quality. If the goods from the US are not as high quality as some from another country, I will most definitely buy the goods from another country. If shoppers only think of where the good is manufactured then ultimately they are not encouraging the making of quality. If the manufacturers in the US are guaranteed customers strictly because the label says made in the USA, what is challenging them to innovate?
I am British and lived through the "Buy British" days when Britain was inundated with goods made in Hong Kong. I have lived here for 20 years and am a strong believer in supporting our local economy. I scan the labels of everything I purchase and make purchasing decisions based on country of origin, value and quality. Yes, you can buy domestic goods of quality and value if you look!
I work for a small company that manufactures baby slings entirely in Minnesota. We make an effort to buy our production supplies in the US. We pay living wages to our employees who are all from Minnesota. We produce slings that are known across our industry for its quality. There are cheaper slings around and many more expensive ones too. It think it is untrue that you can not find good, reasonably priced products in the US. There are plenty of US businesses out there that are working to manufacturer quality products.
Whenever I am stocking up on household items such as detergent, lightbulbs, OTC pain medications, papertowls, etc. I always check to see where the item I'm buying is made. I've actually found that buying the storebrand version is often made in the USA and costs less than the "namebrand" product which usually made elsewhere.
Like others, I buy as local as possible: farmers markets, independent gas stations, Midwest wines and beers. I want my dollars to go straight to my neighbors.
I also buy as much as I can “used”. We go to garage sales, estate sales and auctions, Salvation Army, and Good Will. All of our usable goods that we no longer want go right back into these supply streams or other local charities. We can afford to shop wherever we want, we choose to shop used. Used is a great way to reduce your carbon footprint, support your neighbors, and help local charities. By buying used, I am less concerned with where the original product came from, because I am making an impact on where my funds go.
RE: PA post-How do you even make a response to protectionist gold lovers. Here's an idea, invest in China.)
Planes leave everday to China, go ahead and pack and hop on one!
Besides, how can you assume I'm a layman? It's deeper then the Constitution IF you KNOW you're historical facts about HOW and WHY this nation was founded and the men that founded it:
George Washington: "Their safety and interest require that promote such manufacturers as tend to render them independent of others for essentials" Abraham Lincoln said: "If you buy from them we get the goods and they get the money, but if you buy from us, we get the goods AND the money! Teddy Roosevelt cried" Thank God I'm not a free trader!" Thomas Jefferson said" 'The prohibiting duties we lay on all articles of foreign manufacture, which prudence requires us to establish at home, with the patriotic determination of every good citizen to use no foreign article which can be made within ourselves, WITHOUT regard to difference of price, secures us against a relapse into foreign dependency"
Here's an idea for YOU, TRY reading Dr. Pat Choate, an ECONOMIST, or Eamonn Fingleton.
It's bloodsucking weasels like you who bow to the altar of unbridled free trade profit and love to exploit slave labor but refuse to live where they do so.
AW-Too bad for you...no more shouting "pay no attention to that man behind the curtain!"
-because you've been exposed as the self-serving holier than thou capitalist that you are.
Capitalism was not crerated to destroy nations so few can profit.
We are a NATION...NOT a market!
PS-Let me know when you're head is sculpted in stone, until then I'll defer to the founders.
I listened with interest to the 'buy american, hire american debate'. It was obvious the audience was born with silver spoon in mouth, and blackberries attached. They, as many americans in favor of cheap labor overseas sweatshops, may never have appreciated manual labor, and thus become merchants of cheap labor products.
The point concerning ethics was not clearly countered, therefore affirming my belief that many americans have sold their ethics to the highest bidder.
I buy American first. If I cannot find an American made product, then I look for products made in free countries with good labor laws - China is not a free country! Globalization is a race to the bottom. Transnational corporations are loyal to nothing but bigger profits. They care nothing for the quality of life of workers.
How do you even make a response to protectionist gold lovers. Here's an idea, invest in China, my bank, or, more to the point, brokerage and multiple IRA's are doing pretty well. Oh yeah, and taking two con law courses in law school gave me a pretty good idea of what the constiution says, so I don't need some ranting, gold loving, laymen inferring what the founding fathers meant when they wrote that document. Simple minds lead to simple answers.
I always look for and buy made in USA. I want to support my country. I want my money to stay here not overseas.
To the poster who suggests buying American is antiquated and less efficient, I trust he thinks that the Constitution needs to be rewritten also?
Article 1 Section 8 was written to be able to regulate commerce to "protect" our sovereignty and keep us secure by staying INDEPENDENT!
Our founding fathers were "buy American" and protectionists, including all four men on Mt. Rushmore. Our founders knew what it was like when we were "dependent" on another nation to provide us with all our needs!
Today's consumers worry about "price' and NOT the big picture. They are the "Eloi" generation far to willing to walk into the "Morlocks'" cave because it's more efficient to let someone else provide them with their most basic needs! AKA-LAZY and CHEAP!
Our standard of living is 11% LESS than it was in 1972! How efficient is that in your bank account?
"If free trade was so good for our standard of living then WHY has our nation's largest employer gone from high union wage and benefits paying GM to low nonunion wage benefits skirting Walmart?"-Barbara Toncheff
If consumers want to sell out our security and sovereignty they had better start thinking of renaming our July 4th holiday.
After we become a second class nation living under perhaps "Communism" rule, they can pat themselves on the back!
The golden rule #2-" He who has the gold rules"
and we're throwing ours away with both hands just to save a few bucks at the store.
I consider myself a mild locavore and like to know where my food comes from. However, with any other product, price and quality mean more to me than the product's source. Maybe the people commenting here have the time to research everything they purchase and the pocket change to fund high US wages that translate into higher prices. But the average consumer, I bet, does not. The standard of living in this country is extremely expensive. I feel that buying American only supports paying rich people more, supporting our high union labor (and pension) costs, high healthcare costs, and high natural resource costs. I don't make a lot, I don't belong to a union, I won't get a pension (I'm 29), I won't get Social Security, I get marginal healthcare, and I'm inheriting a country with depleted natural resources. What choice do I have?
If American's want to support a sustainable economy, they need re-educate themselves in a sustainable profession and learn to manage their standard of living. This may mean buying less period, no matter where it comes from.
I buy Minnesota first, USA second, import last. Its important to have a robust local economy that is not religant on imports, even intra narional imports. Then you are less sopen to economic problems when outher regions have problems.
I try to buy American not from some small patriotic ideal but by a large global view. I try to buy American, even better Midwestern, Minnesotan, or even best from my own town, Northfield. Making as small a carbon footprint is the goal, not waving an American flag that often looks for cheap over responsible. l also like to put into the hands money for the products grown in my own neighborhood, again, not for protectionism but because those who are doing the work are getting the reward.
When I have a chance, I try to buy as local as possible. I think this is incredibly important in relation to food production. I don't believe that buying an organic apple from Chile is that great for my health or the planet's.
When I have a choice I try to buy not just American but Minnesotan, particularly for food. I try to buy from farmers that I have talked to. I tend to avoid large food brands when possible due to the techniques used to raise and process crops and animals on a giant scale.
There are some products where you simply can't buy American. Electronics are almost all made in Asia, for example. On the other hand, I try to buy my food locally and participate in Community Supported Agriculture programs and Farmers Markets.
Buy where the money goes to people you like. If that's your fellow citizens in the USA, then look beyond the corporate name. e.g., the Subaru example above.
Why buy @ WalMart, when 90% of their inventory was Made In China?
Look beyond where the profits are going. The Toyota plants in the US send their profits to Japan, sure. But at least the employees are in the US, the money they spend is in the US economy (unfortunately subsequently going to China, but at least it starts here).
I try to buy local, rather than get distracted by nationalism.
It never seemed that important to me until I graduated from college and began working in a Union environment. America has a middle class because of the labor movement; this is just as true today as it has ever been. But my car is German, and much of my stuff is from elsewhere. What matters is that, at the micro-economic level, we make informed decisions that promote sustainable and fair practices and that, at the macro-economic level, we employ trade policies that don't put our own producers at a disadvantage and that don't exploit workers and environments in other countries.
I buy local to reduce my carbon footprint; it usually takes a lot of fuel to ship food and products from abroad, or even across the country. Also, a small local business is more likely to care about their relationship with me, so that I'll have a better experience.
I always try to buy American but find it's very difficult.to do. Sometimes if I don't have an American choice I'll try to make it myself!
Not only do I try to buy American, I will also pay more for local stuff. I also make sure I shop locally owned stores when possible.
To reiterate, jobs move around the globe because it is efficeint. Americans who complain about there jobs going oversees need to find jobs that are "effiecient" in the global economy. Further, have you gone to India and China, and seen the squalor and poverty in those countries? Go there and live with the family that "took your job" and you may realize that "your job" is better over there, in partiuclar, because you live in Amercia where you can retrain yourself relatively cheaply. You can get fed gov't programs and loans to go back to school. Education is a lot (A LOT) more expensive in India and China.
Who cares if American people are able to work and support their families? Not China nor India of course. Any time someone says we should "buy American", the Chinese and Indian governments cry foul. But then, they buy as little as possible from the USA, which then of course keeps their jobs in their own home. But being the United States of America, we are not allowed to do the same. Taking care of our own families is such a quaint and outdated notion.
But what do I know? My job went overseas earlier this year so the company could save some money and I have been unable to find a job so support my own family. How quaint indeed. I'll live out of my car if I need to - again!
Bought a Subaru, which is part of a large Japanese corpration, all parts made in Germany, and assembled I Indiana. Between immigration (legal and illegal) and globalization, the notion of buying American on its own merit is antiquated and ineffiecent.
I don't really think about it, except in the case of cars. But even then, my and my wife's "Japanese" cars were built in Tennessee and California.
I buy American whenever possible. I look for American products. I totally avoid food from China.
My daily job is in imports (I clear shipments coming into the US through customs) and yet I whole heartedly feel that in the long run we need to support American products and materials.
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