Made in China:Do you really care?

[mastab]

Where do I start?

For years the American consumer has enjoyed the ultimate Trifecta....high wages, high rates of return on investments, and low prices on consumer goods. Like MLM, this house of cards doesn't last forever. Eventually, we will only be able to have 2, but not all 3.

The goods we've gotten are at the expense of 2 things: American jobs and high energy prices.

1) American Jobs: The Chinese government has been subsidizing their manufacturer's. If the company is working with zero revenue, or even worse at a negative revenue....the government subsidizes these companies. Why is this bad? Well, in the US this would be considered anti-competitive, and not allowed. And it has put efficient American companies out of business who had to compete with Chinese companies who didn't have to make a profit to stay in business.

2) Higher energy prices: China has become an industrialized nation, growing at a phenomenal rate. Industrialized nations, especially manufacturing nations, require LOTS of energy resources. Energy resources are finite, so when aggregate demand goes up....so does the price.

If the purpose of buying goods is to save money...have we really saved anything? Our landfills fill up with cheap disposable, sub-quality goods. We are the "throw-away" or "disposable" generation. Appliances used to last a lifetime, as did most other consumables. Now, they are made to be disposable. At what cost.?

American Jobs: By no means am I in favor of Unions. They served their purpose a hundred years ago, but in today's world they are antiquated and put our workforce at a competitive disadvantage with the rest of the world. There may be a few good Unions out there, but overall they reward and protect the lazy.Any public company that is capable of moving their workforce overseas either has done so, is in the process of doing so, or is going to do so.

So, do people really care if things are Made in China? Only until it affects them on a personal/individual level?

[MoeMag]

Some things just shouldn't be made in china.
Like Justin boots. what were they thinking?

[michbich]

This doesn't concern only Americans, it affects all nations. We do lose a lot of jobs to the Chinese up north too. When i was in the machinshop business, we did lose contracts to them. It was impossible to compete, they're total price only covered the price of the material here.

Unions adds to our downfall as well. In my home town, we have 3 lumber mills. They are slowly downsizing and will shut down in a matter of years. They keep the town alive, without them, it will become another ghost town within the next 10-15 years. This wouldn't happen if the union wasn't there. Granted, the union isn't the main factor for they're downsizing but rather the exchange with the US that is hurting our industry. None the less, the union is like a kick in the face after your already down.

(Keep in mind, i'm not an analist of any kind. This is only my opinion and i have no studies to back myself up.)

[Papa_Smurf]

Yeah I care. I want the jobs here. I' a cheap bastard, but it'd be worth a price difference. But they do put out SOME quality stuff.

[spwz99]

i never used to, but recently, especially with the economy on the verge of or in the middle of a recession whenever i have the chance, I try to buy american mde goods.

[xxkylexx]

Yes.

[Mann]

Will I buy items made in china? yes.

Do I care if it is made in china? no

Do I believe all things made in USA are better than China? no

Do I believe that the USA can make things better if we try? yes

I believe we have been a little spoiled as a country. I still believe that we are the greatest (most innovative, productive, powerful), but here lately it seems like all we want to do is °°°°°. I think it is time we stand up, quit giving out money, let our military fight the battles (not the media), shoot the producers of MTV, and go to work.

I believe that there are too many people out there who believe they have a "right" to nice houses/fancy cars. It doesnt matter what you do. You will not make 40k a year when your 18yrs old. Get use to working your way up the chain.

That or we need to nuke the middle east/east. basicly anything on the other side of the pond.

[ta2maki]

I think we need to change from having 'what is new' back to 'what is good'. People want what is new and fancy instead of quality and reliable. This makes for products that are 'disposable', since they only need to last a few years until it is replaced by something else newer and shinier. For the most part, I am an old fashioned consumer, I try to get something that will last, use and repair it until it is completely worn out. I still drive my first car, an '88 nissan, which I have had for 18 years now.

[ThePixelGuru]

I buy American made goods when I can, so yeah, I guess I care.

As for the depression thing, couldn't agree more. The country got into that mess because everyone cut wages in order to make and sell stuff cheaper, which was great for business in the short term. Companies were doing well, and everyone invested in them. The thing they forgot about was that the people buying these awesomely cheap products were the workers whose wages got cut. Soon they didn't have the money to buy anything, and the companies didn't have the revenue to stay afloat and closed up, putting everyone out of their jobs.

What we're doing now is the global version of that. American companies are laying off workers and moving jobs overseas so they can sell stuff cheaper here in America - what do you think is going to happen when the American worker can't afford the cheap stuff? :rolleyes: History repeats itself until we actually learn something from it.

[TnDeathInc]

Im glad you guys see unions for what they are. I seen many saralee plants shut down for just the fact the unions and their demands outpriced the Profit return on products. I seen our company pack up and move to texas phonis or mexico where cheaper labor could be found.


My current compnay pays so well and other perks that steel workers union (stronger amongst unions) that they decert in 1 year in order to receive non union benefits. American motor companies wake up, paying for someone's healcare and 70% salary for the rest of their life is ruining your ability to be competitive. You have people that turn one screw with an air wrench paid 30 an hour.

I say let the chinese and other countries screw them in the °°° till they flop and new companies can take over, then they will think about the "advantage having a union is.

did i mention i hate the unions.

PS i dont buy toys from China

[devil1]

I try my best to buy goods from USA. Its supports this country and american jobs. I will even take it a step further. Last year I was working for Clorox (large consumer products company) they decided to outsource about 400-500 IT jobs using HP as the vendor. My old job is now in Malaysia amongst 7 others on my team. My family and myself no longer purchase their products and I try my best not to support companies that outsource. I know its real hard not to find outsourcing companies but I try my best.

I believe sooner or later outsourcing good paying jobs will catch up with these large corporations. When you start hearing words like "innovate" outsourcing is on the horizon.

[Meph]

I think it goes beyond "Do you care?"

Rather the focus is more on "What can you do about it?" Sadly in numerous cases the answer is "nothing, and like it!" Because your choices are so limited. Either you have an option of items to chose from with all being from China or Taiwan. Or you have an option of items to chose from being from Canada or Mexico. Even "American" products are made outside the US. How can you buy American when it's not even made in America?


And yes. Unions are evil. As is NAFTA.