Made In The Usa



CAMPYBOB said:
but the customer service people probably speak Engrish.

But do they make frames with track dropouts, disc brakes and deraileur fittings? :D
 
Froze said:
Correct you are, we're not slamming 99% of the countries in the world either, what we are saying that if possible, which isn't always possible, to buy products made in America to support jobs here, just spending an additional $4 on US made products could create 10,000 jobs here, if every builder used just 5% more US made products it would create 220,000 jobs, this goes on and on, plus the creation of jobs creates more tax dollars. Supporting a job in Canada and England doesn't do a thing for a person working here making the same product, buying a product made in the US recycles those dollars. And you should be doing the same thing, buying mostly products made in Canada and Britain for the same support reasons I listed for buying made in America products.

Not everything made in America is high quality, but today due to electronics all cars suck but some American cars are worse than sucky, Frigidaire appliances are horrid appliances.

Mostly I try to buy American whenever possible, and I try to stay away from Chinese made products whenever possible.
We're not on the same page my friend.
I want a good quality product at a competitive price. Some countries just do a better job at that for certain products.
I don't give two hoots if it's made domestically. The law of comparative advantage tells us that it is in everyone's best interest if things are made where it is most efficient to do so. I want to encourage international competition so I can get awesome stuff cheap. I want to encourage people to have jobs because they do good work, not just because they happen to live in the same place as me.
Besides there are more industries then just manufacturing. Not everyone is suited to work in a factory. Many people make a good living facilitating international trade.
 
BikeBikeBikeBike said:
We're not on the same page my friend.
I want a good quality product at a competitive price. Some countries just do a better job at that for certain products.
I don't give two hoots if it's made domestically. The law of comparative advantage tells us that it is in everyone's best interest if things are made where it is most efficient to do so. I want to encourage international competition so I can get awesome stuff cheap. I want to encourage people to have jobs because they do good work, not just because they happen to live in the same place as me.
Besides there are more industries then just manufacturing. Not everyone is suited to work in a factory. Many people make a good living facilitating international trade.
You're right, we're not even close to being on the same page, it's people like you that don't support your country's workers or your nation's welfare, it's people like you that don't support a clean environment...what's that I said? Yup, China has a very poor record of keeping the environment clean; Oh what the hell, it's cheap, it's not bothering my country, workers getting hurt and killed with no financial compensation, but you don't care because you don't live there and it doesn't directly affect you. Not everyone is suited to work in a factory is true, so what? Your not everyone! There are a lot of people without jobs that would love to work in a factory either just to have a job to support their families or they simply like that sort of work, nor is facilitating international trade a job that all people can do, but you're too blind to see that.

I can tell you're very young, what you don't realize is that since a lot of manufacturing has gone to China life expectancy of products made has been reduced by at least 50% and in a lot of cases as much as 95%, so the quality of products has suffered tremendously. This poor product quality is a symptom of a nation building stuff that they could care less about, and being told to build it as cheap as possible, thus you're supporting people who do poor work, the very opposite effect you think you're accomplishing, you're supporting other countries operating sweatshops so you can buy stuff cheap, but what do you care you're not working in one.

You're much too young to understand all of this and a great deal more, you weren't around when things lasted a lot longer, when people had jobs and had them for life, I suggest you get on the internet and research the effects of industry leaving your country and going somewhere else, I'm not going to set here and pound on the keyboard in a feeble attempt to pound sense into you because it's tiring and I can tell it's a worthless cause.
 
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Froze said:
You're right, we're not even close to being on the same page, it's people like you that don't support your country's workers or your nation's welfare, it's people like you that don't support a clean environment...what's that I said? Yup, China has a very poor record of keeping the environment clean; Oh what the hell, it's cheap, it's not bothering my country, workers getting hurt and killed with no financial compensation, but you don't care because you don't live there and it doesn't directly affect you. Not everyone is suited to work in a factory is true, so what? Your not everyone! There are a lot of people without jobs that would love to work in a factory either just to have a job to support their families or they simply like that sort of work, nor is facilitating international trade a job that all people can do, but you're too blind to see that.

I can tell you're very young, what you don't realize is that since a lot of manufacturing has gone to China life expectancy of products made has been reduced by at least 50% and in a lot of cases as much as 95%, so the quality of products has suffered tremendously. This poor product quality is a symptom of a nation building stuff that they could care less about, and being told to build it as cheap as possible, thus you're supporting people who do poor work, the very opposite effect you think you're accomplishing, you're supporting other countries operating sweatshops so you can buy stuff cheap, but what do you care you're not working in one.

You're much too young to understand all of this and a great deal more, you weren't around when things lasted a lot longer, when people had jobs and had them for life, I suggest you get on the internet and research the effects of industry leaving your country and going somewhere else, I'm not going to set here and pound on the keyboard in a feeble attempt to pound sense into you because it's tiring and I can tell it's a worthless cause.
People like me? Pound sense? Worthless cause? It was certainly a worthy enough cause for you to write three very well written and though out paragraphs on the subject. You seem upset by my words, why get all bent out of shape by what someone says on the internet? Careful, you are prime troll bait.
I am on board with you on the environmental aspect, it’s something I care deeply about. I know a little about when a lot more things were made in the USA, but I also know about places like the Love Canal. Yes granted China is an environmental disaster. Places like Germany and Japan have better environmental standards then the USA, so I don’t buy the economic nationalism = environmental protection argument. I can buy a Japanese car that uses less fuel and will last longer than an American car.
I grew up in a very typical North American post-industrial area. An area where people moved to in the fifties and sixties for work in plants but now all the young people move out of as soon as they can because the factories left. My grandfather worked the line in an auto parts plant. He HATED his last decade there. He tells me the foreman’s would just hire their family. These people didn’t care about the work, they were entitled baby boomers who wanted a 75K/year monkey job and wanted to do as little real work as possible. Grandpa tells me they would sabotage the line so they could take a nap. That plant ended up moving to Mexico. I don’t blame it, who wants to pay someone big bucks to listen to them complain about an easy job when you can hire hungry poor people for half the price that will work twice as hard?
This is my frame of reference, tonnes of entitled lazy factory workers who do **** work and will never get fired because they have a “job for life.” Then those factories pack up and move and they go on welfare and cry about it not being fair. It’s a tough competitive world these days, nothing is life is promised or given only earned. I don’t believe this is everyone, there are good people still making good products right here. I happily spend more to buy a locally crafted beer that I know someone’s has put their heart and soul into. I’ll spend more to buy bike frame made in USA or Canada or the UK by a company that employers passionate craftsman. But I will also happily buy my dishes or my jeans from China if it means I can save money and put that money to work for MY family.
I believe good people and shitty people transcend nationality. I don’t think someone is entitled to a good job just because they were born in the same place I was. International trade opens the door for people from all over the world to raise themselves up. This is the aim of capitalism and democracy is it not? Are these not the ideals we should be holding up? That if you work hard then you can provide for your family no matter where you live? I don’t for a second think just because someone is Chinese they don’t care about what they make. Product quality decisions come from the top, it’s more likely a CEO sitting in New York that decides if a product will last long. It’s well documented practise called planned obsolescence. It happens just as much to an American products as it does to Chinese ones.
One thing you are 100% right about is that I am much too young to understand “all of this.” But what do you think I am here doing? I am putting my idea’s out there and seeing what people think about them. This is how we learn and grow. I hope I never get to the point where I think I understand everything. Is that what happens when you get old? You pick an ideology and stick to it no matter what and never consider other point s and get angry when someone has a different idea then me? That sounds awful.