"Made In America" fights back.

[LVJ58]

Recently discovered a small white label on our 2000 F53 Chassis with black lettering reading "HECHO EN MEXICO" along with a picture of the Mexican eagle..go figure..

Must say though it's been, and still a good chassis, no problems.

[MRBB]

Originally Posted by Gary - K7GLD

As a nation, we started down the road to buying foreign-made products MANY decades ago - and at THIS point in history, "Buying American" out of a false and pointless sense of Patriotism, is like whistling in the wind - it's a battle already LOST!

Your father is now rolling in his grave.... This is how I feel:

What has become of "us". the hard working good people of America that once held the world in the palm of their hand?

Have we become so cheap and lazy that we don't care about anything? We go about our day and try to make a living but it just gets harder and harder to do. You say "I can't do anything about it" but yes you can.

Right now today hundreds of jobs were lost because you went to Wal-Mart, Kmart, Target and bought their store brand product that was made overseas and saved a few cents instead of buying a made in the USA product.

Here is how Wal-Mart works:

They stock a brand named product made in the USA and have another made overseas for them to mimic the USA brand labeled Wal-Mart brand. Their brand is .10 cents cheaper. They know people like the brand name product so they will watch how many brand name products are sold compared to their brand. When their product reaches 75% sales of the brand name they drop the brand name and there goes thousands of USA jobs.

Sure, you got it .10 cents cheaper but now there are a lot of good people out of work which makes the economy go down. It doesn't take long as we have all seen to lose hundreds of thousands of jobs here in the USA.
__________________________________________________ __________________________________________________ ______________________________

We the people have the power to change things but we are too cheap and lazy. If no one bought gas from Exxon or Mobile for just 1 month the price of gas would drop at least a $1 per gallon but no one will do it. They are now setting us up for $5 a gal. gas and we just sit and take it.

If you have any guts, if you have any sense of right and wrong, if you want to survive then:

Buy USA made products when ever you can. Look on the shelf before you buy that made in Japan or China product. Sure, it might cost you a few cents more but you will be saving thousands of jobs and making the economy better which in the long run will benefit you.

STOP buying gas from Mobile and Exxon for just 1 month and watch the gas prices go down. Is it that hard to go to another station? They first set us up for $3 a gal gas, then $4 a gal gas and now it's $5 a gal gas. when will it end? When you STOP buying gas from the big 2 and they start lowering their prices. Every other gas maker will have to lower theirs too and you will send a message to them showing you won't stand for it.
__________________________________________________ __________________________________________________ ______________________________


You can blame anyone you want about the way things are but as long as "we the people" don't do anything about it the prices will go up, the economy will go down and our kids and grand kids will pay the price for our indifference.

If you disagree then I guess you will have to live with yourself as you watch the USA go down to a third world country.

[Gary - K7GLD]

Originally Posted by MRBB

Your father is now rolling in his grave.... This is how I feel:

What has become of "us". the hard working good people of America that once held the world in the palm of their hand?

Have we become so cheap and lazy that we don't care about anything? We go about our day and try to make a living but it just gets harder and harder to do. You say "I can't do anything about it" but yes you can.

Right now today hundreds of jobs were lost because you went to Wal-Mart, Kmart, Target and bought their store brand product that was made overseas and saved a few cents instead of buying a made in the USA product.

Here is how Wal-Mart works:

They stock a brand named product made in the USA and have another made overseas for them to mimic the USA brand labeled Wal-Mart brand. Their brand is .10 cents cheaper. They know people like the brand name product so they will watch how many brand name products are sold compared to their brand. When their product reaches 75% sales of the brand name they drop the brand name and there goes thousands of USA jobs.

Sure, you got it .10 cents cheaper but now there are a lot of good people out of work which makes the economy go down. It doesn't take long as we have all seen to lose hundreds of thousands of jobs here in the USA.
__________________________________________________ __________________________________________________ ______________________________

We the people have the power to change things but we are too cheap and lazy. If no one bought gas from Exxon or Mobile for just 1 month the price of gas would drop at least a $1 per gallon but no one will do it. They are now setting us up for $5 a gal. gas and we just sit and take it.

If you have any guts, if you have any sense of right and wrong, if you want to survive then:

Buy USA made products when ever you can. Look on the shelf before you buy that made in Japan or China product. Sure, it might cost you a few cents more but you will be saving thousands of jobs and making the economy better which in the long run will benefit you.

STOP buying gas from Mobile and Exxon for just 1 month and watch the gas prices go down. Is it that hard to go to another station? They first set us up for $3 a gal gas, then $4 a gal gas and now it's $5 a gal gas. when will it end? When you STOP buying gas from the big 2 and they start lowering their prices. Every other gas maker will have to lower theirs too and you will send a message to them showing you won't stand for it.
__________________________________________________ __________________________________________________ ______________________________


You can blame anyone you want about the way things are but as long as "we the people" don't do anything about it the prices will go up, the economy will go down and our kids and grand kids will pay the price for our indifference.

If you disagree then I guess you will have to live with yourself as you watch the USA go down to a third world country.

All sounds great - but I'll ask YOU the same question I asked the other poster in the part of my post you DIDN'T quote:

Sounds great - on the surface, but now the million dollar question:

What brand PC did YOU just use in your post?
What brand car do you drive?
What brand tires on that car?
Where did the fuel come from that powers it?
Where did MOST of your appliances and clothing originate?

There ARE American-made alternatives to MOST of those questions - did YOU make them - or simply do like the rest of us, and go for what you determined to be the best price and value for your $$$?

Respond to THAT quote, THEN we'll talk!

Is it possible that MY father isn't the ONLY one "rolling over in his grave"?

[jzick]

Just my opinion, but the Made in America stuff doesn't mean much to me (low tech manufacturing jobs IMO are a dead end), but I am glad to see others spend based on their convictions. We have our own "do not buy from" companies because of the political/social actions of the principals or employees that we rigidly adhere to. We recognize others' rights to disagree but I personally do not see a down side to strong beliefbehavior ties.

[Perry White]

Thank the Lord China's buying all or oil. Were getting even. I see Wal-Mart is losing money due to dropping there prices too much. Maybe they will belly-up and 500,000 will be out of a job.

[gripper]

Here's an artical that seems to fit right in, with this thread:


Facts About The Deindustrialization Of America That Will Blow Your Mind
The United States is rapidly becoming the very first "post-industrial" nation on the globe. All great economic empires eventually become fat and lazy and squander the great wealth that their forefathers have left them, but the pace at which America is accomplishing this is absolutely amazing. It was America that was at the forefront of the industrial revolution. It was America that showed the world how to mass produce everything from automobiles to televisions to airplanes. It was the great American manufacturing base that crushed Germany and Japan in World War II.

But now we are witnessing the deindustrialization of America . Tens of thousands of factories have left the United States in the past decade alone. Millions upon millions of manufacturing jobs have been lost in the same time period. The United States has become a nation that consumes everything in sight and yet produces increasingly little. Do you know what our biggest export is today? Waste paper. Yes, trash is the number one thing that we ship out to the rest of the world as we voraciously blow our money on whatever the rest of the world wants to sell to us. The United States has become bloated and spoiled and our economy is now just a shadow of what it once was. Once upon a time America could literally out produce the rest of the world combined. Today that is no longer true, but Americans sure do consume more than anyone else in the world. If the de-industrialization of America continues at this current pace, what possible kind of a future are we going to be leaving to our children

Any great nation throughout history has been great at making things. So if the United States continues to allow its manufacturing base to erode at a staggering pace how in the world can the U.S. continue to consider itself to be a great nation? We have created the biggest debt bubble in the history of the world in an effort to maintain a very high standard of living, but the current state of affairs is not anywhere close to sustainable. Every single month America goes into more debt and every single month America gets poorer.

So what happens when the debt bubble pops?

The de-industrialization of the United States should be a top concern for every man, woman and child in the country. But sadly, most Americans do not have any idea what is going on around them.

For people like that, take this article and print it out and hand it to them. Perhaps what they will read below will shock them badly enough to awaken them from their slumber.

The following are 19 facts about the de-industrialization of America that will blow your mind....

#1 The United States has lost approximately 42,400 factories since 2001. About 75 percent of those factories employed over 500 people when they were still in operation.

#2 Dell Inc., one of America 's largest manufacturers of computers, has announced plans to dramatically expand its operations in China with an investment of over $100 billion over the next decade.

#3 Dell has announced that it will be closing its last large U.S. manufacturing facility in Winston-Salem , North Carolina in November. Approximately 900 jobs will be lost.

#4 In 2008, 1.2 billion cell phones were sold worldwide. So how many of them were manufactured inside the United States ? Zero.

#5 According to a new study conducted by the Economic Policy Institute, if the U.S. trade deficit with China continues to increase at its current rate, the U.S. economy will lose over half a million jobs this year alone.

#6 As of the end of July, the U. S. Trade deficit with China has risen 18 percent compared to the same time period a year ago.

#7 The United States has lost a total of about 5.5 million manufacturing jobs since October 2000.

#8 According to Tax Notes, between 1999 and 2008 employment at the foreign affiliates of U.S. parent companies increased an astounding 30 percent to 10.1 million. During that exact same time period, U.S. employment at American multinational corporations declined 8 percent to 21.1 million.

#9 In 1959, manufacturing represented 28 percent of U.S. economic output. In 2008, it represented 11.5 percent.

#10 Ford Motor Company recently announced the closure of a factory that produces the Ford Ranger in St. Paul , Minnesota . Approximately 750 good paying middle class jobs are going to be lost because making Ford Rangers in Minnesota does not fit in with Ford's new "global" manufacturing strategy.

#11 As of the end of 2009, less than 12 million Americans worked in manufacturing. The last time less than 12 million Americans were employed in manufacturing was in 1941.

#12 In the United States today, consumption accounts for 70 percent of GDP. Of this 70 percent, over half is spent on services. (A disaster waiting to happen!)

#13 The United States has lost a whopping 32 percent of its manufacturing jobs since the year 2000.

#14 In 2001, the United States ranked fourth in the world in per capita broadband Internet use. Today it ranks 15th.

#15 Manufacturing employment in the U.S. computer industry is actually lower in 2010 than it was in 1975.

#16 Printed circuit boards are used in tens of thousands of different products. Asia now produces 84 percent of them worldwide.

#17 The United States spends approximately $3.90 on Chinese goods for every $1 that the Chinese spend on goods from the United States .

#18 One prominent economist is projecting that the Chinese economy will be three times larger than the U.S. economy by the year 2040.

#19 The U.S. Census Bureau says that 43.6 million Americans are now living in poverty and according to them that is the highest number of poor Americans in the 51 years that records have been kept.

#20 Morallity has eroded significantly in the last 60 years.
So how many tens of thousands more factories do we need to lose before we do something about it?

How many millions more Americans are going to become unemployed before we all admit that we have a very, very serious problem on our hands?

How many more trillions of dollars are going to leave the country before we realize that we are losing wealth at a pace that is killing our economy?

How many once great manufacturing cities are going to become rotting war zones, like Detroit , before we understand that we are committing national economic suicide?

The de-industrialization of America is a national crisis. It needs to be treated like one.

[Perry White]

Nobody wants to work anymore. Just have Govt direct deposit .

[MRBB]

Originally Posted by Gary - K7GLD

All sounds great - but I'll ask YOU the same question I asked the other poster in the part of my post you DIDN'T quote:

Quote:
Sounds great - on the surface, but now the million dollar question:

What brand PC did YOU just use in your post?
What brand car do you drive?
What brand tires on that car?
Where did the fuel come from that powers it?
Where did MOST of your appliances and clothing originate?

There ARE American-made alternatives to MOST of those questions - did YOU make them - or simply do like the rest of us, and go for what you determined to be the best price and value for your $$$?


Respond to THAT quote, THEN we'll talk!

Is it possible that MY father isn't the ONLY one "rolling over in his grave"?

And it got that way because of what I said. We are too lazy, stupid and cheap to support America. Damn America, our kids and our grand kids. We just want cheap products now at any cost.... We are special. Your father is rolling over in his grave.... and thousands of other good people whom fought and died for this country.

I'm typing on a Dell computer which used to be made here. Now they are made in China because people would rather buy a computer that is $50 less and put thousands of good people out of work.

I drive a Ford which used to be made totally in America but now most parts are made overseas... Because that is the only way Ford can compete and not for long.

So your point is "we have done ourselves in because of our laziness, cheapness and stupidity so let's just give up and let the next generation worry about it? Let's get "value" for our shrinking money while the USA sinks and feel good about it?

So let's talk....

[Gary - K7GLD]

Originally Posted by MRBB

And it got that way because of what I said. We are too lazy, stupid and cheap to support America. Damn America, our kids and our grand kids. We just want cheap products now at any cost.... We are special. Your father is rolling over in his grave.... and thousands of other good people whom fought and died for this country.

I'm typing on a Dell computer which used to be made here. Now they are made in China because people would rather buy a computer that is $50 less and put thousands of good people out of work.

I drive a Ford which used to be made totally in America but now most parts are made overseas... Because that is the only way Ford can compete and not for long.

So your point is "we have done ourselves in because of our laziness, cheapness and stupidity so let's just give up and let the next generation worry about it? Let's get "value" for our shrinking money while the USA sinks and feel good about it?

So let's talk....

My "point" is, that THIS country is FAR past any hope of restoration to what it was - or at least what we remember it being. AND, it wasn't JUST politicians and others in positions of power - it was ALL of us who each in our own way, and for our own various reasons, were looking for ways to keep our heads above water - and that USUALLY meant trying to get the most bang for our buck - value that WE found suitable for the financial situations we individually faced at the time.

Short-sighted? Perhaps - but the food and clothes we needed THEN, seemed far higher in priority than what unseen results MIGHT be lurking further on down the road.

SO, we BOTH drive Fords - largely made of parts from foreign makers - and use PC's made the same way - and who are WE to NOW so self-righteously point fingers at "the OTHER guy", whose only guilty of doing EXACTLY the SAME THING we have done - and are STILL doing?

The forces in power, who design, orchestrate, and establish conditions we ALL ultimately live under, are NOT likely to be fazed by the puny attempts to "not buy fuel from Exxon" or similar stations, as a method to forcibly reduce fuel costs - or by buying a light fixture "Made in America" instead of one from Taiwan, as our method of "Saving America".

As hard as it may be for some to accept, there ARE national and world conditions and agendas that are FAR outside the realistic abilities and potentials of the masses to counter or overthrow - and as distasteful as it may seem to those who would try, there just plain AIN'T enough of those really focused upon any form of resurrection or revolution in this country and most others, to be a worthy force - MOST are FAR too busy simply trying to SURVIVE at the individual and family level!

Dreams and soapbox oratory are great - but REALITY is inevitable - SOME things simply cannot, WILL not, be changed - and the continued decline of this country is ONE of them...

[MRBB]

Originally Posted by Gary - K7GLD

My "point" is, that THIS country is FAR past any hope of restoration to what it was - or at least what we remember it being. AND, it wasn't JUST politicians and others in positions of power - it was ALL of us who each in our own way, and for our own various reasons, were looking for ways to keep our heads above water - and that USUALLY meant trying to get the most bang for our buck - value that WE found suitable for the financial situations we individually faced at the time.

Short-sighted? Perhaps - but the food and clothes we needed THEN, seemed far higher in priority than what unseen results MIGHT be lurking further on down the road.

SO, we BOTH drive Fords - largely made of parts from foreign makers - and use PC's made the same way - and who are WE to NOW so self-righteously point fingers at "the OTHER guy", whose only guilty of doing EXACTLY the SAME THING we have done - and are STILL doing?

The forces in power, who design, orchestrate, and establish conditions we ALL ultimately live under, are NOT likely to be fazed by the puny attempts to "not buy fuel from Exxon" or similar stations, as a method to forcibly reduce fuel costs - or by buying a light fixture "Made in America" instead of one from Taiwan, as our method of "Saving America".

As hard as it may be for some to accept, there ARE national and world conditions and agendas that are FAR outside the realistic abilities and potentials of the masses to counter or overthrow - and as distasteful as it may seem to those who would try, there just plain AIN'T enough of those really focused upon any form of resurrection or revolution in this country and most others, to be a worthy force - MOST are FAR too busy simply trying to SURVIVE at the individual and family level!

Dreams and soapbox oratory are great - but REALITY is inevitable - SOME things simply cannot, WILL not, be changed - and the continued decline of this country is ONE of them...

I guess you can just lay down and die, just give up. I fought in Nam and if I did that I wouldn't be here today. I suspect you never had to fight for anything and you don't believe anything is worth fighting for.

I'm blaming ALL of us me included for falling into the "buy it cheaper" trap and placing us in this position. I'm just a poor country boy who has an international business and still doesn't even start to understand what's going on. I do know that if we ALL start buying as many USA and Canada products as we can it will create more jobs. That's just common sense.

I do know that last year we cut down on buying gas at $4 a gal and it went down to just above $3 a gal. So if we ALL pull together we can lower the price of fuel. We want our cake and eat it too so just stop buying gas from the big 2 Exxon and Mobile and it will happen.

It's people like you that give up and quit that is bringing America down to it's knees. Do you have kids? Grand kids? What are they going to say about you if you quit now and place the burden on their shoulders? Do you think they deserve to take on all the responsibility you should have taken on? Do you think you're so special that you deserve to glide along placing the burden on their shoulders? Do you think they will ever pull out of this mess? Do you think they will have a "good" life like you did because of your father and his beliefs when you gave up?

I'm sorry if I come on strong but our forefathers gave their lives to help this country grow and we can't even give up a few dollars to help America never mind our lives then it's a crying shame. That just goes to show how shallow and self important/centered we have become. Either you are a part of the problem or part of the solution.

When I shave I can look at myself in the mirror.... Can you?

It's time to step up now and take a stand. For the mistakes we made, for us, for our kids, for our grand kids, for America. If we don't do it now when can it be done? Hiding under the covers and saying "nothing can be done" may be the easy way out but it isn't the right thing or what we need to do it isn't what our forefathers did. Nothing worthwhile is easy but then it's the right thing to do. Are you with America or against it? It's time to fight for everyone who lives here and our future.

[Mekanic]

Originally Posted by wa8yxm

5 years from now when you hook up your trailer or towed to that very same ball, and the guy 2 sites over who saved his 30 bucks by buying one made with mild china steel is on his fifth ball.. Stop and think about which cost more. 5 of his or one of yours.

Thanks for supporting the country that supports you.

The plant manager where I work just dicovered that at my plant recently and it had to do with buying Gloves.

[laj]

Originally Posted by MRBB

I guess you can just lay down and die, just give up. I fought in Nam and if I did that I wouldn't be here today. I suspect you never had to fight for anything and you don't believe anything is worth fighting for.

I'm blaming ALL of us me included for falling into the "buy it cheaper" trap and placing us in this position. I'm just a poor country boy who has an international business and still doesn't even start to understand what's going on. I do know that if we ALL start buying as many USA and Canada products as we can it will create more jobs. That's just common sense.

I do know that last year we cut down on buying gas at $4 a gal and it went down to just above $3 a gal. So if we ALL pull together we can lower the price of fuel. We want our cake and eat it too so just stop buying gas from the big 2 Exxon and Mobile and it will happen.

It's people like you that give up and quit that is bringing America down to it's knees. Do you have kids? Grand kids? What are they going to say about you if you quit now and place the burden on their shoulders? Do you think they deserve to take on all the responsibility you should have taken on? Do you think you're so special that you deserve to glide along placing the burden on their shoulders? Do you think they will ever pull out of this mess? Do you think they will have a "good" life like you did because of your father and his beliefs when you gave up?

I'm sorry if I come on strong but our forefathers gave their lives to help this country grow and we can't even give up a few dollars to help America never mind our lives then it's a crying shame. That just goes to show how shallow and self important/centered we have become. Either you are a part of the problem or part of the solution.

When I shave I can look at myself in the mirror.... Can you?

It's time to step up now and take a stand. For the mistakes we made, for us, for our kids, for our grand kids, for America. If we don't do it now when can it be done? Hiding under the covers and saying "nothing can be done" may be the easy way out but it isn't the right thing or what we need to do it isn't what our forefathers did. Nothing worthwhile is easy but then it's the right thing to do. Are you with America or against it? It's time to fight for everyone who lives here and our future.

Hate to point this out, but Canada is just as foreign as china, Taiwan, or. Mexico.
Either it's American or it's not.
There are two entities killing America,and those two will not go away

[Bruce C]

Originally Posted by Tallyrver

Not me.....I have a good old HP, also made in China

Same here.

[wa8yxm]

I just replaced the OEM control board in my Attwood furnace with a Dinosaur Board, Box clearly labeled "MADE IN THE USA" (I think the OEM board was too).

Very happy with new board, Superior to OEM