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Online now: 4 members: Edge7, TABLE SETTER 11, The Wizard, smithdog9072; 105 anonymousDiscussion: Christmas Tradition
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| Nov. 7, 2011 Brett Men's 55 239 posts | Christmas Tradition As the holidays approach, the giant Asian factories are kicking into high gear to provide Americans with monstrous piles of cheaply produced goods -- merchandise that has been produced at the expense of American labor. This year will be different. This year Americans will give the gift of genuine concern for other Americans. There is no longer an excuse that, at gift giving time, nothing can be found that is produced by American hands. Yes there is! It's time to think outside the box, people. Who says a gift needs to fit in a shirt box, wrapped in Chinese produced wrapping paper? Everyone -- yes EVERYONE gets their hair cut. How about gift certificates from your local American hair salon or barber? Gym membership? It's appropriate for all ages who are thinking about some health improvement. Who wouldn't appreciate getting their car detailed? Small, American owned detail shops and car washes would love to sell you a gift certificate or a book of gift certificates. Are you one of those extravagant givers who think nothing of plunking down the Benjamin’s on a Chinese made flat-screen? Perhaps that grateful gift receiver would like his driveway sealed, or lawn mowed for the summer, or driveway plowed all winter, or games at the local golf course. There are a bazillion owner-run restaurants -- all offering gift certificates. And, if your intended isn't the fancy eatery sort, what about a half dozen breakfasts at the local breakfast joint. Remember, folks this isn't about big National chains -- this is about supporting your home town Americans with their financial lives on the line to keep their doors open. How many people couldn't use an oil change for their car, truck or motorcycle, done at a shop run by the American working guy? Thinking about a heartfelt gift for mom? Mom would LOVE the services of a local cleaning lady for a day. My computer could use a tune-up, and I KNOW I can find some young guy who is struggling to get his repair business up and running. OK, you were looking for something more personal. Local crafts people spin their own wool and knit them into scarves. They make jewelry, and pottery and beautiful wooden boxes. Plan your holiday outings at local, owner operated restaurants and leave your server a nice tip. And, how about going out to see a play or ballet at your hometown theatre. Musicians need love too, so find a venue showcasing local bands. Honestly, people, do you REALLY need to buy another ten thousand Chinese lights for the house? When you buy a five dollar string of light, about fifty cents stays in the community. If you have those kinds of bucks to burn, leave the mailman, trash guy or babysitter a nice BIG tip. You see, Christmas is no longer about draining American pockets so that China can build another glittering city. Christmas is now about caring about US, encouraging American small businesses to keep plugging away to follow their dreams. And, when we care about other Americans, we care about our communities, and the benefits come back to us in ways we couldn't imagine. THIS is the new American Christmas tradition. |
| Nov. 7, 2011 mad dog Men's 65 4191 posts | great post brett......happy holidays everyone..... |
| Nov. 7, 2011 Al33 Men's 55 183 posts | Brett, Fantastic post. Does anyone remember the old bumper stickers that said: "Buy American, the job you save may be your own." Maybe just maybe if we Americans start to smarten up, our illustrious leaders in government might get the message. We can make a difference. God Bless America ! |
| Nov. 7, 2011 stick8 1991 posts | Brett, while I sympathize with your post unfortunately the reality is the US cannot compete with labor costs on the other side of the world. Out of curiousity, are you posting from a US made computer? |
| Nov. 7, 2011 Gary19 Men's 50 2609 posts | stick, is there such a thing these days? |
| Nov. 7, 2011 stick8 1991 posts | Not that I'm aware of Gary. |
| Nov. 7, 2011 Al33 Men's 55 183 posts | Gentlemen: Yes there are computers made in the USA. Check it out for yourself. stick8, we can compete, it's just that our country has chosen not to compete. Get rid of NAFTA and CAFTA, etc. Let China and the rest of the world tighten up on their emission laws and safety laws. Have them charge us less for selling our stuff in their countries and charge them more for selling their stuff in our country. That's just the beginning. Our Government has sold us down the river boys. They are now trying to get more and better jobs in our country. Hell, they're the ones that created it in the first place. Third world countries lack a good manufacturing base. When you lose your manufacturing base and start to depend on others, then you start to turn into a third world country. Wake up people. It's happening right in front of your faces. We are the greatest country in the world and the rest of the world needs us more than we need the rest of the world. IMO. |
| Nov. 7, 2011 Z- 23 5 posts | I'd like to let you know about an American Company that makes all their clothes in the USA and thanks you with a letter when you order something. Their jeans are around $35, not as cheap as Chinamart but you are helping to keep some work in this Country. WE CONTROL WHERE THINGS ARE MADE by our buying habits. The link is allamericanclothing.com |
| Nov. 8, 2011 stick8 1991 posts | AI33 we still are the largest manufacturer in the world. Where we can't compete is in low cost labor intensive products. We do well in high tech expensive products where we can absorb the higher wages/costs. An example would be John Deere products. I fully understand your point about NAFTA, CAFTA and I'd add GATT to that. The problem is we're stuck with it. Protectionist type policies which may sound good on paper, has historically proven not to work. Buying US made products is of course desirable and we'd all like that but unfortunately on some items reality hits peoples pocketbooks. |
| Nov. 8, 2011 canIjack Men's 60 322 posts | Hey Brett, Thanks for the Post. These are really Great ideas that you have given Us. Personally my Grand Kids still will get a toy, but from what manufacture is now the question. I truely will be supporting our Locally OWN Business. COUNT ME IN, I'M FULLY WITH YOU ON THIS. |
| Nov. 8, 2011 Al33 Men's 55 183 posts | Sorry stick8, You are incorrect. As of March 2011, China took over as the worlds largest manufacturer. They account for 19.8% of the worlds mmanufacuring versus 19.4% for the USA. This has ended a 110 year reign by the United States. Pretty sad to say the least. We're not stuck with anything. We choose to be stuck with them. How many times have you heard that the United States is dependent on foreign oil? Too many times. Fact is we're dependent on foreign oil because our government wants it that way. Many government people and influential people are making a lot of money charging us for expensive foreign oil. We have more than enough oil in our own country that we choose not to use or refine. The Opec countries have two things to sell. Oil and dirt. If we told them we didn't want their oil, do you think we'd buy their dirt? Thank your enviromentalist's, lobbyist's and special interst groups for all this crap. Right now I'm concerned for my kids and their kids. Economic globalization is contributing to the downfall of our wonderful country. One word sums up most of it. GREED ! |
| Nov. 8, 2011 MikeC Men's 60 38 posts | Brett this was a GREAT post and soemthing I am going to copy and pass along to some friends and family. I am looking (wife wants a new one) refrigerator I am only going to buy something made in the USA and that cuts down your choices - Maytag/Whirlpool are same company and less than 1/4 are made here, Fridigaire is made in Mexico...Amana made here in Iowa so that is where we are headed. Point is product may be tough to find but we need to look hard. Thanks Brett for your ideas! |
| Nov. 8, 2011 stick8 1991 posts | AI33 I wholeheartedly agree with you about foreign oil. We do get most of our oil from Canada however. That being said estimates have oil reserves that we know about in the US to be that in an amount more than Saudi Arabia. Is it true we haven't had a new refinery built in the US in 30+ years? |
| Nov. 8, 2011 E4/E6 Men's 70 873 posts | Not quite true stick, copy and paste the link below and see some rather enlightening facts. Where does US oil come from - PBS Who Consumes the Most Oil? Where Are the World's Oil Reserves? Some surprising facts about U.S. oil consumption and more. Where Does U.S. Oil Come ... www.pbs.org/frontlineworld/stories/colombia/images/map.swf Where does US oil come from - PBS |
| Nov. 9, 2011 Webbie25 Men's 70 2414 posts | E4/E6-there is an interesting disagreement on the facts about oil. If you go to the Wikipedia, the figures there are totally different from the figures in your link. If you go further into trying to find accurate figures, you will find that articles written by people who favor the left will always show less reserves and more usage for the US and figures written by people who favor the right will always show more reserves and less consumption by the US. There are several kinds of oil reserves and some are easier and less expensive to get to than other types. I am taking 2 college Economics courses right now and in my attempts to find the TRUE facts about so many topics (including oil reserves), the only thing that I can count on is that it will be impossible to determine what those truths really are. Seriously, try it. It has taken me 11 weeks of courses to figure out BOTH sides are spinning truths, half truths, and outright lying to make us vote for them (something I knew already but the confirmation has been saddening). I have been saying for years that CONGRESS AS A WHOLE is our biggest problem. An impromptu get together of University of New Mexico Professors yesterday concluded that "Occupy" has it wrong. They concluded the root cause of our problems was Government---i.e. Congress. Not a surprise to me. |
| Nov. 9, 2011 Tater50 Men's 60 336 posts | Brett: good one!!! My family has cut back big time on spending & we are cutting back on the Christmas presents this year; including travel; trying to save more on petro consumption. Before last election (state); I eeeeed ALL my congressman asking them their position on 4 critical items (IMO) that really effect the USA. I told them if I did not receive supportive answers, I would vote against them. 1. Drilling into our own Oil reserves 2. Illegal Immigration 3. USA Welfare abuse 4. Foreign Welfare Abuse (Nations that love us when they want the handouts or when a castastrophe hits, but 6 months later, after sanity has been restored, they start slinging cow poop on us.) I received NO answers & my whole family voted against them. I will continue to lobby them on these issues, but now that you guys have opened up my eyes to other issues, will add those to my list. Tater50 |
| Nov. 9, 2011 Al33 Men's 55 183 posts | Webbie25, Thankyou, You are exposing what many of us already know. We are only told half the truth and usually the wrong half. It's certainly not to benefit the common American citizen. Tater50, Great points. think I will try the same thing. Many people have the attitude that they can't do anything about it so why try. Fact is, if we stick together and do our part, no matter how small it might be, WE can make a difference and help to institute change. |
| Nov. 9, 2011 E4/E6 Men's 70 873 posts | Mark you are absolutely right, we can read it right or we can read it left, without any definitive answer. As with most government issues we are left to our own devises to find the real truths. Hope we can meet in Vegas, somewhere in the middle. =) |
| Nov. 9, 2011 stick8 1991 posts | Interesting site E4/E6, thanks for sharing. If I read that correctly 41% of the oil we use is domestic? If that's accurate. It's also interesting that as a nation we use more oil than all others. Do you think many people know oil is used for more purposes other than energy purposes? |
| Nov. 9, 2011 Webbie25 Men's 70 2414 posts | E4/E6-we will be there-would like to meet you. |
| Nov. 9, 2011 stick8 1991 posts | Webbie I guess the old saying that the truth lies somewhere in the middle might apply here, right? How'd you guys do in Phoenix? |
| Nov. 9, 2011 Webbie25 Men's 70 2414 posts | Hi stick8-I'm finding that there is merit in each sides positions, but one side sure does not have a monopoly on being right. You have also hit on another great point-an awful lot of people don't realize how many things oil is used for-and just cutting emissions by a few percent on cars or raising the MPG will have about as much effect on our climate as one person peeing in the ocean would have in raising the sea level. We had our opportunities, but could not close the deal in Phoenix. Tied for seventh and lost both bracket games in the seventh inning. How about you guys? |
| Nov. 9, 2011 stick8 1991 posts | I understand oil is used in the production of womens make up? Wow. We were world beaters Friday and Saturday but Sunday we came out a bit flat in the winners bracket final. Not hitting a couple innings hurt but what really got us were a few errors. A good team like Line Drive/Salsa Bombers will take advantage of them and they did. Plus they play great defense which put more pressure on us. We were playing catch up all game and fought back. We were down 3 with 2 out and a runner on 2nd in the open inning with 3 hr's left. We had our 3-4-5 hitters coming up and they had been smashing it all weekend. Our 3 hitter hit a line shot lazer which their ss jumped up and made a real nice catch and we lost. Then we just stunk it up and lost to NorCal Longhorns (after beating them twice earlier). We finished third. |
| Nov. 9, 2011 Webbie25 Men's 70 2414 posts | Stick-they also use fish scales in eye shadow--go figure. |
| Nov. 9, 2011 E4/E6 Men's 70 873 posts | And Cat Sweat in some Perfumes...or so its said...... |
| Nov. 9, 2011 stick8 1991 posts | Some of the ingredients that go into products are baffling to say the least. I hate to think of what might be contained in some of the food we eat. |
| Nov. 9, 2011 Webbie25 Men's 70 2414 posts | Soylent Green. |
| Nov. 19, 2011 ShaneV Men's 55 393 posts | It seems clear to me that the deals made between the 0.5% (politicians) and the other 0.5% (corporate elite, wealthy, lobby) now benefit only the 1% and leave the 99% out. The costs are all ours now and the benefits are all theirs. It seems we, the 99%, had little to do with wrecking our economy, or Europe's economy, so who did the wrecking? I still have a job fortunately, and I'm still paying my bills. I've had pay reductions for the last 2 years and have cut back in many areas. I read everything I can about Libertarian philosophy, I follow DownsizeDC.org, National Right To Work, C4L and many other efforts that focus on us, the 99%. I hope that the "occupy" movement continues to grow, to the point we cannot be ignored. ShaneV |
| Nov. 22, 2011 Webbie25 Men's 70 2414 posts | Shane-you want an answer to who wrecked the economy? CONGRESS did. Sweet and simple. BOTH SIDES. Period. Even my PhD Economics teacher came right out and said it yesterday when the 'PSEUDO-SUPERCOMMITTEE' struck out. Did that really surprise anyone? The occupy movement does not go to the root of the problem-the lawmakers themselves that are too busy tying to get re-elected and too busy lining their own pockets with corporate money rather than doing the right thing. We seriously need to vote them all out-both parties, and then vote them out again in 2 years and 4 years until they get the idea they better get their acts together. |
| Nov. 23, 2011 stick8 1991 posts | Webbie as a student of politics I understand the salary of members of Congress is around $174k/year with incentives (whatever those are) up to $100k on top of that. It sure seems that it's a lot of money to be paid and accomplish nothing. I wonder how many other jobs you can make that much and not get anything accomplished? Unfortunately that's the result of a divided government we have. It's like the irresistable force against the immovable object. |
| Nov. 23, 2011 Webbie25 Men's 70 2414 posts | And pay increases are now automatic-they don't even vote on them anymore. That plus legal insider trading, kickbacks that are disguised as campaign donations, etc. etc. etc. etc. Lifetime pensions after one term, anybody have any questions?? |
| Nov. 23, 2011 stick8 1991 posts | Webbie, where do I apply? lol |
| Nov. 23, 2011 Webbie25 Men's 70 2414 posts | stick-I feel you could not stoop that low. |
| Nov. 24, 2011 stick8 1991 posts | Oh I know Webbie, I was only kidding. But the thought of automatic pay increases and lifetime pensions after one term is certainly appealing just by itself. I recall a couple years ago playing a tournament is Manassas, Virginia (real close to DC). After we were done on friday we were driving thru DC to visit and have dinner with a cousin of mine who lives there. On the freeway there were exits to the US Senate and the US House of Representatives. I sort of had this urge to pull off those exits and walk into each chamber and ask each member "do any of you have any common sense?" |
| Nov. 24, 2011 Webbie25 Men's 70 2414 posts | I see we are on the same page. You saw where the House is going to part time next year-only 109 days in session compared to 127 this year. Well, I guess that's less time wasted doing nothing in the chambers. More time out lining pockets with their lobbyists. More and more people are saying enough-we have to vote them all out. It may take 2 or 3 cycles, but maybe they would get it then. VOTE OUT THE INCUMBENTS! |
| Nov. 24, 2011 batter4u Men's 65 82 posts | bottom line is we have the best congress money can buy, and they do a good job of helping themself and the top 1%. Their main focus is not on what is best for the country but on getting re-elected and maintaining their position of power. Now that I ve got that off my mind,,,, everyone have a safe and filling happy thanksgiving,,,, |
| Nov. 24, 2011 stick8 1991 posts | Webbie have you seen Congressional approval ratings? They are pretty much in the toilet. The odd thing is I've watched interviews with people who will say exactly what we've been saying but when it comes to the Congressional representatives who rep their district they feel he/she is great!! Seems weird to me. Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours! |
| Nov. 24, 2011 Webbie25 Men's 70 2414 posts | The ball is rolling, albeit slowly, stick. People have to get used to the idea that their smiling congressmen and women are as much a part of the problem as everyone else's congressperson.These people have to be salesmen. Once you are able to look past that, you see they are all the same. Happy Thanksgiving! |
| Nov. 25, 2011 neck10 714 posts | there's oil in the united states but sometimes not allowed to drill for it.In lake erie canada drills for gas(but united states can't)lake michigan has a large amount of reserves but can't touch it.with todays technology not much chance of (lateral drilling going down 5 to 10 thousand feet then drilling straight out)a spill since you can be 1 mile from shore line & one mile out into lake at a depth of 10,000 feet,there's no way that well could get into water not like in the gulf where the rigs are actuly in the water with well heads on bottom of the sea.I just dont get it the people fighting it must know this too I say let them cut fire wood for there heat and ride a bike to work or walk. |
| Nov. 25, 2011 5ToolsinOhio Men's 50 160 posts | I am not afraid to admit ...the last 12 or so replys are hard on the eye's. lolol |
| Nov. 26, 2011 Webbie25 Men's 70 2414 posts | 5toolsinOhio-it is hard. It is hard to realize we have done this to ourselves. Brett started this chain of thought by pointing out the problem with Chinese goods. I so much agree with him. There is no easy answer.The truth of the matter is we cannot even come close to competing with them, YET.Their wages are so much lower than ours that it is cheaper to set up factories there and ship materials back and forth. It is one of the byproducts of our being the most prosperous nation, possibly the most prosperous that the world has ever seen. Our wages are high here, and our standard of living is high. Our poverty line for a single person is $11,344 a year and that figure doesn't include food stamps, housing assistance, WIC, or a myriad of other programs-the international poverty line is $1.25/day or $456.25 a year and 1/4 of the worlds population lives below that. When you see that in print you have to realize how amazingly wealthy our country is. Our poverty line has become what I call a 'relative poverty line' because the problem is no longer whether we have food for the next meal, or a roof over our head, or clothes on our backs, because $945.33 a month (plus food stamps) will provide that easily. Now the problem seems to be envy that some people have so much and others don't have quite enough (income equality), in their estimation. (I wonder how many people that live below the poverty line and holler about not having enough to live on were in lines for Black Friday). Have faith, basic economics is beginning to hit China-as their standard of living goes up, their wages are, too-but slowly. Soon, as they move toward equilibrium the advantage they have in cheap labor will disappear. But, I am sure another very poor nation will be the next recipient of our factories. I am all ears if anyone has an answer about how we can fix this. Encouraging people to buy American won't work-all you have to do is go to the nearest WalMart. You can't even park within a half mile of the stores. Why? Low prices. Especially with an economy that is in the state ours is in with 9% unemployment and 17% real unemployment(and I am one of those that is unemployed, looking for a job and NOT counted in the 9%), people have to look for the lowest prices. I say we have to start with Congress-vote them ALL out and get them back working for us and not their own pockets and their own re-election. Once we do that we can start working on the rest of our issues. We had a great Thanksgiving-my wife and I hope you all did the same. |
