Posted on 07/28/2012 4:02:37 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
Mitt Romney and Barack Obama are currently fighting over who is the more patriotic. Obama slams Romney for having outsourced jobs to China during his Bain Capital days. Romney punches back by labeling Obama Outsourcer in Chief. The latest is that both John Boehner and Harry Reid are voicing outrage over Americas made-in-China Olympic uniforms. Burn them! thunders Reid.
Republicans and Democrats strangely agree that outsourcing is unpatriotic, and that the moral and patriotic thing to do is to Hire American and Buy American.
Well, no. Not in a thousand years. The fear of outsourcing and international trade is economic nonsense and moral blindness. More than that: this anti-profit attitude is un-American.
Despite the ongoing Europeanization of America, America still symbolizes the land of freedom, entrepreneurship, profit-making, above all, individualism.
But collectivism is the premise of Hire/Buy American: we are to view ourselves and others not as individuals, but as units of a nation. Businesses are urged to pay more in labor costs, simply to hire workers who are American; consumers are urged to forgo Walmarts low prices, pay more, simply because the pricier goods were made by our guys. This is not rational patriotism, it is not Americanism, it's primitive tribalism.
American individualism means making buying decisions on the basis of economic merit, giving no regard to the nationality or race of the seller. Lets not hide behind patriotic-sounding slogans. Lets name things straight for a change: giving preference to American sellers over foreign sellers is the same mindless injustice as giving preference to sellers who are white over those who are black.
Economic nationalism is as morally outrageous as racism. Buying on the basis of nationality or race is the same collectivist evil: judging men and their products by the group from which they come, not by merit.
(Excerpt) Read more at forbes.com ...
Ususlly, if someone sends me a coloring-book filled with scattershot arguments, I only respond to the most imbecilic point. Even if I was not posting from a cell phone right now, I probably would not have responded to everything you stated. That is just the way it is, sorry again.
Wait a minute. You just finished saying people will not pay more. Now you are saying they will?
WG:Cheap foreign steel is bad.
Me:Why?
WG:Because it will drive expensive American steel out of business.
Me:Why is that bad?
WG:Because then those mean foreigners will raise the price of steel and high priced steel is really bad for our economy.
ME:So we need to make cheap foreign steel more expensive now?
WG:Yes! Immediately!
ME:We need expensive foreign steel now to protect us from expensive foreign steel in the future?
WG:Wait, what?
Me:LOL!
Listen, I completely understand why you wish to ignore context, and simply post links. I’ m sure that I have more than 50,000 comments on FR. Knock yourself out.
There is a price advantage using disenfranchised slaves to produce manufactured goods, it is estimated about a 5% advantage on average. Now when you factor in the social, taxation problems it causes here in the USA when domestic factories are closed it is a net loser. But the retail price will be about 5-10% cheaper. Everyone here thinks the price would double if made in the USA, that is the big free trade lie that must be fought. One you like to spread. The fact is labor is only about 10% of the retail price, and that is if it is made domestically with UNION labor. 10% is the upper limit.
If you think that there will NEVER be a war with a nation(s) where we, the USA, will need to produce large quantities of ships and armor then the domestic steel industry is worthless. Let slaves make it. But what if you are wrong?
That is an excellent point. How many tons of steel will we need in that case?
(And I understand that domestic steel production is essential to national security. So all you protectionists ready to stampede here to prove how "patriotic" you are, shove it).
Both groups need more Sowell.
Compared to what?
At what cost?
If you have a source, or facts, to back up your numbers, I would be very interested to see them. Please do not link to a commielib site. Thanks in advance.
Is it really worth the risk?
Can’t wait to get home and spam you with links, wait, as if . . . never mind, that would be stupid.
Who said we should do that? Try again?
How many tons of steel will we need in that case?
Do your own research. I stick to my numbers. Hint: If you want stats look at labor costs per unit for something still union made in the USA consisting of rubber, glass and steel.
Each ship averages 6,000 tons, each tank 60 tons. Say in a real war 1000 ships, 20,000 tanks. You can do math can’t you?
I suppose the follow-up question is, for you and the rest here who believe that closing our market to the outside world is the best option, how much steel will you buy yourself? 48,000lbs. makes a flatbed with no special permits.
7.2 million tons.
You can do math cant you?
Better than you, obviously.
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