I also love the excuse that supporting American made, you are putting the "working" class ahead of the customer, never mind that they are the customer.
When did it become anti-conservative to put American made first and not Chinese communist made first?
That's what I would like to know.
I don't feel well this morning and was really interested in Nowhere Man's post and also those of A. Pole; there were some other posters who may not be on the same page as me, but they seem to be concerned, as am I, where things are heading with all the oursourced jobs and "made in China" and all the peripheral issues relating to Wal Mart type business practices. I didn't read all authors NM did, but some of them and others he may not have.
I do love the world of ideas. I remember reading "Utopia" years and years ago and don't remember much about it although it seemed to be written from an elitist pov. The one thing I do remember is that he (can't remember the author without googling him) advocated bringing in foreign, "inferior, unsophisticated, less-cultured" (not his exact words) workers to do the meat slaughtering and packing so the more sensitive citizens could do more pleasant work. Sound familiar?
We are going to have to change some of the ways we think and look at jobs and people or like Nowhere said, robots are going to take more jobs. Then what? I can't think that far ahead, but robots definitely could take over some Wal Mart jobs. Speaking of robots, some employers treat their people like robots anyway so what is the difference? Robots can't fight back. When they break down, they will be repaired, discarded or replaced with new, better and more efficient robots. That will make the anti-union people happy. I doubt robots will be unionized and I doubt most of them will be "made in America."
My biggest beef with Wal Mart is that when they opened their doors, I think it was in the 70's or so, they pledged to sell only American made goods (when available?). How quickly people forget! This young generation doesn't know about that pledge. It made me feel good to buy quality goods with that paper UNION tag on them, "Made in America." at WAL MART where I did a lot of shopping back then. Now to me they are becoming part of the problem rather than the solution even if their products are cheaper.
Perhaps they do have some happy workers, but they are probably oblivious to the unhappy people whose jobs are being adversely impacted or done away with by their employer. Some towns don't want Wal Mart to come in. And Quebec is better off without them imo.
My biggest beef with Wal Mart is that when they opened their doors, I think it was in the 70's or so, they pledged to sell only American made goods (when available?).
How available are American-made goods? It is not only Wal-mart that sells Chinese-made goods. CNBC replayed its Wal-Mart documentary yesterday "The Age of Walmart" It showed one of the factories in China that make Brats dolls. The person being interviewed explained that the Brats doll made in China sells at Walmart for under $20. The same doll made in the U.S. would be priced at $60 or $70. This is what the unions have done to the U.S.A. A short-lived era after WWII where Europe and Japan were rebuilding and the U.S. manufacturing workers benefitted is now over. That was an unusual phenomenon, not the American way of life. Live with it.