Pluggers by Rick McKee for January 28, 2014

how sad that this is true!

SprawlMart used to brag on “Made in the USA.” Now they share blame for exporting jobs from the USA.

I have one shirt made in the USA. I do not know whether to wear it or donate it to a museum. And, yet, the voters and consumers make it so with short term bottom line spending.

I go to lengths to buy “Made in the USA”, but it is like finding a needle in a haystack.

One word: eBay! It’s the only place you can find a shirt (or whatever) like the one you just wore out.

For a few years now, whenever one of my shirts gets old enough to toss, I tear out and keep the “Made in …” label. What I have so far: Egypt, Indonesia, Korea (x2), Vietnam (!), Mongolia (!!), Mexico, Sri Lanka, and Guatemala. My one “Made in U.S.A.” is a Dilbert novelty shirt.

Why did this happen? Think of the Sally Field movie “Norma Rae”, about the unionizing of a southern textile plant. Unions drove the textile industry first into the South, then out of the country. My prediction: As India and China become more prosperous, much of their manufacturing will move to Africa.

You reap what you sew, or sow, or something like that.

Here is something to contemplate: MAKE your own clothing. Get some patterns, several yards of fabric in your preferred fabric and colour(s), some thread, buttons. Maybe buy a sewing machine and then make your own clothing.

When I was in Alaska earlier in the year, most of the shops displayed signs saying “Buy Alaskan”. Where was all this stuff? Most of the goods were made in China.

Until Americans start manufacturing everything in the U.S.A. again, America will continue to slide into total poverty. The current so called ‘leaders’ in Wash. DC are making America into a third world country. Bring home all the soldiers and put them to work building new factories and rehabbing old ones and start manufacturing everything from A to Z and stop sending money to foreign countries who hate us and instead spend American dollars on American roads and bridges and all the things this country needs to repair. Foreigners hate us so why send them all our money. How to fix corporate greed is another problem. This country will never be great again until it becomes a producer and not just a consumer. Production creates jobs and that is what is most needed here.

You can find them in the second hand stores. The “made in USA” clothes are the only ones that are nice enough to resell and not cut up into rags.

Years ago, I saw this sign that read, “Be American, Buy American”. Made in Japan. My wife and I will only buy American made cards.