Made in America
This morning, I put on a blouse with a label that I had not seen in quite awhile: "Made in America." The blouse, was not that unusual nor different than other blouses I own, except for the fact that I paid probably 3 or 4 times as much for it as I would have a blouse of similar quality made somewhere else.
Like everyone, I purchase goods made outside of this country. For instance, I have a collection of exotic fragrances from France, many items of clothing made in China, Mexico, Sri Lanka, Canada and other places from around the globe. My car, in fact was made in another country, and so was this computer that I rely upon for work projects and the dissementation and receipt of information.
Although a non-mainstream thinker, I consider myself a worthwhile American. I like to see the people of this country benefit economically as much as possible. I want each of us to have affordable healthcare, social security benefits, quality jobs and be able to prosper in this country as best as we can. So, I ask myself, why are most of the goods that we purchase here in our own country produced elsewhere? Does it make sense that, as Americans, we should have to pay 3-4 times as much for similiar good produced here in our own country?
Which brings me to the topic of the day: What, if any opinion, do you have on the outsourcing of goods and/or services to non-American companies? Who benefits? How does job outsourcing impact our country here, employment as well as the economy.
Thank you for your minds.
Like everyone, I purchase goods made outside of this country. For instance, I have a collection of exotic fragrances from France, many items of clothing made in China, Mexico, Sri Lanka, Canada and other places from around the globe. My car, in fact was made in another country, and so was this computer that I rely upon for work projects and the dissementation and receipt of information.
Although a non-mainstream thinker, I consider myself a worthwhile American. I like to see the people of this country benefit economically as much as possible. I want each of us to have affordable healthcare, social security benefits, quality jobs and be able to prosper in this country as best as we can. So, I ask myself, why are most of the goods that we purchase here in our own country produced elsewhere? Does it make sense that, as Americans, we should have to pay 3-4 times as much for similiar good produced here in our own country?
Which brings me to the topic of the day: What, if any opinion, do you have on the outsourcing of goods and/or services to non-American companies? Who benefits? How does job outsourcing impact our country here, employment as well as the economy.
Thank you for your minds.
19 Comments:
I've been away for a while... good to be back! You ask another good question. Well... Here's the thing. We Americans get great salaries compared to everywhere else in the world. So of course our goods are going to cost more -- we pay our workers (close to) a "living wage", whereas workers in China (for instance) don't make what we think of as a living wage or even close to it. I think the problem at the core of this price disparity is the OVERALL disparity between the U.S. standard of living and the standard of living everywhere else. Our standard of living is SOOOOoooo high. We use far more than our fair share of the world's resources and cause more than our fair share of the world's pollution and waste. I don't have much "Made in America" stuff at this point myself -- I opt for the cheaper stuff... but maybe the real issue is that I have so MUCH stuff, wherever it's from. I mean... geez, I'm sure I have more shirts, pants, shoes, etc. than entire families in 3rd World countries. So when I think of it like that, I feel LESS compelled to worry about "buying American" and more compelled to worry about evening things out, standard of living-wise, around the world.
Excellent points, Aral...You are one smart patty pez!
I probably have more fragrances, cosmetics and lotions than are available in some third world country stores, now that you mention it! It is indeed an eye-openerer for this woman.
But I suppose my question has two parts to it: First, it deals with the purchases of products and goodes made in America, and the second, a completely diferent question, deals with why we outsource jobs to non-American companies. Who benefits in the short run and the long run?
Wow. I started to reply to this one and it turned into a post on my blog. It was far too long to be a simple comment.
In a nutshell, consumers benefit from outsourcing, while the people who loose their jobs do not benefit. As long as the benefit to consumers is greater than the loss of people who are out of work, the economy as a whole grows.
This is a most interesting topic. Aral Peppermint Patty Pez is absolutely right.
I'm not smart enought to comment on this, but here I am commenting anyway.
So I'll (sort of) quote Lou Dobbs on this topic:
One, the U.S. is not creating jobs in the private sector, and that's never happened before in our history.
Two, the U.S. hasn't had a trade surplus in over twenty years.
Three,the U.S. has lost three million jobs in this country over the last 3 years, and many, many more are at risk of being outsourced to cheap labor markets.
So, is outscourcing working out for us? I don't think so. I do try to "buy American." But some days you can't find the thing you want at any price, if you insist on American-made. And call for computer help...you aren't going to be connected to someone in the USA.
I buy American when the product is close to equal quality or price. But some things have always beem made better elswhere. An example would be some of the carving tools i use. Japanese are the best in the world and that they cost more than anyone's does not bother me. But if the product is assembled here or made here by a company that has its headquarters out of the country I would consider it an American product Is there a car that is totally manufactured in America? Stock holders can be from anywere in the world and are. Outsorcing of jobs is not just an American problem it is one of the reasons the E.U. vote failed in France. Remember French and German unemployment is twice what ours is.
that sort of reminds me of what my mother said eat your peas the poor children in india are starving. Weither I eat my peas or not will not help the poor in third world countries.
Tan Lucy: Everyone is able to speak on this subject, regardless of labels, and you have raised a very good point, from Lou Dobb's, who has written a book on this subject, by the way.
Yochanan's comments are a perfect example of the inherent contradiction in outsourcing of jobs vs. pride in buying American.
On the one hand, we want to buy products made in our our country to support this economy. As aral states, howerver, we are not always able to do so, because those comparable products made elsewhere are more often than not cheaper than those made in America.
Ultimately, we will go for cheaper products, since we look after our own pocketbook. But who is controling those companies where decisions are being made to outsource in the first place? It is ususally, none other than one of your favorite companies, who more likely than not, is headed by someone who represents the beliefs and values of the currrent administration. On the one hand, they are getting richer, and we are lead to believe that this is not really at issue, since we are buying products from abroad for less money. Does this make sense to anyone?
Workers sell their labor on an open market, much like farmers used to sell apples in markets. When you apply for a job, you have to realize that you are in direct competition with everyone willing to do that job worldwide!
This is why America is loosing skilled and unskilled jobs to overseas markets. Somewhere else there are people willing to sew jeans for a fraction of what you are willing to do the same for - so they get hired.
The only "safe" jobs are jobs that have to be done here, like the guy who makes the pizza, the letter carrier, or top management. Even the person who checks your shoes for bombs at the airport. But if your job involves making widgets in a factory, watch out. Right now, someone in the third world is willing to do your job for less than a buck a day.
I confess that I don't look to see where the things I buy come from. I am more concerned with quality and price.
I work at a Williams-Sonoma catalog call center (parent company of Pottery Barn). A great deal of our merchandise comes from overseas. WS states that they make sure that no endangered trees are used in wood products nor are any of the bedding or rugs made in "sweat shop" or slave-labor types of places. They conduct inspections, not only of product quality control, but of workers' conditions. So, our American shoppers are helping to provide Third World people with a living.
I've worked there, part-time, since September 2000 and only once has a customer changed their mind about buying something because it wasn't made in America. (Sometimes people are curious and do ask.) People complain about our prices and shipping costs, and yet if everything were made in the USA, then the costs would skyrocket.
Actually, now that I think of it, our Williams-Sonoma Home catalog has American-made furniture and it's the most expensive stuff we sell.
We can't have it both ways!
The one thing I hate is when I call for technical or credit card assistance, I get someone who barely speaks English.
I guess that I wish that the nations of this world could think more globally. If we were all acting for the betterment of the people of the world rather than the people of just our nation, perhaps things would be better - economy, environment, etc.
exotic hard woods are something i know about. The rain forests are not being wasted because people use the wood in fact they would be perserved if people used the wood. They would re plant the trees. As it is now the rain forest is just burned for one of two reasons to make way for poor farmers on a susistance level or for big ranches for the well to do. Selective harvesting of trees would allow the rain forests survive. When you value the trees as a valuable useful resorce the local people will want to perserve them.
dddragon: I am so jealous! I LOVE William Sonoma.
Actually, I bet if we took a survey, very few of us would buy goods Made in America. As aral notes, the price is just too high. I myself do not buy everything made here, but am someone who likes bedding from LL Bean especially.
I bring this issue up to note the dissconnect between what we are taught to value (i.e. America and its byproducts) and what we actually buy (non-American goods.)
I think a huge contradiction results, and one which most of us do not entirely think about nor know how to respond to in our everyday lives. To me, those individuals who control the big corporations, or business owners are accountable largely as they are the ones who supply the money for the labor to go outside of our own nation.
Maybe Mr. Bush would be like to tackle this issue at some time in the future.
The U.S. was once a leading manufacturing ecoonomy but it has evolved into a service economy. We simply cannot compete with China, Korea, Indonesia, etc. when it comes to manufacturing products and that's OK. We need to quit whining about losing $2/hour jobs.
hmmmm...i hate the fact that we 'use' cheap labour in third world countries to make the products we love to buy. exploitation bugs me - but i guess it's better for those people to work rather than not.
don't know what the answer is...wish i did.
great question barbara.
I'll weigh in here in an area that I know well. We sold our ranch last Sept. We had lived there since 1989 and had 40 acres of mandarins.
My hubby would get so frustrated because Spain would send their mandarins and sell them here at a cheaper price than we could sell ours.
Here are some reasons:
We had to pay our workers a set price by law, as well as pay a crew boss a required percentage. Other countries do not have these requirements for their laborers, so they save a lot of money which is passed on to the consumer.
I think the laborers deserve a good wage, so I'm not at all upset at that.
Also, Spain's mandarin growers were subsidized by their gov't, which meant their costs were offset. The result being that they could sell the fruit cheaper.
We just wish that our gov't would have protected us as American growers/farmers, and somehow evened the playing field. I think our gov't should have put a tax on Spain's imports and made it easier for us to compete.
Our scenario is probably being played out in many American companies who are trying to compete with foreign imports. It is difficult to deal with.
I do wish our gov't would do more to help American companies/farmers, etc. succeed.
jen due to canada's higher taxes it costs more to make things in canada than in the states.
Jamie Dawn:
"We just wish our government would have protected us as growers/farmers and evened the playing field. I think our govern. should have put a tax on Spain's imports and made it easier to compete."
Your story is a wonderful illustration how there is a an underlying disadvantage towards using American laborors in the work force.
The issue is complex, and I may have simplified it to some extent here in my blog, but it does give one cause to think why we must look elesewhere, and outsource our jobs to others instead of take good care of our own.
Wow. So many excellent thoughts are here.
I've seen this from several sides. Five years ago I was selling belt buckles and metal buttons for a North American manufacturer. My largest customer was in Guatemala. His customer bought his belts and sold them to Wal-Mart, Target, etc. Rodrigo's factory had about 800 employees, plus he purchased from "at-home" workers (artisians in local terms). His investment was at risk due to competing suppliers from China.
The button customers made apparel in Texas, mostly using Asian contractors who would supply the labor (cutting and sewing) cheaper than the manufacturer could do it. They used to do it all in the 70s & 80s. Both of that type business is gone for this market.
I went into the information technology biz in 2001. Started on a help desk for an outsourcing tech company. Worked as a Dell support tech, answering calls in an old manufacturing building that had over 2,000 employees. Two years later, the # was less than 400 when I left. The building is empty now. The jobs went to Canada, Ireland and India. Dell was not willing to pay more than $X per call; the outsourcer was able to staff call centers for a third the cost of Texas employees elsewhere. I don't blame them, they have to show profits to their shareholders.
As far as availability of goods in Third World - the goods are there. Almost anything in US stores is in stores in Mexico and Guatemala; they just more than most people can afford. Kind of like here,,,I can't afford Neiman's nor Nordstrum's. But that's ok. My treasure and worth isn't measured by the label on my clothes. Love your friends and family, breathe slowly and listen to your heart and spirit. Once you get that down, who really cares what your clothes look like (within reason)?
There was just an article in this morning's Los Angeles Times about teen unemployment is rising as young job seekers face heightened comptetition from older workers AND immigrants who are taking entry-level positions.
This gives one definite case to pause and think why we cannot take care of our own citizens.
Lazy Iguana:
I wish some of the right wing conservatives would weigh in on this issue. I think you made an excellent point when you said they only care about 3 things: abortion, gay-marriage, and unseperating church from state.
This is a real issue that they do not want to touch, at least so it seems.
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