Little victories in the Big Picture

[ksdaddy]

It may seem so insignificant in the grand scheme of things but it just goes to show what I have been known to do when I've felt ripped off.

 

In 1983 I bought an electric can opener. It lasted a month. I went to a flea market and bought an aquamarine Grantmaid can opener made in 1967. In the USA. It's still being used.

 

Around 1990 I bought a circa 1952 Sunbeam deep fryer. Still running.

 

I go through a coffee maker about once a year. Hard water and all that. Vinegar does nothing. I used to buy the cheapest US made one I could find, a Proctor-Silex. I think they've moved to China too. Last month I bought a new Mr Coffee (made where? Guess!) and it died within a month. I went to the thrift store and bought a 1970 avocado green Mirro electric percolator for two bucks. I had to clean the contacts on the power cord but otherwise works fine. I have no issue using it for the next 20 years if possible.

 

Doesn't mean squat in the big picture but I'm sick of replacing Fabrique du Chine crap several times a year. I would happily pay 3x as much for something that would last and preferable made in Oshkosh or Toledo. Which isn't likely to happen. Ever.

 

I'm in the minority though, frantically waving a broom at the attacking seagulls.

[NeoConMan]

I agree 100% - even where durable goods such as guitars are concerned.

 

China is at the top of my Boycott list, though I have mixed luck with it.

My TV was made in 1987 - in JAPAN of all places!

[retrosurfer1959]

Yep but it's getting harder instead of easier

 

[zigzag]

Nowhere in the world, even in the good ole US of A, do they make things like they used to. You can't even count on Sony any more.

 

"Things fall apart, it's scientific..." - Talking Heads

[daveinspain]

Last time I was home visiting my mother we had to pull out the old CORNING WARE 10-cup Cornflower Blue Electric Percolator. Still works great!!!

 

[NeoConMan]

Yep but it's getting harder instead of easier

I was at the AZ State Capitol for a rally on April 15 last year, there were lotsa vendors in the crowd.

 

One was selling wide-brim hats made of red/white/blue stars & stripes - only $4 so I grabbed one.

 

Bigger than sh!t right on the label - Made In China.

 

The vendor actually had a good defense, saying he could not find American-made hats anywhere, at any price.

Used it as an illustration for why HE was at the rally himself - and selling the hats so cheap for the attention.

I had to applaud him for his efforts, I left the tag on my hat for all to see.

[grampa]

Manufacturing was moved offshore by the corporate geniuses who run business and industry. They could maximize their profits at the expense of American jobs and quality goods.

[milod]

The commercial Bunn coffeemaker in the kitchen is roughly 20 years old.

 

Try buying a made in America television. Ain't such an animal.

 

Jeans? Gotta be kidding.

 

Shirts? Socks made in America actually fit your feet, but try finding some.

 

Consider this: Lotza the local wool, and I'll bet it's the same for our friends from Oz, goes where?

 

The Chinese traditionally have called themselves the middle kingdom, not because of geography, but because they saw themselves as the center of the world and due respect as such. It appears they weren't all wrong, like it or not. I'd say the past 20 years or so have given Western European nations a downward economic spiral nobody wants to claim.

 

m

[zigzag]

Blame NAFTA, Wal-Mart, and foreign nations who manufacture with cheap/slave labor. But also blame the American consumer, unions, corporate CEOs, and American workers.

[Thundergod]

I agree with zigzag, it doesn't matter where things are made anymore, most stuff isn't made to (say) 1970 standards, or as I like to put it, to last.

 

That said, most of the time you get what you pay for and you pay for not doing your homework, I've seen so many kitchen apliances, tools, audio/video components, musical instruments and accesories made all over the world die on the owner´s hands to know a couple of things.

 

-People don't treat things the right way anymore (most people think a cellphone is made to survive falling from a 25 story building, so is a plasma tv).

 

-Most people don't know how to use what they buy (why should they? them little yellow men should do things easy to use for us morons).

 

-They don't care to read the manual (in today's wolrd you cannot waste valuable seconds in reading such stuff, it takes time away from what really is important, and that is: working at a factory making POS stuff with huge manuals nobody reads, 'cause they don't have no time 'cause they have to work at a factory building POS stuff with huge manuals nobody reads, 'cause... ).

[milod]

Ziggy...

 

That's the problem in the US - and I think also in other "Western European" nations in a cultural sense. As a general rule, "we" have favored "free trade" for thousands of years - long before Rome was the dominant power in the "western" world. The Dems can't blame the Gops for that, nor the reverse; nor their equivalents in countries from Japan to Russia.

 

As I see it, here's the problem:

 

Whenever any one of us points a finger at others, we have to look at our hand to see three fingers pointing back at ourselves. I'd like to be able to blame this or that, but instead...

 

I dunno.

 

<EDIT> TG, you make a good point too. We seem to like to have a disposable society, and we're so dumb that we forget that coffee is hot, so file a lawsuit against the store that sells it.

 

m

[NeoConMan]

Manufacturing was moved offshore by the corporate geniuses who run business and industry.

They could maximize their profits at the expense of American jobs and quality goods.

They did so primarily because of the ever-tightening noose of government taxation.

Next was knee-jerk environmental strictures that crippled anything that posted a profit.

If it was more profitable to stay in the USA' date=' they would have done so.

 

I've seen in-depth stories on many corporations who did all they could to remain in the USA.

Some simply sold out rather than go off-shore.

I would have done the same.

 

Unlike many people, I still believe capitalism is the answer.

The federal government makes it so nobody can hear the question anymore.

 

 

 

As a kid in the 70's when all this stuff started to mushroom, my Dad summed it up in one question;

[b']"Who the hell is Portugal?"[/b]

 

500 years ago, Portugal commanded the Seven Seas.

Nobody went anywhere if Portugal didn't allow it.

They were a world power, if not militarily, but their ships were the Last Word in trade and exploration.

 

Now who is Portugal?

Who cares?

Most people couldn't find it on a map - maps Portugal helped to create.

 

 

 

The USA is on the fast track to being another Portugal - or France.

[milod]

Neo...

 

You make a good point, but I'm afraid it's going to take some major cultural change to learn to cope with a colossus that is the middle kingdom. They've had some bad times the past cupla centuries, but the cultural memory is long.

 

"Our" cultural memory, those of us with western European background, tends to be short.

 

You're right, of course, about regulation and environmental stuff that puts "westerners" behind the eight ball.

 

But the real problem is that "we" have considered "we" were the center of the world and acted accordingly in almost every facet of our existence. So then we have a collapse of over-leveraged purchases from the personal to the corporate and now, only now, are "we" starting to realize where we are.

 

It's interesting. It will be interesting to see how, if at all, all of "us" who recognize the problem refuse to talk about it or live against the wind, or attempt to govern to change a reality nobody wants to admit as an incentive to change.

 

I dunno. It's a "new" paradigm not seen since... Hmmmm... Pax Romana.

 

m

[NeoConMan]

You are correct.

Especially with the "cultural memory" in China.

 

They already had the deck stacked in their favor for centuries, now they've discovered the mighty

sword of capitalism. Woe unto any who don't believe.

 

We're toast, and we put ourselves in the toaster while begging other nations to push the lever....

[vourot]

I read a review of this book in " Skeptical Inquirer ". I'm going to buy it. It looks like something you two might be interested in.

 

 

http://www.amazon.com/Idiot-America-Stupidity-Became-Virtue/dp/0767926145/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1270051782&sr=1-1

 

I find I take too long to articulate myself on these forums. Neo and Milod, you guys would be great neighbors. The interesting discourse would be worth its weight in gold.

[grampa]

As Americans we have come to expect a fairly lavish lifestyle compared to the rest of the world. We have the best and the most. This of course gets expensive and unsustainable. There is a limit to it. Wages will rise to accomodate the higher lifestyle. Higher wages for the workers who make our fabulous goodies. That cuts into corporate profits and they look for a way to keep profits up.

Our need for more and more is a cultural condition that has led to the loss of jobs and manufacturing It may be an unAmerican suggestion but we need to lower our expectations for what we really need. The cost of American made products will reflect the cost of living here. It's expensive to live our current lifestyle. We should buy American but should expect that the cost will reflect the cost of our lavish lifestyle.

[NeoConMan]

I first realized what you're saying when I got married.

EVERYBODY'S wife also worked.

Had to in order to survive.

 

Then as our earning power grew, we both had to work to afford anything.

 

My ex didn't work when our kids were born, I was proud that my income was sufficient.

Now look how rare that is.

 

Everybody wants the stuff that only rich people had when I was a kid.

Swimming pool, fancy imported car, house five times bigger than needed, vacations around the world....

[NeoConMan]

Neo and Milod' date=' you guys would be great neighbors. [/quote']

Hah!

Thanks!

 

Yeah, as long as we had plenty of land with good fences in between.

Would be a pleasure indeed.

 

[grampa]

I first realized what you're saying when I got married.

EVERYBODY'S wife also worked.

Had to in order to survive.

 

Then as our earning power grew' date=' we both had to work to afford anything.

 

My ex didn't work when our kids were born, I was proud that my income was sufficient.

Now look how rare that is.

 

Everybody wants the stuff that only rich people had when I was a kid.

Swimming pool, fancy imported car, house five times bigger than needed, vacations around the world....[/quote']

 

Jeez man, it's a little frightening that we sort of agree and it's not even April Fool's Day.

[ksdaddy]

I went on ebay looking for Mirro coofee pots like the one I bought. Tons of old-school coffee pots. I have a half dozen here (weird, I know). Sometimes on the weekend I'll take the time to cook coffee on the stove. Takes about 1/2 hour and it's hard to do it without scorching, but sometimes I like being retro.

 

Anyway, it occurred to me that there have been many coffee pots made under the Mirro name over the last many decades. So just to drive another nail into my brain I emailed them and asked where their products are made. Betcha it ain't NJ anymore.

 

Swear to God, I'm going to find a list of companies that still make stuff here and find some excuse to buy something from them.

[ksdaddy]

Well, at least they were prompt in their response:

 

Dear Mr. Englund,

 

We thank you for your email via WearEver.com.

The only percolator available under the Mirro brand is a 9 cup stove top that is manufactured in China.

 

We thank you for writing to us. If you have additional questions, please contact a representative in our consumer service department at 1-800-527-7727. Representatives are generally available from 8:00am to 5:30pm EST, Monday thru Friday.

 

Sincerely,

WearEver Consumer Services

Reference #: 100331-000245

[NeoConMan]

I'm going to find a list of companies that still make stuff here...

find some excuse to buy something from them.

Let me know when you do' date=' please?

 

 

BTW, I really like how you decribed the Olde School appliance colors from the seventies....

 

[zigzag]

China is also the cheapest place to buy raw materials and intermediates. The problem is that, unless you own the facility doing the manufacturing in China, you don't know what you're getting from them, and their consistency is a nightmare (sound familiar). And much of China, esp in manufacturing areas, is a cesspool!

[NeoConMan]

Yep.

Before you know it, they'll probably find lead in the paint used on children's/infant's toys....

 

[zigzag]

... not to mention melamine in dog food and broccoli. Remember, too, that some of the drugs we buy come from China.