I have touched on this concept a few times in the past in several different ways and my opinion on how well we Americans like to deliberately screw ourselves up remains unchanged. One area in particular that I do not think many people think through is the vicious cycle that we are in with regards to our economy, at this point in time who or what event caused it is not important to me but the solution in getting out of it is! I have no faith in our government or any other entity for that matter to get us out of it, for that matter I see it as a people issue, that's you and me folks. We have to fix this problem, yes it is a big problem, yes it take some sacrifice and yes if we do not fix it we will pass it on to our children to deal with in the future, that is if we have one..
OK in the simplest terms one problem I see that puts us in that circular firing squad with the economy is for example Joe schmuckatelli ( sorry Joe ) is either unemployed or underemployed and has filed for unemployment insurance. Joe now with a reduced income tightens his belt to make ends meet, We all do this right? we all want the best price we can find on no matter what we shop on, we compare, we look for the deal. Now we do it even more to stretch the dollar and that is where most people leave it, right there with the lowest price for that product. This is where we have our problem and how we screw ourselves, Do you know where the product was made? Do we even care? Sadly most people do not know or worse yet even care they are just out for the best price, Best price on the face anyway but we fail to look at the overall cost or the human cost.
Consider this, Joe used to work in a manufacturing plant making toasters ( substitute any consumer product ) As demand for this toaster went down people started to get laid off now you know people suddenly did not decide to give up their toast, What happened? well someone in another country decided to make that same toaster but the labor they use to make it with only costs them about a dollar a day so therefore the overall cost for this toaster in your local department store is much lower that the toaster Joe produces. Lower cost in a bad economy means people are more willing to buy a cheaper product both in cost and maybe quality. Now if people go out and buy more of the toaster that is made out of the country versus the toaster made in your country you will eventually end up with that person in this case Joe being laid off because his product is no longer in as high a demand, that means he will need his unemployment check or maybe food stamps so what does that toaster really cost you?
Now I know some people will scream protectionism or that in some way a job created overseas will create a better job over here or that we will switch to a technology/ service economy but I will disagree. Why I will disagree is that not everyone is cut out for a technology job or a service job, take your pick. I hate to say it but there are a lot of people out there that have limited skills and have no desire to make better of themselves and therefore they will fit into a certain low level job market. This is not good nor is it bad, it is their choice to do as they wish and I would much rather buy a product that they make and keep them employed versus someone outside of the country. I believe that this should also apply to other countries too, they should take care of their own countrymen first as well.
The bottom line here is that where the product was made is important. Do you want your money to stay in in your country and be paid out as a salary of one of your countrymen or do you want it to leave the country and eventually hurt a worker here?
