"Made in Murika"

[Xantavia]

Are there very many things made in America anymore? It seems assembled in America is more accurate. Of course, no facts, just one of those things I've heard countless times.

[FNH]

Depends on the price and quality. I'm not going to over pay for something "made in America" by someone that probably gets over paid for what they do. I have seen a lot of people that check every package to see where the product was made.

[kuronosan]

Most of the time I will buy American if I'm certain of the quality.

Too many things are made overseas, assembled here, and stamped with "made in America" for me to really care to discriminate.

[Kuya]

Well, one positive thing about buying american goods is that it lowers the trade deficit, which can help lower the debt you americans are always whining about.

[guartz]

Well, one positive thing about buying american goods is that it lowers the trade deficit, which can help lower the debt you americans are always whining about.

Well, indirectly buying foreign products decreases wages for American workers and increases workplace oppression and abuses. But it looks like people don't really give a shit about that if they can save a few bucks.

[Kuya]

That's also true.

Anyway, i rarely ever hear americans talk about their trade balance issues, which is a problem. If americans had a trade surplus, that could balance the government's budget deficit, but because americans have both a budget deficit and a trade deficit, it just makes their debt so much bigger. Yet some americans expect the government to control its deficits, while the average american household functions on a deficit. It seems to me logical to expect that if americans cannot control their spending habits, than naturally, neither can their government. Trade balance is an often ignored issue in american political discourse.

[Churchill]

shut the fuck up with that shit and buy a chevy bitch

[Outlaw]

I buy things made in America if have a choice. That's if I have. I think it's really disturbing that so many things are made in China now. I know why they are it's just if you knew some of the dangerous products that have come out of China then you would be very tentative about buying certain things. I don't mean all things made there are bad. This Christmas my family had our regular get together and my aunt gave everybody these little candy goody bags. After I got home I noticed the pieces had this weird generic wrapping on them. They said: Imported: Manufactured in China. They promptly went in the trash.

[kuronosan]

But it's okay, because they're creating jobs!

[Kerberoz]

Growing up around overpaid unskilled auto workers and their bratty crotch-droppings makes me go out of my way to avoid most made-in-America products. Laughed hard every time a plant closed because they couldn't keep paying HS graduates $40/hr to bolt things together.

[guartz]

That's also true.

Anyway, i rarely ever hear americans talk about their trade balance issues, which is a problem. If americans had a trade surplus, that could balance the government's budget deficit, but because americans have both a budget deficit and a trade deficit, it just makes their debt so much bigger. Yet some americans expect the government to control its deficits, while the average american household functions on a deficit. It seems to me logical to expect that if americans cannot control their spending habits, than naturally, neither can their government. Trade balance is an often ignored issue in american political discourse.

When you are talking about trade balance you mean tariffs payed on imports versus exports, right?

[Kuya]

No, it's balance of trade, exports minus imports. Tariffs are just tools governments use to manipulate the balance of trade.

[Doombard]

I used to go out of my way to only buy shit that was "union approved". The longer I work in my union job, the less I do this. The union does do a lot of good for its members, however it does just as much bad with keeping shitbags at work that don't deserve to work anywhere, plus some of the jobs at the actual union have questionable salaries and descriptions of what their acual job is.

[Jaybar]

At the construction/architecture level, there are a lot more incentives to use only locally produced materials (i.e. within 200mi) reducing the "1000-mile Caesar Salad" effect. But no one wants to hear about that because it's not at the consumer level and this is just border-line conjecture on my part.

[Epysian]

Growing up around overpaid unskilled auto workers and their bratty crotch-droppings makes me go out of my way to avoid most made-in-America products. Laughed hard every time a plant closed because they couldn't keep paying HS graduates $40/hr to bolt things together.

It amazes me that we still have any manufacturing jobs in this country. No one wants to work those jobs, they don't pay well, and it's cheaper to just ship it out to some third world country anyway.

Glad these two experts on American manufacturing took the time to weigh in.

I don't necessarily go out of my way to buy American. Like others have said, it's the quality of the individual item that's most important to me.

[Cadsuane]

Buying domestically is a fallacy, and it is "unAmerican" to boot. It is collectivist, and nationalist as well. Globalism is everywhere like it or not its a fact. The stuff you buy has its resources taken from one country, created in another, put together in yet another, shipped and packaged elsewhere, and sold in still another. It's just a ridiculous and squirrely concept to even say something is "made" in X country.

Economically it is false. The best product is the one which gets the most value for you at the lowest cost, and if that isn't "from" America well tough shit. As always all stupid ecnomic thinking winds up being one facet of the Broken Window fallacy which focuses on the possibilities that COULD HAVE BEEN OTHERWISE.

If you save $2 buying something that is made in China you have TWO DOLLARS you wouldn't have kept otherwise. That money is going to be spent on OTHER things, tipping a waitress, or buying fast food or whatever. The point is that as an entire system, everybody wins when people save money. Spending more than is necessary for some dogmatic reason only rewards less productive merchandise and wastes your money.

SHOTS FIRED. CODE LIBERTARIAN.

[Kuya]

HIT THE DECK

[Plow]

accepting globalization is libertarian onry now?

[Churchill]

There are certain posters who make me laugh.

ty for posting.

[Boyiee]

Entirely depends what it is.

This. Can't really give a straight yes or no answer to this.

I'm in the same boat. Most things, and nearly all things I can care less where it is made. One major exception is Guitars. I want the USA made Gibson, Fender, and Jackson's over their foreign counterparts. They cost a lot more but a lot of the time the USA models use different woods and other materials.