Well…this is one that I have been thinking about for quite a long time now…and this post was inspired by the simple thing of trying to find a softsided, 12-pack cooler to replace the one I’ve had for a few years. For months now, I have searched and searched every store in the area, looking for one that was made in the USA to support my fellow workers but I got to the point that I just gave up and bought one that was made in China. As an aside, since I lost my job at a local furniture manufacturer for the stated reason that my job was no longer needed, (and I guess the 15 million dollars per year in cost reduction I gave them wasn’t either), I have become a more conscious consumer; trying to buy American when possible but also making note of how the retailer treats their employees. Needless to say, I will never shop at Walmart. I can’t believe that all consumers are only motivated by price, but the choice of supporting our fellow Americans has been taken away by CEO’s whose only motive is more and more profit and the resulting bonuses that accrue to them from that profit. Personally, I would have paid 30 to 40 percent more for the cooler if it was made in an American factory that paid a living wage and healthcare to their workers….so those workers would be able to buy American made things that could put me and many like me back to work.
What if, instead of hundreds of millions of dollars going to the CEOs, a company would take, say, half of that and invest it in an American manufacturing plant that would employ 2 to 3 thousand workers? Would Ford’s stock price have plummeted if it had made 1.5 billion dollars and put on 10 thousand more American workers instead of the 2 billion it made? Yeah, I know it would have because the stock price is driven by the greed of the traders who could make a lot of money by shorting the stock and who don’t give a damn about anything except their next bonus and the new BMW…but I think that distorts decisions that would be made if they didn’t have to think about Wall Street.
When are we, as a people, going to stand up and say no more…no more billion dollar payouts for one hedge fund trader, no more CEOs making hundreds of millions while all they do is lay off people and line their own pockets? No more political protection for oil companies who make obscene, record profits and ruin the lives of hundreds of thousands of Americans. Geez…
Oh, if you’ve read this post and remember that I drive a 1993 Mazda and have the urge to call me a hypocrite, don’t…because the Mazda was made in a Ford plant in Flat Rock Michigan by American, union workers….and it has almost 300K miles on it..that’s what I call quality….