........It's because times are good........
I have a wife who stays at home and 5 kids. We avoid Wally World and Targiet, and I am a lineman - not a doctor, lawyer, etc. We wait for sales, we read ads. We do what it takes. We end up with better quality stuff, especially stuff like clothes. WalMart has some real junk there. The kids clothing at WM falls apart and wears quickly.Cause: 70% of Americans live paycheck to paycheck. There is little to no discretionary income. When you have a choice between products, and you are on a fixed budget, you don't really have much of a choice BUT to buy the lesser of the products.
I just remembered that my son was produced in British Columbia :lol:
If you need me I'll be off throwing a tantrum on my Swedish couch, in my Bangladeshi underwear, watching my Taiwaneese TV, while eating a asada burrito and drinking a New Castle.
Cause: 70% of Americans live paycheck to paycheck. There is little to no discretionary income. When you have a choice between products, and you are on a fixed budget, you don't really have much of a choice BUT to buy the lesser of the products.
Please...shopping at Walmart doesnt make you any less american. .....
If I want to go to Walmart to save $1.50 on toliet paper I dont see how that means I need to check my stars and stripes at the door.
As for my DIESEL Jetta, it was the only new car I could buy that got 50 mpg highway and had a 5 star crash rating.
TwistedCopper said:In my driveway is a Jeep, a Ford E-350, and a Chevy 2500HD.
TwistedCopper said:I have one foreign car out of four, and it is German, not from a country that may put kids to work. It is from a UNION shop.
TwistedCopper said:Don't tell me what right I have or don't have to "preach" about anything. I do buy american when I can. I drive over 34,000 miles a year just in my work commute alone. Fuel prices shot up to over $3.50 a gallon there a while and I was going broke driving to work. It was a very long thought out decision and I have no qualms about it. If you had spend around $450 in one month just buying gasoline to get to work and home again you may have made the same choice. Not that I need your approval, but you should understand the situation I was in before throwing up your happy little "TC bought a foreign car, ergo he is a hypocrite" flag.
hyp‧o‧crite /ˈhɪpəkrɪt/[hip-uh-krit]
–noun
1. a person who pretends to have virtues, moral or religious beliefs, principles, etc., that he or she does not actually possess, esp. a person whose actions belie stated beliefs.
2. a person who feigns some desirable or publicly approved attitude, esp. one whose private life, opinions, or statements belie his or her public statements.
Sparky, my personal finances are none of your or anyone else's business. You have once again drifted out into outer space with your discussions with me and have gotten way too personal. You haven't a clue as to the how's and why's of my finances, living situation, personal choices, or anything else and I prefer to keep it that way. Quite frankly you freak me out dude, so go obsess on something or someone else.Ok, I lied. I haven't said all I want to say.
So, you will admit that America can't make a car that is good enough to keep your money here in the states?
Ya know, I've been under the hood of Fords and Chevy's, and have had to buy parts from the dealers for both, and I gotta tell ya, they ain't all American!!
So, it's ok to ruin America's economy so long as you buy from a foreign UNION shop? Well, if that helps you sleep at night......
But you still have internet access, right? High speed? Dial up averages around $20 a month, high speed what, about $40-$50? And you bought another Jeep shortly after, right? What did you give for that? And the winch? And the property taxes and tags? And I suppose you have either cable or satellite TV, right? So, with just those few "luxuries", how much more gas could you have bought? How much more could you have pinched out of your budget that you don't "need" to save money for gas and still buy American? I'm sure you've explained it before, and you've probably got a good reason, but why was it you moved so far away from your work? Most people tend to try to move closer to their place of employment. Don't get me wrong, Harry, I understand that you felt it was the right thing to do at the time, I'm just showing that it wasn't a necessity for you to buy foreign. I know, I'm the worst when it comes to life's little luxuries over necessities, believe me. But when push comes to shove, I'd rather cut costs to stand up for something I believe in and preach heart and soul all my life than be seen as a hypocrite (since you brought it up).
Methinks my little flag speaks volumes.
:roll:
I can't back you up on the exact figure there, but I'll bet your close.
A great deal of the same people I see living paycheck to paycheck who can't afford insurance for their kids, or whatever else they complain about, are buying hundreds of dollars in lottery tickets, beer, cigarettes.
They may not be making a lot of money, but they are making poor choices with what they do have.
Sparky, my personal finances are none of your or anyone else's business. You have once again drifted out into outer space with your discussions with me and have gotten way too personal. You haven't a clue as to the how's and why's of my finances, living situation, personal choices, or anything else and I prefer to keep it that way. Quite frankly you freak me out dude, so go obsess on something or someone else.
I am not going to continue this discussion.
Why do most Americans live paycheck to paycheck? Why is there no discretionary income? I doubt purchasing your goods from a company (Target and Kmart included) that strong arms manufacturers to operate below profit lines is "Good" for such socioeconomic inefficiencies. We have a cultural problem. It's gluttony, it's laziness, and it's our inability to think long term when given the alternative of short term gratification.Cause: 70% of Americans live paycheck to paycheck. There is little to no discretionary income. When you have a choice between products, and you are on a fixed budget, you don't really have much of a choice BUT to buy the lesser of the products.
Cause: Americans have the least amount of leisure hours of any major country. When you can go to one location and buy everything you need, for less, in a third of the time,... It becomes difficult to not to.
However, I'm not a proponent of the "buying American" philosophy, because I feel it sends the message that no matter the quality of the product, US manufacturers will always have customers. In the long run, that hurts them globally. Well, that and inept, ignorant, and ethnocentric foriegn policy.
I only go to a supercenter of any kind if it's 3 am and I need to buy a shop-vac to suck up water from a broken pipe. Oh, and to buy my fishing licenses.
I never, ever look to see where a product is made, however. I look at the quality and the price, and weigh the cost/benefit factor before I buy it. If the Chinese can make it better and cheaper, I'll buy it. If the Chinese don't make it better, but I can by 3 of them for the same price of one of the American made items, I'll buy it. I'm still money ahead when it breaks. Similar to the PM discussion Harry and I had about work boots. Rather than buy a pair of boots for $250 that lasts 6 months, I'll buy 2 pair for $30 each that last 3 months.....still money ahead.
Sparky, please don't take offense,... but I and my wife are both from very small towns. I feel that philosophy, while completely justified and quite reasonable, had an exorbitant impact of both of them,... quite honestly it killed my wifes. In Splendora, Tx the town is tiny ( I always joke and say it is the kind of place with more people than teeth!!) The only retailers were privately owned shops. The merchants certainly weren't making a killing, but Houston is over 2 hours away, and there really isn't anything else close. These were hard working men and women that survived by providing an honest product at an honest cost. Trust me when I say NO ONE was getting rich!! WalMart opened in New Caney just a bit outside Cut N Shoot (I couldn't make this stuff up if I tried). Four of the shops in town closed in the first year. Two more the following. I moved before the third year,a dn all that was left was a feed shop and a gas station/ convenience store. Now you can argue many different points on either side of buying from the Meglomarts of the world,... but I know a bunch of people who lost everything to them.
My wife is from Flint Michigan,... I don't think I need to say much more about that. WalMart didn't have anything to do with Flint going belly up,... but the exporting of US jobs, and increase in Foriegn car sales did.
Again,... I am not so hung up on the "ethics" of the issue. But more, the impact. I don't think there is anything wrong with trying to stretch a buck. Not at all,... please don't think I am taking that position,... I guess I just wonder when does the cost of saving money cost too much?
I guess I can see both sides. I just, due to personal experiences, choose this side of this one.
Again,... just my .02
I listed why we avoid them. We view that company to be destructive to our economy, and not just because of all the imported goods. That's our decision.
If shopping there suits you then by all means do so. That's your decision. I won't think any less of anyone who does. It's still a free country. .