Joe Smith started the day early
having set his alarm
clock
(MADE IN JAPAN) for 6am.
While his coffeepot
(MADE IN CHINA)
was perking, he shaved with his
electric razor
(MADE IN HONG KONG).
He put on a
dress shirt
(MADE IN SRI LANKA),
designer jeans
(MADE IN SINGAPORE)
and
tennis shoes
(MADE IN KOREA)
After cooking his breakfast in his new
electric skillet
(MADE IN INDIA)
he sat down with his
calculator
(MADE IN MEXICO)
to see how much he could spend today.
After setting his
watch
(MADE IN TAIWAN)
he listened to the
radio
(MADE IN INDIA)
then he got in his
car
(MADE IN GERMANY)
and
filled it with
GAS
(from Saudi Arabia)
and continued his search
for a good paying AMERICAN JOB.
At the end
of yet another discouraging
and fruitless day
checking his
Computer
(Made In Malaysia),
Joe decided to relax for a while.
He put on his
sandals
(MADE IN BRAZIL)
poured himself a glass of
wine
(MADE IN FRANCE)
and turned on his
TV
(MADE IN INDONESIA),
and then wondered
why he can't find
a good paying job
in AMERICA ..
Tars
05-21-2008, 08:55 PM
As the dollar devalues, more and more things will be made in the U.S. once again!
Japan & Germany in the fifties, Britain & France in the sixties & seventies. It's all round! It goes away, but then it comes back again...bigger & better!https://www.rpriddle.com/smile/alright.gif
Braggi
05-22-2008, 07:05 AM
As the dollar devalues, more and more things will be made in the U.S. once again! ...
Tars, you're kidding yourself. The infrastructure is gone. The will to manufacture is gone. You think the steel plants are coming back? You think we'll start making CD players? You think we'll start building LCD plants? You think we can make and sell pocket knives for $1.97?
We are spiraling into a place of poverty and the prognosis is not very good in my opinion. Prices will go up and our standard of living will go down. You won't find "made in USA" flat screens that will compete with Korea's.
There is always room for innovation and US inventors have so often come up with new products we make here ... for a little while at least. But even computer and cell phone designers are now immediately farming out production to other countries including prototype production. And now China and India are turning out design engineers at rates that dwarf the US.
There are fewer and fewer industries available that the US can compete in. Perhaps readers could chime in with areas of hope. I could use the boost. Apple computer comes to mind for me. Let's see ... where do they have factories?
Oops. I just googled "apple computer factories." Hmmm. iPods are made in Chinese sweatshops. Oh well.
-Jeff
Tars
05-22-2008, 09:01 AM
Tars, you're kidding yourself. The infrastructure is gone. The will to manufacture is gone. You think the steel plants are coming back? You think we'll start making CD players? You think we'll start building LCD plants? You think we can make and sell pocket knives for $1.97?
Hmm...how 'bout a variant of the old platitude: If we ignore the lessons of history, history'll go ahead and repeat itself anyway.
Who expects a revival of the steel industry, or the U.S. CD player manufacturers...they're passe, right next to the buggy whip. But, I believe in the fundamental ability of the U.S. to produce innovators and entrepeneurs. Like other countries who've sat back on their cellulitous haunches, thinking their good fortunes would continue indefinitely, (see Japan and Britain), the U.S. is going into a period of good attitude rattling.
"The problem with most predictions is that they're too conservative". The U.S. still has the most top technical universities in the world, and a political system/economy which encourages people from all over to stake their life claims here. I believe that some of us here at least will see technical innovations in our lifetimes which will change the whole paradigm of affluence and well-being.
Bottomline: one can either choose to see insurmountable hurdles, or stepping stones to success; I prefer the latter.
Braggi
05-22-2008, 02:50 PM
Hmm...how 'bout a variant of the old platitude: If we ignore the lessons of history, history'll go ahead and repeat itself anyway.
...
Uh, that's kind of what your first post says, so I now miss your point.
" ... It's all round! It goes away, but then it comes back again... "
And I'm saying it won't come back. And then you agree the "old" industries are passé. So ... you agree with me?
...
Bottomline: one can either choose to see insurmountable hurdles, or stepping stones to success; I prefer the latter.
The advantage of the US is our independent mindset which is encouraged from birth and lauded in the presentation of history we get in our schools. However, there are also forces attempting to homogenize the minds of our kids and turn them into full time TV watchers and video game players. Somehow we have to spend more time in our workshops and less time in front of our TVs and writing in online discussion forums. Oops.
We have an inventive spirit in this country and it has served well in many ways for a long time. However, we have no monopoly on innovation and as our science education continues to slide compared to the rest of the planet it will make it that much more difficult for our inventors to compete.
I'm not willing to declare failure, but I'm trying to be realistic too. Things are different than they were 50 years ago. We have more information technology available to us, but so does the rest of the world. Our advantages are shrinking as our comparable industrial base disappears.
We'd better keep on inventing and hopefully invent things we can make here. Looking at the big picture gives me more reason for concern than hope.