Christmas 2011 - Birth of a New Tradition

SilverLady(SO) · Post by **SilverLady(SO)** » Thu Dec 01, 2011 9:30 pm

Preface: While this was geared toward Americans, I am sure the same could be said for just about everyone, no matter which country we may live in. In other words, keep your money 'local' - in your own country - and really help your neighbors.

Christmas 2011 – Birth of a New Tradition

As the holidays approach, the giant Asian factories are kicking into high gear to provide Americans with monstrous piles of cheaply produced goods – merchandise that has been produced at the expense of American labor. This year will be different. This year Americans will give the gift of genuine concern for other Americans. There is no longer an excuse that, at gift giving time, nothing can be found that is produced by American hands. Yes there is!

It’s time to think outside the box, people. Who says a gift needs to fit in a shirt box, wrapped in Chinese produced wrapping paper?

Everyone – yes EVERYONE gets their hair cut. How about gift certificates from your local American hair salon or barber?

Gym membership? It’s appropriate for all ages who are thinking about some health improvement.

Who wouldn’t appreciate getting their car detailed? Small, American owned detail shops and car washes would love to sell you a gift certificate or a book of gift certificates.

Are you one of those extravagant givers who think nothing of plonking down the Benjamines on a Chinese made flat-screen? Perhaps that grateful gift receiver would like his driveway sealed, or lawn mowed for the summer, or driveway plowed all winter, or games at the local golf course.

There are a bazillion owner-run restaurants – all offering gift certificates. And, if your intended isn’t the fancy eatery sort, what about a half dozen breakfasts at the local breakfast joint. Remember, folks this isn’t about big National chains – this is about supporting your home town Americans with their financial lives on the line to keep their doors open.

How many people couldn’t use an oil change for their car, truck or motorcycle, done at a shop run by the American working guy?

Thinking about a heartfelt gift for mom? Mom would LOVE the services of a local cleaning lady for a day.

My computer could use a tune-up, and I KNOW I can find some young guy who is struggling to get his repair business up and running.

OK, you were looking for something more personal. Local crafts people spin their own wool and knit them into scarves. They make jewelry, and pottery and beautiful wooden boxes.

Plan your holiday outings at local, owner operated restaurants and leave your server a nice tip. And, how about going out to see a play or ballet at your hometown theater.

Musicians need love too, so find a venue showcasing local bands.

Honestly, people, do you REALLY need to buy another ten thousand Chinese lights for the house? When you buy a five dollar string of light, about fifty cents stays in the community. If you have those kinds of bucks to burn, leave the mailman, trash guy or babysitter a nice BIG tip.

You see, Christmas is no longer about draining American pockets so that China can build another glittering city. Christmas is now about caring about US, encouraging American small businesses to keep plugging away to follow their dreams. And, when we care about other Americans, we care about our communities, and the benefits come back to us in ways we couldn’t imagine.. THIS is the new American Christmas tradition.

Forward this to everyone on your mailing list – post it to discussion groups – throw up a post on Craigslist in the Rants and Raves section in your city – send it to the editor of your local paper and radio stations, and TV news departments. This is a revolution of caring about each other, and isn’t that what Christmas is about?

- SL

Darla H · Post by **Darla H** » Thu Dec 01, 2011 10:27 pm

Sounds wonderful. I would like to reprint this for our local radio station if that is ok. Thanks !

SilverLady(SO) · Post by **SilverLady(SO)** » Thu Dec 01, 2011 11:00 pm

Hi, Darla!

Please, by all means do spread this around . . . I received it as an email and sent it to all of my contacts (in all 7 email accounts!) . . . the more, the merrier!

Unfortunately, I'm in a Catch-22 situation as I also happen to be a supervisor (in retail) for a semi-national chain and a lot of our products are made in Asia.

(Hugs)

- SL

April Rose · Post by **April Rose** » Thu Dec 01, 2011 11:25 pm

SL , I agree with this. I will spread the word.

Anita · Post by **Anita** » Fri Dec 02, 2011 5:24 pm

I like this too, SilverLady. What continues to upset me is that almost all the items on this list are services. It reminds me that we no longer manufacture goods in this country, and we can't support our friends and relatives by buying 'things' that we need, like car parts and spatulas and clothing. Sorry to be a Grinch, but it makes me sad.

Ralitsa · Post by **Ralitsa** » Sat Dec 03, 2011 6:27 am

You're right Anita, we no longer manufacture much stuff in the US anymore. But I think if one looks one can find things "made" here. I have a good friend who handmakes soap, which she mostly gives as gifts to her friends and family. And occasionaly I see things such as birdhouses, wooden toys, scarves, blankets, etc. all handmade by local people. Of course one has to look hard and keep her eyes open all year to find those things. But then again, if you buy one or two of these things every time you come across them, and store them up, then by the time Christmas comes around you don't need to stand in line for 16 days at Walmart fighting over the last crappy plastic thing.

I used to do that when I was sailing. Where ever I happened to be I would get a few random things, it didn't really matter what as long as it was representative of whatever country I was in. Then at Christmas time I would empty out my seabag and sort it out and decide what to give to whom. Everyone loved it. I think they were happier to get a $5 small souvenir that I picked up 8 months ago in who-knows-where than they would have been about a $100 something from Walmart grabbed off the shelf at the last second.

Really the whole point isn't about Christmas shopping, rather it is that the whole problem is that Christmas is about shopping. I don't have any disagreements about giving gifts for Christmas, or even buying the gifts to give. My problem is that there is this cultural imperative that as soon as the Christmas season is here, we have to start shopping. It seems to me that it really detracts from the value of the gift when it is bought and given under duress. Personally I don't need more stuff and I don't want people giving me stuff they bought because they think it's polite and I might be offended if I don't get a gift from them. But if someone gives me some little thing that they saw somewhere and bought it because they thought of me when they saw it, then that means something to me. (or maybe I should say that it would mean something to me if it were ever to happen).

I do usually buy locally made things, but that means local to wherever I am at the time. One has to look a little harder, and sometimes get something other than what was originally planned. But if it's the thought that counts, then I guess grabbing something off the shelf at the last second doesn't count for much, no matter how much it cost.

Absaroka · Post by **Absaroka** » Tue Dec 06, 2011 8:33 am

My wife will be giving everyone baby spider plants that we grew from cuttings. Hows that for local, not to mention it didn't involve spending much of anything?

Kyra · Post by **Kyra** » Sun Dec 11, 2011 9:14 pm

Hi Ladies,
Here's something I learned this week that I found interesting.

The company I work for has representatives all over the world. One of our East Asian reps was at our facility this week for training. He indicated that they like to buy American products as well! "The products made in [his country] are cheap." His words almost shocked me.

I guess it all boils down to "you get what you pay for". I expect something to be lesser quality if i buy the least expensive variety. (and I'm okay with that, because I know it)
I don't always buy from the big bargain stores. It depends on what I need or want, and how long I want it to last.

Anita, all is not lost! There are still manufacturers that make goods in America. I saw a segment Diane Sawyer did on Made In America, not too long ago. (I googled a quick link - http://abcnews.go.com/WN/MadeInAmerica/ (I hope it works) which caters more to homebuilding and construction products, but is a good story, nonetheless. Maybe American goods are not as prevalent, but they're still out there.

I do agree, that more of the big bargain stores predominantly sell merchandise that's made overseas, and it's hard for American companies to compete.
I guess we kinda shot ourselves in the foot, there. They've got such cheap labor to work with...

Hugs,
K

Anita · Post by **Anita** » Sun Dec 11, 2011 10:53 pm

Hi Kyra--
There were two manufacturing plants I worked at when I first came to Calfornia. The first one made woven wood shades (the kind you see in Denny's), and Mack naugahyde truck parts like sleeper curtains and engine covers. They disappeared off the map.

The other company was a machine shop that made cable cutters--you ran a wire rope through them, raised the plunger, and hit it with a mallet. The blade sliced the cable.
This company fled to Idaho, so that it wouldn't have to pay such high wages.
(They were paying me union wage--a whopping $8.00 an hour, in 1978).

But...they're still there in Idaho, cranking out cable cutters. To bring this back on topic--I should order some cable cutters for family and friends. They just haven't known that they really need one!

SilverLady(SO) · Post by **SilverLady(SO)** » Mon Dec 12, 2011 11:33 am

Kyra wrote:I do agree, that more of the big bargain stores predominantly sell merchandise that's made overseas, and it's hard for American companies to compete.

I guess we kinda shot ourselves in the foot, there. They've got such cheap labor to work with...

The foreign markets also tend not to have the unions as we do here in the US, and unions are notorious for greatly adding to the cost of the item(s) in question by increasing wages and, therefore, their union 'dues' which come out of those increased wages. We also have much higher corporate taxes here in many areas of the US.

This combination does nothing but force American companies to out-source their jobs and manufacturing to countries more conducive to their bottom line, countries such as Mexico, China, Thailand, India and the like, to be more competitive: lower production costs = lower MSRP = more products being sold. As it is with most things: follow the money.

A prime example of unions interferring with the creation of new jobs is Boeing, who wanted to open a new facility in South Carolina but were forced to stop by the Justice Department (which I am sure was requested by the unions); the new facility in SC would have been non-union and SC was giving Boeing a big tax break as part of the deal. It doesn't matter that more jobs would have been created here in the USA, helping our own economy, the union (via the Justice Dept.) interferred.

Good news, though, is that I believe the Justice Department has just rescinded that 'stop order' and hopefully Boeing is going through with their plans for the new facility in SC.

Again: follow the money.

The prime reason for the creation of unions many years ago was right and just: to protect unfair labor practices, especially those involving women, children and extremely low wages (before the Labor Department and minimum wages were created). Lately, however, the unions have become way too big for their britches and need to go on a strict diet, lest our economy goes further into the toilet than it already has and the USA becomes another Greece . . . and that's not as far-fetched as some may want to think or believe.

Again, help our own economy by buying local goods or services.

- SL

Leeza · Post by **Leeza** » Mon Dec 12, 2011 1:03 pm

Also add to that the cost of conforming to government regualtions, a lot of which are neccesary.

Lower labor cost is often blamed for companies moveing their production to another country, but sometimes it is other things like the cost of of products that go into the production of the finished goods.

A case in point is a candy company that moved their production to Canada because the cost of sugar was so much lower than here. It is cheaper for them to produce the candy in Canada and send it here than it was to produce it here.

Leeza

Ralitsa · Post by **Ralitsa** » Mon Dec 12, 2011 11:55 pm

it always boils down to the total cost of doing business. A company will, and should, always go where it will see the lowest cost for doing its business. Of course this equation is different for every company and every business. And the equation also needs to include the opportunity cost associated with manufacturing a low quality good, so the cheapest product isn't always the most profitable.
In the US we have a lot of costs which should be reduced, mostly involving regulatory compliance, tax and accounting requirements, and liability. I really think wages are becoming less of an issue, because the real wages of US workers are dropping relative to the rest of the world, and when you factor in productivity it is not so evident that US workers are expensive. US engineers, in particular, are highly competitve considering their qualifications, reputation, and cost compared to similiar Europeans.
But we have too many laws and too many lawyers. In Bulgaria, they have very few laywers and nobody cares about the laws, but there are other costs which make a big difference.
The best thing we could do is outsource our politicians, laywers, and labor unions to China. It's too expensive to have them here.

Absaroka · Post by **Absaroka** » Tue Dec 13, 2011 8:05 am

The cost of unions is primarily the cost of higher wages paid to workers. So if we can all just be paid the way the workers are in third world countries, not to mention be fired at will and have very few job site safety standards, the economy will improve. Of course we won't have any money to spend on these products, and little time to use them anyway.

I've always thought Henry Ford's outlook on these things was interesting. He said that everyone in his factories should be able to buy a car, and raised wages accordingly. This was heresy akin to devil worship to other factory owners at the time, but they had to compete with him for workers. The result was what was for many years the US lead the world in automobile manufacturing.

It's easy to blame the workers for wanting more money. But we read about jobs going begging because no one will take them because they are too unpleasant and the pay is too low. Or that only illegal workers will take them. The answer ought to be obvious, pay the workers more. Simply supply and demand. Remember that well paid workers buy more products.

Zari

Ralitsa · Post by **Ralitsa** » Wed Dec 14, 2011 6:26 am

I don't blame anyone for wanting more money, everyone is supposed to want more and better things and that is the fundamental basis of economics. If people don't want more and better things, then it would be insanity for them to work.
I do blame someone for being lazy and not wanting to work. When we pay people for not working, or do not pay them according to what they are worth, then everything gets fouled up. This works both ways, I really fail to understand how some CEO, or stock trader, or commodities speculator, can be worth millions or even hundreds of millions of dollars a year.
Henry Ford didn't pay people higher wages because he was a nice guy, he paid higher wages because he understood that he would sell more cars that way, and ultimately he would make more money. According to my understanding, he was absolutely ruthless about cutting costs and making the manufacturing process as efficient as possible. His genius was understanding where it was smart to cut costs, and where it would be fatal. It's no mystery that there are damn few Henry Fords in history, and few businessmen as adapt at making smart decisions. So most of them try for the easy answer and that is: run to China where labor is cheap.