"Life is lived forward, but understood backward. It is not until we are down the road and we stand on the mountain looking back through the valley that we can appreciate the terrain God has allowed us to scale.” Jill Savage

Wednesday, May 11, 2011

I would love to give the US economy a kick start - would you?

Okay - I'm going to talk about American - made in the USA items today. My friend Angela and I talk about this. She tries to buy all American made and I'm going to start making a concerted effect to do this myself.

I checked this on Snopes - and it is not false or true - it is undetermined.

To me - it doesn't matter - WHY you ask - because it is a GREAT idea!

Now I did look up if Diane Sawyer had anything to do with this - and yes - she does - she made a challenge for us to start buying American Products - http://blogs.abcnews.com/pressroom/2011/02/world-news-with-diane-sawyer-launches-made-in-america-challenge.html

Here's the forward:

"Did y’all see that Diane Sawyer had a special report? They removed ALL items from a typical, middle class family's home that were not made in the USA.

There was hardly anything left besides the kitchen sink. Literally. During the special they showed truckloads of items - USA made - being brought in to replace everything and talked about how to find these items and the difference in price etc.

It was interesting that Diane said that if every American spent just $64 more than normal on USA made items this year, it would create something like 200,000 new jobs!

I WAS BUYING FOOD THE OTHER DAY AT WALMART AND ON THE LABEL OF SOME PRODUCTS IT SAID 'FROM CHINA’.

FOR EXAMPLE THE "OUR FAMILY" BRAND OF THE MANDARIN ORANGES SAYS RIGHT ON THE CAN 'FROM CHINA'.

I WAS SHOCKED SO FOR A FEW MORE CENTS I COULD BUT THE LIBERTY GOLD BRAND OR THE DOLE SINCE IT'S FROM CALIFORNIA.

Do we think about is the the Chinese, knowingly or intentionally, export inferior and even toxic products and dangerous toys and goods to be sold in American markets?

70% of Americans believe that the trading privileges afforded to the Chinese should be suspended.

Why do you need the government to suspend trading privileges? DO IT YOURSELF, AMERICA !!

Simply look on the bottom of every product you buy, and if it says 'Made in China ' or 'PRC'(and that now includes Hong Kong ), simply choose another product, or none at all. You will be amazed at how dependent you are on Chinese products, and you will be equally amazed at what you can do without.

Who needs plastic eggs to celebrate Easter? If you must have eggs, use real ones and benefit some American farmer. Easter is just an example. The point is do not wait for the government to act. Just go ahead and assume control on your own.

THINK ABOUT THIS: If 200 million Americans refuse to buy just $20 each of Chinese goods, that's a billion dollar trade imbalance resolved in our favor...fast!!

Most of the people who have been reading about this matter are planning on implementing this on May 1st and continue it until June 1st. That is only one month of trading losses, but it will hit the Chinese for 1/12th of the total, or 8%, of their American exports. Then they might have to ask themselves if the benefits of their arrogance and
lawlessness were worth it. " end of forward. . .

I don't know if May is the month people are doing it or not - but I am going to do this - like forever - I won't end it May 31st. The question for me is - IF I CAN'T FIND AMERICAN MADE - what will I do? Will I go without the product?

So what do you think about this and what are you going to do. And you can be honest - no blame or shame on this blog.

Love,
Chatty

"The best antidote I have found is to yearn for something. As long as you yearn, you can't congeal: There is a forward motion to yearning."– Gail Godwin

I yearn for a better economy in America and I feel that this is a forward motion...

21 comments:

Ann said...

This is just a wonderful idea. I don't think I ever check the origin of a product. I will from now--would love to buy only American made. Thanks for the insightful post.

Jeanie said...

I saw some of the Diane Saywer report and it was pretty shocking.
I am a bad shopper in general, but if I make the effort to buy American made I will hopefully do the country some good and maybe make myself a little more aware of what I am buying.

Melanie said...

That is a great idea, Sandie.
I think it's such a shame how American made products are so hard to come by.
I am going to try to check things out closer and buy American if I can.

MadSnapper said...

that means you can't buy a car or a tv or a radio or any of the technology since i have not seen any that did not say made in china. it will be interesting to see what you find that is not made in china, all car parts and any repair parts come from out of the country, either china, phillipines or mexico. i would be willing to buy it if it were out there, the free trade has wrecked our economy and the govt is the only one that can fix it. even our food products come from mexico and columbia, no coffee, no rice. when i shop i will check to see but since i have been looking i know what is out there, it is one of my favorite peeves with our govt. they destroyed all the jobs, they bring in people on work visas to work in the computer industry and pay them less, putting americans out of their jobs. oh and you can't buy gas for your car because it comes from the middle east.

Angela said...

Here's another great idea for everyone! Do a search to find out what products are made in the State that you live in and try to buy from those companies. Let your friends and blogging friends know of the products that are made in your great State. I have a few posts that I've done on my blog showcasing the things that I have found that are made in West Virginia. I've found everything from salsa to stoneware. I'm going to start doing more posts on the things that I found back then and didn't finish blogging about because I had hoped to visit the places that they are made to share pictures of my visit there. I haven't made it to those places but I will post them anyway. People need to be aware of these great products that are made in West Virginia!

God Bless America!
Angela

Tanna said...

I am yearning with you, Sandie. I appreciate your bringing this awareness to us. I do believe that if the everyday Joe and Jane would make a concerted effort, we could change our nation. I will be paying closer attention! Thank you! blessings ~ tanna

Ann said...

I try to look for products made in the US. I admit I don't always remember to check. When I went out to buy a new coffee maker it was impossible. Not one of them was made here. Hard to buy only American made when there isn't any.

Susan said...

Hi Sandie..It's really true. "Made in China" is as common as dandelions in the spring. Whoa doggie. On the plus side, it helps all the thousands upon thousands of workers in China, including children who labor very early in life because of poverty.

On the other hand, I feel that I would like to help American workers, too.

The only thing I won't give up is my colorful plastic Easter egg tree. Ha ha ha. But all the eggs for that are already bought and I don't plan to buy anymore!

Take care and thanks for a thoughtful post. Susan

Anonymous said...

Hey my friend,I am going to do this - like forever - I won't end it May 31st.
I have been trying to do this for a while,and it is really going to shock everyone that reads this,I DON'T SHOP AT WAL*@#$!!!
I have been reading labels for 10 years now,since the sweet hubby is diabetic,it's real easy for me to buy USA,while I'm reading labels I check were the product comes from.

Please re-send me that e-mail to vote on the American Flag I accidentally deleted it.
~Jo
LazyonLoblolly

Maria@BubblegumandDuctTape said...

Hi Sandie,
The company I work for recently made a huge purchase and when the items arrived I was shocked that they had been made in China!!! I'm sure the product is also made in the US. While I can't control what my company purchases, I sure can control what I purchase.

Ginny Hartzler said...

Some foods that are from here are still sent to China to be packed, and it will still say it's from here!! There is a book out by a woman who tried to do this for her family for one year, and it was almost impossible. I think it's called "Made In China", not sure.

Sharon said...

You know, this was a very thought-provoking post. I'm rather shocked, actually, by it.

I will pay more attention to what I buy.

However, I may still eat French fried potatoes and Mexican food and Chinese noodles - is that OK?? (Had to put a little bit of humor in there...)

xoxo

Shanae Branham said...

This is a great idea! Oh, my son's troop did build the snow cave and they spent the night in it. It was a little bit below zero that night. The cave held. Yeah!

Linda @ A La Carte said...

I did see this show and it was very shocking to me!! I am going to make a more concentrated effort to buy American! Thanks Sandie!! I truly did not think about food.

Journeyin' Lady... said...

I don't remember how/why this came up but a year or so ago we were talking about American-made and the subject of men's underwear came up. We looked at every brand we could find - expensive and cheap - we found NONE that were made in the USA!
It is very hard to buy only American as much as we'd love to!

DaCraftyLady said...

Great idea Sandie, boy we sure are dependent on them for a lot of things, because our $$$ to pay out went way down when we started getting the electronics from them too. I cannot believe that we are getting canned goods there too??? I will definitly look the next time I shop...Great article.. Debb

Tweedles -- that's me said...

you always make me think,, think,, think
love
tweedles

betty said...

totally like this concept, Sandie! I know we at one time had gone to try to buy just American made, but it was HARD to find sometimes! I'll do my best to try to do this!

betty

Betsy Banks Adams said...

Easier said than done---but a great idea... If our wonderful government would make it easier for companies to stay in the USA--that would help tremendously. BUT--with all of the rules and regulations and red tape, so many 'have' to go elsewhere --if they want to make a profit... They would love to stay here --but until changes are made, they just can't....

Anyhow --- I don't know the answers. Like Sandra said, all of our technology is done abroad for the most part... The ONLY American made car I would EVER consider buying would be a Ford--and I'm not sure of that.. We are Toyota people --and LOVE our vehicles. They make good cars --which last.

Well---you have given me food for thought tonight.... I will try to do better IF I can afford to pay the difference --in the grocery store. Our milk price today in Walmart was $3.48 (their brand)... GADS!!!

Hugs,
Betsy

Shanda said...

I can definitely tell you are an animal lover too!
I usually buy the cheapest food so will have to be more careful now! Thanks for the info

Debbie said...

Very interesting blog post! I'm going to make this a little adventure of discovery. What I liked best was your example about just using good old real eggs instead of plastic ones.