Buy American ?

One often hears the term , buy American , it's the only way to save us .

On the surface it sounds great to support our own country with your hard earned dollars , but is it possible ?

If someone made a point of doing so and bought only American , would they even be able to survive ? Does America even make the every day items any more , or even grow the needed food anymore ?

And just forget about owning any electronic gismo out there , or there a bouts anyway .

Please enlighten us , would one be able to survive buy buying only American ?

[edit on 12-8-2010 by Max_TO]

Very good point...

What does America make now-a-days? Im sure the list is long but how much of it is stuff that is used daily?

I gave up on the "buy American" movement when I realized that much to most of the "American made" merchandise is actually manufactured elsewhere and only assembled in the US.

Lumber for furniture, shelter and heat. food to eat. Do we really need much more to survive?

Originally posted by Hefficide

I gave up on the "buy American" movement when I realized that much to most of the "American made" merchandise is actually manufactured elsewhere and only assembled in the US.

And what's ironic, those items that are foreign, the majority of them are assembled here!

Harley Davidson? The iconic "American" motorcycle has most of the parts made in China, and seats from Mexico.

Buy American or local whenever possible is not that hard to do. You just have to do without a few things and sometimes you have to cave in, like me and my iPod, but that's rare. We buy Canadian too and from countries where the people have started their own companies. Mostly we avoid like the plague are the companies who go to places like China for slave labor at the expense of our jobs. Been doing it a very long time now. There are websites than can help you identify what's made where.

Originally posted by Max_TO
One often hears the term , buy American , it's the only way to save us .

On the surface it sounds great to support our own country with your hard earned dollars , but is it possible ?

If someone made a point of doing so and bought only American , would they even be able to survive ? Does America even make the every day items any more , or even grow the needed food anymore ?

And just forget about owning any electronic gismo out there , or there a bouts anyway .

Please enlighten us , would one be able to survive buy buying only American ?

[edit on 12-8-2010 by Max_TO]

Absolutely, however keep in mind that without new products, markets (manufacturing and the likes) and resources (that includes responsible resource management) we are all doomed anyways no matter what country we are in.

reply to post by ~Lucidity


Some great points and perhaps you can post a link or two to these sites you speak of .

And I am kind of glad that you mentioned Canada as the US and Canada in many ways have a symbiotic relationship and there respective success dependson one another in many different ways .

Buying local is another great example of supporting ones country, stay away from " chains " and get back to supporting mom and pop type places .

Ive always been about buying american WHEN and if its locally available: ( the problem is, anything american made is for sale online, and much more in cost, especially if its organic*
HOwever, ide totlay suport it. the other problem is, outsourcing* our lovely god foresaken corporations have killed alot of our industry, and replaced capable humans with machines. machines dont require a paycheck, pension salary, 401k or social security..
Only real things around me made in america ive seen, are New balance sneakers and shoes, and.....well tha all i came come up with so far! My local CITGO 234 hour gas staion sells Farleys candy. I bought some jelly beans 3 weeks ago, and read where it was made.. MEXICO Effing mexico! jelly beans imported rom mexico! i also noticed the copyright date, 1989 :X most other stuff ive seen have been uodated since about 2004 to present.
We dont make toys anymore..thier all toxic plastic from china. plastic sucks anyways, as long as it isnt a polymer. platics not polymer contain petroleum, such as trash shopping and garbage bags. undershirts, underwear at least for men, looking at haynes and fruit of the lom at local walmart, varys* made in indonesia, some say Dominican republic, ecuador, honduras, coast rica ive seen, afghanistan and paskistan ive seen, and india. same with socks. not one american brand mae in USA...
but it should be. i would totlay buy to have and support my fellow americans, especially since i have a job still, and others dont...help re circulate the money through the ecoonmy and entire american system, and NOT letting the federal reserve getting thier greedy hands on it.
When i wa a kid, in the early to mid 80's, everything was american made..the transformers my mom bought for me and the detail that went into them! nowadays, they all look like recycled milk containers with neon paint on em...and they took the choking hazard labels off them too ive noticed you know, comes with a tiny lazer gun a 4 or 5 year old would easly have logged in their throat. matchbox and hotwheels cars, all made in china! my local CVS, sells lots of thier products ive noted..made in china, including toothbrushes*

Seems like all we have left to sell here at home, is toxic/industrial waste and cancer ( ciggarettes to corn syrup)
thats all we got folks!!!!

Originally posted by ziggy1706

Only real things around me made in america ive seen, are New balance sneakers and shoes, and.....well tha all i came come up with so far! My local CITGO 234 hour gas staion sells Farleys candy. I bought some jelly beans 3 weeks ago, and read where it was made.. MEXICO

Effing mexico! jelly beans imported rom mexico! i also noticed the copyright date, 1989 :X most other stuff ive seen have been uodated since about 2004 to present.
We dont make toys anymore..thier all toxic plastic from china. plastic sucks anyways, as long as it isnt a polymer. platics not polymer contain petroleum, such as trash shopping and garbage bags. undershirts, underwear at least for men, looking at haynes and fruit of the lom at local walmart, varys* made in indonesia, some say Dominican republic, ecuador, honduras, coast rica ive seen, afghanistan and paskistan ive seen, and india. same with socks. not one american brand mae in USA...

Well, Mexico, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Honduras and Costa Rica are countries in a continent called America so their products are 100% american.

reply to post by ziggy1706


You forgot to mention arms and sadly that's one thing that does do very well on the world market .

Originally posted by Max_TO
Does America even make the every day items any more , or even grow the needed food anymore ?

The US remained the world’s biggest manufacturing nation by output last year, but is poised to relinquish this slot in 2011 to China – thus ending a 110-year run as the number one country in factory production.
Source: Financial Times.

Number two may not be number one, but its still a very, very long way from being "the US doesn't manufacture anything anymore," as lots on the Internet appear to believe.

As for food, the United States remains the world's largest agricultural exporter.

I'm not saying things aren't skewed -- statistics can be and are manipulated, things are often classed as being made in the USA when most or even all parts are made elsewhere, and the trendlines are declining in many important areas. The economy is a mess on just about every level, as most of us on ATS know. I'm a fairly doom-y guy in general. But let's at least try for a sense of perspective here.




[edit on 8/13/10 by silent thunder]

Pretty hard to find stuff actually made in the USA on store shelves these days, just about everything is made overseas If I absolutely need something and it's foreign made I buy it because I have no choice. But if it's some kitchen gadget or something I just want, foreign made gets it put back on the shelf. For some reason seeing the word China makes me think "Do I really need this?"

You know i can't wait to see an american dollar bill and read on the back "made in china"

That will be the day I move to the mountians,grow a beard, and find me a nice she goat to live out my days with.

reply to post by KingAtlas


Hmmm I had thought that I had herd somewhere that the US does sub out the printing of some of ere money , no ?? Interesting point you raise .