I'm not all that old, but I remember the campaign in the 80's urging people to "buy American." Remember that? What happended to buy American?!
What a shame this great country of ours no longer produces basic, everyday staples used by every household. Everything is made in Taiwan or China. Can we even find common linens that are made in the U.S.A.? Why have our industry leaders been allowed to move factories outside the United States and working class jobs along with them? I'm sure most any politician can easily explain the logic, but I'm still not likely to truly understand.
Look at our automotive industry. Tragic! I also remember when a Datsun was commonly referred to as a foreign piece of junk. Now our streets and highways are dominated by cars that do not originate from Detroit. Even cars made by the Detroit 3 are not entirely American made; most of the parts are not made in this country. Just yesterday when I encouraged someone to buy American, the response was "it doesn't matter, they're [Subaru] made here." Maybe so, but the bottom line profit doesn't stay here.
Have we sold out and become reliant on other countries to produce our goods? Could this be a fundamental factor in the current economic situation? What would our unemployment rate look like if those jobs were still located in the United States?
I realize we are too far down the road to change anything now, but I sure do miss looking at labels and seeing "Made in the U.S.A.," don't you?
