Quote:
Originally Posted by Rodrunner
No offence, Dragoneye, but it hurt me to read your comment, "Just because something is cheap, or "high quality", or the "best" doesn't mean it's a good purchase.(if not American made) That attitude is totally unfathomable to me. It implies we can't produce as good a product and must settle for second best to compete in the world market, and therefore that we as a people must be inferior.
I know you made the comment because the playing field isn't level and I understand that. But that aside, the fact is, in a lot of cases we don't, or haven't, produced the best product, and damn it Americans shouldn't have to buy crap to keep us afloat, be it cars or socks. Level the playing field, sure, but don't whine about that until you're at least producing the best product you can.
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That's what I meant. You will never (repeat for emphasis:
NEVER) hear me say that America and our neighbors CAN'T do something. I cringe just thinking about it. What I meant was simply this: The idea of the "free market" when compared to other economic systems is to give the consumer the unadulterated
choice. But the choice doesn't end at price and perceived quality. The consumer needs to take into account
everything before he/she purchases things. That means where it's made and who gets supported by it, the impact it has on the environment (if you care), the materials used, the company's ethics etc, etc...but we don't.
Here's the biggest flaw with our consumer-base -- we're cheap bas*ards to the core:
Product 'A' costs $12. Competing product 'B' costs $10. Both are the same quality, both do the exact same thing, and for all intents and purposes, both look exactly the same. How many consumers do you think will take into account product 'A' was made here in NA, and product 'B' was made in China? I'd guess none, simply because 'A' is 2 bucks cheaper. It's ridiculous, but companies making good business decisions cater to this buying philosophy, and send operations to areas with lower standards of living and thus cheaper labor (see: China/India). Frankly, it disgusts me. That's what I was trying to get at with my original comment.