Now they do the next best thing for themselves ...send manufacturing to where the labor costs are the cheapest. My how times have changed. Back then they destroyed peoples lives with slavery ...now they destroy peoples lives by moving work to cheap/slave labor countries and gutting our middle class. Rich people back then and rich people now. What a difference ...huh.

hadn't thought of it that way before...but, it makes sense.

That would make a great "Talking Point" if we ever had a Real Democrat (what is that anymore?) run in an election. Fits well with the 1% vs 99%" Meme that took off...and was the lasting legacy of OWS.

"Back then they destroyed peoples lives with slavery ...now they destroy peoples lives by moving work to cheap/slave labor countries and gutting our middle class. Rich people back then and rich people now. What a difference ...huh."

outsourcing.

I cannot find it....I thought that the name of the company was something like "Vargo", but DU search doesn't show anything.

"The two speeches delivered continents apart highlight the delicate balance the senator from New York"

I love that line from the news article. Instead of being an example of rank hypocrisy it is keeping a 'delicate balance' between two constituents. The news media continually gives legitimacy to statements which deserve ridicule.

There are lots of complaints about the quality of goods made in China but that fault rests with the US firms that are demanding cheaper and cheaper costs. Corners are cut to get the costs down and that is how we end up with poor quality products.
American consumers are filling landfills with products that do not work or quit working in a short time or break. We just go out and buy a new whatever hoping it will work or last.
That is "just the way at is."

The consumer has been educated to buy the very cheapest product and then dispose of it when it falls apart. I have had towels and clothes disintegrate in the first wash. And people do no understand that investing in quality (not necessarily an expensive designer label) will save lots of money in the long run. Big corporations did this on purpose so you have to keep buying their product. That's why buying a used appliance from 50 years ago is a better investment than one today which will last a year.

One of our best selling products is under $20. People complain that it is $2 more expensive than the largest competitor. What they get for $2 less is a product made in China/India/Pakistan/Vietnam so you have no idea what's in it. The thread and fabric are the cheapest, lowest quality possible because labor is so cheap in those products, the real cost savings is in the materials. That item lasts 3-6 months and then it needs to be replaced.

Our product is made with the highest quality materials because in the US, labor is the most expensive so a little more for thick thread that doesn't pop when you use it, sewing techniques to make it extra sturdy, and materials that will last over a decade of hard daily use. So for all the people who say, "Expensive for what it is" there are more who say "I bought four of the competing brands and so have wasted over $100 until I got this one."

"Expensive for what it is" means I buy Chinese products and don't give a damn about US workers because I just want to shop all day for cheap junk made by slave labor. People do not understand how much power they have to change all this. If they were willing to pay what it costs to manufacture in the US, DEMANDED US made goods, the jobs would be brought back yesterday.

As a seamstress, I often send complaints to the companies that are selling sewing supplies. Dritz for example is selling nothing but crap anymore - blunt pins & needles, shabbily made embellishments etc.. Coats and Clark and their hideous threads - on and on. They never reply.

Yes - consumers want cheapest but it is getting very difficult to find anything higher quality even for higher cost. I guess that market share is too tiny to bother with.

There is a principle here - we have to go for quality as we may be the last generation to do so.

than China. The bias tapes are atrocious and lose color on the first wash and shrink so badly they will ruin your project. This comes mostly from chains like Wal Mart competing with fabric stores for lower prices. They are putting the small sewing stores out of business. The good news is, there are many thread manufactures in the east and south. We buy from a company in North Carolina that adheres to the Living Wage standard. It's great and their customer service is very good.

Most of these companies only sell wholesale, so I recommend getting with a group to purchase in bulk. We also use German notions if we can't find US and they are very good as well.

It is very difficult to find everything US made. We can't find a lot of fabric we need that is made in the US (our knits are made here in California) so we have compromised that at least we do our best with materials and our workers are in a union shop. A lot of the fabric mills in the US have shut down, though states like North Carolina are doing their best to bring them back. I long for the days when I can buy things like sheets and towels again that are like my grandmother's that must have lasted forty years and were the softest things ever. I just bought some great ticking and had a friend make up some reusable grocery bags (I don't sew) and just took them to the store and three people asked me where I got them. I can wash them and they don't get icky like the ones made from bottles. I bet they will last a decade.

I'm going to be doing this for a lot more things because I'm tired of buying crap. The one thing I know for sure that saving up to invest in great quality means it's not just going to last, it's going to be a pleasure every time I use it. So it is well worth it to me. It just means I can't impulse buy lots of items and I'm perfectly fine with that.

that explains what happened and why its really bad. On the issue of sending our manufacturing to China.

http://www.321gold.com/editorials/gaines/gaines092004.html

-Airplane

the stupidest thing is that China has done it before - nationalizing foreign companies - and it is not ancient history.
I have a good friend who is from China and she has said many times - China is going to bury the US. She cannot believe how stupid we are to turn over so much to China.
While Americans go there to join in the gold rush, they are thinking only of the short term. The long term thinking Chinese are miles ahead in their planning.

They are going to dominate the solar market because we're too stupid. They will be like the sheiks of oil regions because they control production. They have already strong armed a few times with computer chips because they bought up all the mining for certain minerals that are necessary. Why do you think we keep invading countries, *cough* Afghanistan?

WWIII will bring corporations a BIG REALITY SCHOCK