Joe B blog #1 "patriotic shopping"

Joe B
Hum101
Blog assignment # 1

Is it patriotic to shop? It depends on where the product you are buying was made. If you are buying “patriotic” let’s first define the word. A patriot is “one who loves and zealously supports one’s own country” ( from Webster’s New World Dictionary), would mean you would by only U.S.A. made goods.

From this point of view one would be a patriotic shopper if everything he purchased was American made. Lets for a moment consider that sadly very little is made here in America these days. Then let’s consider our former President George W. Bush’s plea to “ get on the airlines, get about the business of America ”http://www.commondreams.org/headlines01/0929-04.htm. This was of course said shortly after 9/11. He was talking about keeping money flowing thru our economy. And at least when you fly, you are on an American made plane.

As an owner of two Toyota’s and a Nissan I have contributed to the downfall of Detroit. I am not proud of this, but they were used when I bought them. My Nissan Quest is really a Mercury Villager (Ford) with Nissan electronics, a Nissan nameplate. It was built in America by Ford for Nissan. My Toyota Camry was built in Kentucky U.S.A. so it’ confusing these days as to what an American car is. I think it would be patriotic for me to buy a new Chevy or Ford made by American Auto Workers in Detroit , but I cannot afford to right now. Of course it must be said that most Chevy’s and Ford’s are assembled in America, but from international and outsourced components and materials.

U.S.A. made items like pants that are made here of domestic materials cost dearly. http://www.duluthtrading.com/store/clothes-workwear/mens/mens-pants/84011.aspx?feature=product_11. They are $ 69.50 for a pair of pants, pants advertised along with work pant’s. I would not work in them. These are pants that the working class can’t afford. They are made in Kentucky, and I can picture the employee’s working their finger’s to the bone for $7.00 an hour.

Despite the confusion over what is American made and the often bleak picture I have painted of America’s manufacturing capacity. I believe it is patriotic to shop. When you shop you are moving money thru the economy, paying sales tax to fund public works projects and pay off our deep debt. Also you are encouraging capitalism and the American way of life. But this is not enough. It’s time America started to manufacture again. The question I addressed was “Given that the U.S. economy is based on consumer spending, is it patriotic to shop?”. We must create jobs. The other component in the economy is that the consumer must have an income to spend .

I worked at a small manufacturing plant before I started the internship program, that was bought out by a large international competitor and subsequently shut down. Being a lowly welder there I wasn’t informed why this was done and lucky for me I landed this job before they shut the doors. My father’s manufacturing job was outsourced to another country a short time after he was willing to relocate across the country to stay with the company. The point of all this is America needs to get back to what we do best which is manufacturing . In addition to mining and farming it is what we need to get our country on track financially.