Buying American

I received an e-mail today entitled "One Bulb at a Time." You may have received it as well at some time or other. I think the writer was a woman because I don't believe that many men do much comparison shopping at all. She writes of some of her eye-opening shopping excursions in a few different stores.

In one she notes that her grandson likes Hershey bars and would have bought him some but noticed that they are now made in Mexico. No, she won't buy them anymore! Her favorite toothpaste WAS Colgate til she saw that it too is
made in Mexico. She will now buy Crest since it is still made in the US. Since I am still boycotting Procter and Gamble for the last 15 years or more because of their cruelty in using animals in research, I won't follow suit. However, I now buy Tea Tree Oil Toothpaste which Pilgrim Pride carries in its catalog. So this keeps me "American" with this NY product.

At Lowes she decided to check hose attachments just for the heck of it. All made in China. When visiting Ace Hardware she decided again - just for the heck of it to check their hose attachments, and they were made in the USA. Good to know. I didn't even realize that Ace Hardware had survived with the Home Depot every present giant stores. I am glad they did and hope they will continue to do so and even thrive.

At Kroger she needed 60W light bulbs. She picked up the GE brand and was dismayed to see that they were made in Mexico. She noticed next to the GE brand there was an off brand labeled "Everyday Value." She picked it up to find
she says - get ready for this - made by a USA company in Cleveland, Ohio. This promptly went into her basket! Next she needed Bounce Dryer sheets and saw they are made in Canada. Again she was happy to find Everyday Value dryer sheets for less money and made in the USA!

Her enthusiasm made me want to go out and do some comparison shopping - but just for a second. I no longer enjoy shopping, but I hope that I can start looking at products with her "American" eye from now on.

When I forwarded this gem to my fellow e-mail persons, I prefaced it with some of my remarks. Included were some from above as well as thinking about how all this started anyway. I believe that NAFTA or "free trade" ushered in during the Clinton Administration is responsible for American product shortfalls.

As American Unions kept on asking for more and more benefits - our American products became more and more costly. So when the foreign countries sent their cheaper tax- free products we "lapped" them up. Walmart brought huge quantities of these cheaper products and Americans made Walmart very rich - the foreign countries prosperous - and many American companies poorer. Yes, hardly eye-opening news to anyone who has given it any thought, but I repeat - there are probably a lot of people who don't and who still haven't caught on.