Shopsmith Forums

beeg wrote:Greed or BETTER QUALITY car?

Let us make certain that we are comparing equals.

In the way of an example:

A PT Cruiser cannot hold a candle to a Volvo, or a Chevy to a BMW, or a Ford to an Audi, or a Dodge to a Toyota (price or quality).

In this discussion, to be fair, we have to compare very expensive US made to equally expensive foreign made.

Incidentally, notice that we are not talking about Chinese made versus US made.

dusty wrote:...Incidentally, notice that we are not talking about Chinese made versus US made.

Actually, you are knot talking about Japanese versus US made either.

a1gutterman wrote:Actually, you are knot talking about Japanese versus US made either.

I am now and I always meant to be. My list was intended as a generalization.

From another point of view, what does it cost to make a product in the U.S. My son-in-law worked for Easton Sports for 25 years. They moved their entire production to China this year. Although Easton was obligated to retrain and or relocate the employees, the move included a transfer/sale of corporate assets, so somehow this was overlooked. The entire workforce lost their insurance, and incomes. The State of California now supports many of these workers (thankfully my son-in-law found a good job, not as good but good enough). The result is that Easton Sports now makes baseball bats and equipment for less, sell the product at the same price, and our State and Federal government picks up the bill for maintaining those pushed to the side by progress.
In another field, as a pharmacist, I just read an article that the FDA has TWO inspectors in China, to check over 600 pharmaceutical manufacturers. These inspectors are guests, and must announce their visits well in advance.
I (we) survived the Cold War and a couple of hot wars, I truly hope and pray my children and grandchildren will survive globalization.

As long as the people keep voting as they have in the past for politicians like Barney Frank, Chris Dodd and Nancy Pelosi this country will continue down the same path it has always traveled. Corrupt and partisan politicians do not have the interest of America but lining their own pockets. As a businessman I have to make a living and the government both state and federal keep making it almost impossible to do business in this country. And in some cases both management and the unions have created a no-win situation for there own interests. When 97,000 workers are paying for benefits for over 1 million people this business will never survive under it's own weight.

It may sound self-serving but I have to think about the best interests of my family- it has been shown to me that my own government does not have my best interest in mind. Until Americans wake up and find they have to stand on their own feet (personal responsibility) and demand the same of their government nothing will change.

I agree with much that has been said both about quality, greed, unions, CEo's and government.
There is way too much government, people both union and management especially CEO's are getting paid too much, quality always seems to be the first hit when cost are trying to be cut, and greed is behind most if not all of it.

However buying from china is not going to help the problem nor solve it. The more manufacturing we send out of this country the less capable we are to sustain ourselves and the more dependent we become.

Oil was sent out of this country because it was too dirty, now we are held hostage to oil producing countries that demand high prices. The same is true for most major manufacturing with the exception of the auto industry and that is mainly due to taxation and transportation costs.

What needs to be done is let these companies go bankrupt, and do a reset of our economy. People are going to have to learn the hard hard lesson they are not entitled to anything but what they produce with the labor of their hands. There are no free rides and beauracy has to be paid for by someone.

Again shifting our purchasing out of this country may sound like a good immediate solution, in the long run it is coming back to bite us big time.

It seems people never learn from the past...

"The budget should be balanced, the Treasury should be refilled, public debt should be reduced, the arrogance of officialdom should be tempered and controlled, and the assistance to foreign lands should be curtailed lest Rome become bankrupt.
People must again learn to work, instead of living on public assistance."

-- Cicero , 55 BC

One definition for stupidity:
Keep doing the same thing over and over, expecting a different results.
It seems there are an awful lot of stupid people in our government now-a-days. For instance, one of our illustrious leaders (named in post #15) actually made this comment: "You don't need God. You have us Democrats." This is not meant to be a religious or political statement. It is simply an example of the stupidity of some of our "so called" leaders.

George

curiousgeorge wrote:It seems people never learn from the past...

"The budget should be balanced, the Treasury should be refilled, public debt should be reduced, the arrogance of officialdom should be tempered and controlled, and the assistance to foreign lands should be curtailed lest Rome become bankrupt.
People must again learn to work, instead of living on public assistance."

-- Cicero , 55 BC

I like this. These word should be worked into the inauguration next month. I just may put this into a letter to my Congressmen and Governor even though I am not sure they will understand what I am trying to say.

dusty wrote:I like this. These word should be worked into the inauguration next month. I just may put this into a letter to my Congressmen and Governor even though I am not sure they will understand what I am trying to say.

+1. I agree with the post in its entirety.

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