My in-laws really surprised me this week.

[sakura]

As traditional, conservative Americans, they have long walked the "keeping up with the Joneses" path. For as long as I have known them, they have bought a new, gas-guzzling behemoth of a truck every couple of years, and have visited Walmart almost daily for a new infusion of cheaply-made, unnecessary crap. They moved to Arkansas from Chicago upon retiring to avoid paying taxes-- so that they could buy more stuff. My father in law is a gun fanatic. My mother in law is a religion fanatic. My husband is the black sheep of the family. The fact that he drives a biodiesel car and is an ecologist has always been a bit unsettling to them. Despite the fact that he is the first member of his family to finish college, let alone earn a Ph.D., he has never been a success in their eyes, as he hasn't beaten them in the "stuff" game.

Needless to say, politically we have almost nothing in common with them, and when they come out for a visit, the fur usually flies.

Not true this week. My FIL is extremely disenchanted with our country of late. More importantly, they recently decided not to buy anything that has been made in China. Of course, that rules out just about everything Walmart sells. As they live in rural Arkansas, sticking to their pledge is going to be difficult-- but so far, they are doing it. They're reading labels and getting angry all over again, every time they pick up a package and see that the contents were not made here in the U.S. They are finally angry about the erosion of our manufacturing base, at the loss of mills, and by the lead and other impurities showing up in toys and our food supply. Better still, they're actually doing something about it. And they're telling their friends.

This is really strange, as for years they've seen first-hand how Walmart devastates local communities-- the main street of the town closest to them has slowly atrophied since they've lived there. For years they've talked about how sad this was, but it didn't stop them from shopping Walmart. As long as they were getting theirs (and at the lowest possible price), the world was fine. But something changed. Maybe it was the huge increase in gas prices-- it's made real to them how much the price of food depends on petroleum, and how dependent we are on shipped-in goods. Whatever the tipping point, it's happened. They've finally seen the light.

Are they going to vote for Obama? Not bloody likely. But still, I'm pleasantly surprised. If people as reactionary as my in-laws are upset, change is truly afoot.

[Tunkamerica]

1. my mom voted for bush in 2000 (not sure about 2004)

but told me the other day that she had gone to see Obama speak last week in Raleigh and will vote for him. Kind of surprising though she has been asking a lot more questions than she used to (she actually asked me what genocide meant at dinner the other night after seeing something on Darfur).

[sakura]

2. Did she tell you why she's voting for Obama?

Is it Bush fatigue or something else?

[moriah]

5. My mom is voting for Obama this year, too, voted for Bush in 2000.

She'd raised me as a liberal, never had voted Republican until 2000. (I took ribbing from people when I was a kid for wanting Dukakis to win in 1988.

Of course, the reason she voted for Bush in 2000 was that she was in the midst of a psychotic break, thought I was involved in a killer cult, was going to a very strict Baptist church and seeing a religious counselor that was feeding her delusions about me being in a cult, etc.

She voted for Kerry in 2004, after having actually seen a real therapist who diagnosed her and gave her meds for about six months, joining the Episcopalian church, and seeing how bad Bush really was.

She said she had wanted Obama from the beginning because she didn't want a Republican and didn't like Hillary. (My mom did work in state government while Bill was governor here.)

[Cha]

21. Glad your Mom's better! Whew,

what a trip.

[moriah]

30. Yep, goes to show that one really does have to be crazy....

... to vote for Bush!

[sandnsea]

3. If they blame the Chinese instead of US corporations

Then they haven't changed a bit. Just loving to hate those who are "inferior", that's all.

[sakura]

4. No, it's the US corporations--

-- while they are fully capable of racist thinking, this goes beyond that. Sorry that I didn't make that more clear. Their explanation had to do with american companies looking for the cheapest possible labor. When we were out shopping for something they absolutely needed they noted every country things were made in. Not a single product was made in the US, and most were made in China. They had no desire to purchase the item made in Indonesia, Europe or India, either.

[Athens30603]

8. I don't buy Chinese products either n/t

[pretzel4gore]

10. i buy nothing if the price doesn't reflect the cost

these 1 dollar can openers that only open 1/2 a can; it takes 2 of them for a meal of canned spaghetti! And the 99 cent flashlight that sure looks like a 'bargoon' at the local 'Bargoons' isn't a bargain at all... it take 2 fresh batteries to turn on, and the light cast fades to a cigarette glow in a few seconds- you spend $20 for batteries just to light your way to the breaker panel! The slide that turns the light on and off has the bad habit of disconnecting from the metal contact strip, which really is plastic painted with alum paint!
darn them cost cutters!
(i notice tiny bulbs sold at hardware store cost a few dollars more then 99 cents- and the 99 cent flashlight bulb is afixed to the reflecter cone, it's all one piece, with the plastic glass end glued to that (by little kids? omg...!)!
And the 'two tee shirts' for only $5 dollars? ....well...DON'T wash them- if you want them cleaned, they need to be hand washed by expert massage therapists, at $40 each, plus the price of the various natural agents needed for the soap, and usually they disintegrate when drying anyway (they should be dried at sea on powerboat going at least 20 knots, which is fast, and expensive, experts say)

[sakura]

27. An even better example is a pair of Nikes.

The worker earns $1.10 for a pair of shoes that sell for 90 bucks. No wonder shoes aren't made here any more.

[ekwhite]

16. That you know of

You would be surprised how many "Made in America" products have Chinese ingredients. Many foods and pharmaceuticals have Chinese raw materials, for example, even if the final processing is done in the US.

[sakura]

24. Definitely.

Recently Trader Joe's (a grocery chain that sells mostly its own products, which it develops and sources itself) was pressured to no longer carry made in China products. They agreed, but drew the line at additives, as they claimed they couldn't keep track of them. All sorts of bizarre ingredients are added to processed foods, and packages do not have to list source of origin for them. And of course, a huge supplier for these additives is China.

I am doing my best not to buy Chinese goods, as well. For me, it's a three-fold problem. First, it's been shown that they use slave labor and child labor. Second, I don't see the good in supporting a totalitarian regime. I don't see raw capitalism as some magical engine that will bring peace, prosperity and democracy to the world. The Chinese government seems to be doing a great job maintaining power in the face of the great force (capitalism) that was supposed to topple communism. Third, their safety and health standards are not the same as ours, and I don't want to sacrifice my family's health to save a buck or two.

[DeschutesRiver]

29. I've found that true as well

I first realized this when I was trying to find products that weren't made in China, and read that Canada had some rule that if a product was made X % in Canada (50? 60?), then it could be labeled as entirely "made in Canada." Same apparently is happening here. When people became aware of safety issues and sought to inform themselves about product sources, the .gov decided that if we didn't know where a product came from, we'd stupidly keep buying it. So the deception began.

And I hold the Chinese (and any other foreign .gov pulling this same shit, of which there are several) equally responsible for the product taint/contaminations and the exploitation of human slave labor as I do US corporations. If we hold to the premise that China, for example, is a responsible safety and human rights conscious trading partner that we feel good about buying products from, then they need to say no to US corps that demand unsafe or unfair manufacturing processes. They are as guilty as the US corporations on this issue and should rot in freaking hell for what they do to enslave their own working citizens and create products that freaking kill people world wide (if you've kept up on the heparin taint, the glucose taint, and on and on). I give no human being on the planet a pass for this kind of behavior.

If we are going to consider them with some kind of patronizing attitude of "gosh, they just can't help it" or any notion that perpetrates the myth that they are somehow blameless in this, then we need to immediately ditch their asses until they f'g decide to turn into responsible humans that you can trade with, without fear of dying or becoming ill from their manufacturing processes.

I am sick to death of my gov's inability/refusal to quit doing business with people who just aren't there yet on the human civil rights front or that treat human death by product taint so casually. Not to mention what they do to their environment. Since changing gov policy is taking longer than I'd expected, I am changing my own policy. If a corporation, no matter where located in the world, or a .gov, no matter which one including my own, won't look out for me, then I am an old lady intent on opting out of their system as much as possible. It isn't doable 100%, but you can't ever eliminate risk in life. You can, though, manage and reduce risk, which is the path upon which I have embarked.

[BadgerKid]

19. Q about foreign labor plus oil prices....

What I haven't been able to get my head around is how companies can apparently export labor cheaply to foreign countries, be able to afford the shipping from overseas to the US, and still result in a larger profit than paying the US labor market. I mean, is our standard of living so much higher? Are companies getting subsidized from the federal government?

[Hippo_Tron]

25. They pay wokers around 25 cents an hour in some of these countries

Compare that to the US where most manufacturing jobs used to be union jobs with wages above minimum and health care benefits, etc. and you get the idea. Granted 25 cents an hour goes further there than it does here, but it's still hardly a living wage.

[barack the house]

6. It's all about informing people the more we take the time to tell folk calmy the more we succeed.

People armed with the facts can do exrodinary things.

[dorkulon]

7. Tell 'em to vote Bob Barr then.

At least it's not McCain.

[LiberalFighter]

17. Or do a write-in

[The Backlash Cometh]

9. Loved your post.

[sakura]

31. Thanks much!

[newfie11]

11. What did happen to walmart

When sam walton was alive wasn't walmart only selling stuff made in america? That's been awhile back and maybe mad cow disease has gotten to my brain.

[crispini]

12. You're right about that.

At one point they had a "made in america" campaign. No more. They have since been proven to be predatory cost-cutting assholes.

[dansolo]

18. Even "Made in America" was a fraud

The manufacturing could be done in US territories, as still be labeled as 'Made in America'. These places practically use slave labor, with the complete blessing of the US government.

[sakura]

23. Absolutely correct.

Walmart has never been a good "corporate citizen" (oxymoron alert) as far as I know. They were making their "Made In America" products in the Marianas islands, and the conditions did approach slave labor. People were shipped in and couldn't leave, ridiculous hours, labor camp living conditions, etc. All so Americans could get the crappy flashlights described in another post.

[Seabiscuit]

13. Nothing disturbs a neanderthal's sleep until their own pocketbooks are threatened.

[sakura]

26. Yes, I think that's at the core of things.

The sad thing is that there are so many Americans who fit into this category. I don't think it's fair to call them Neanderthals, though. Just frighteningly selfish and intellectually lazy.

[Seabiscuit]

32. "frighteningly selfish and intellectually lazy"... IOW: knuckledraggers.

Actually, I like "knuckledraggers" better than "Neanderthals" anyway.

[RazBerryBeret]

14. "Nothing can stand in the way

of the power of millions of voices calling for change..."

well written post. kudos to your inlaws. maybe they'll just stay home on election day, that sounds mean, but I hope that's what my in-laws are doing.

They seriously told my husband (I was out of ear shot)....that they just couldn't vote for a black man....he told them to just think about their grandsons and what their decision would mean to them, 100 years in Iraq, other wars, etc. and yea, I live in Ohio.

[ekwhite]

15. I really have to laugh that a PhD Ecologist is the black sheep of the family

It must be an interesting family indeed. Sounds a lot like my family, except that my father and mother were always lower middle class, at best. By the way, how is the biodiesel car working out?

[sakura]

22. I know. It's strange, isn't it.

I would guess that for most people on this board, at least, working your way through school to get a degree would be praiseworthy. But for my in-laws, it's always been about the outward signs of success. My sister in law has a high school education, but she married really well (she's gorgeous), so she is the success of the family. As you might guess, she has lots of expensive stuff.

The biodiesel VW is working out well. Right now biodiesel is pretty darn expensive, but we limit our driving, so it's not that big a deal.

[Cha]

20. Nice they're changing in their buying habits

but maybe by the time November rolls around they'll see where the real change will come from. Hey, it took them this long to get the China-walmart connection.

[yardwork]

28. I remember when "buying America" was considered patriotic.

That went out the window when the Republicans sold the U.S. overseas.