The Made in America Store--for the interested.

[Skidmore]

http://www.saveourcountryfirst.com/FeaturedProducts.aspx

The owner was interviewed on ABC news last night. He wants to get stores in every state to complete with Walmart.

[robcon]

1. Not interested. I'm a citizen of the world, not just the U.S.

n/t

[Skidmore]

2. How do you feel about unemployment in the US?

[Union Scribe]

7. Does a "citizen of the world" abide sweat shops more easily

when they lay their head down at night?

[loudsue]

8. Well, right now, the "world" is Chinese wages.

The rest of us don't care much for that.

[brentspeak]

11. Kind of in the same way that you're a Republican posting on a Democratic web site

and have been for years:

[sufrommich]

12. Hey, they're looking for factory workers in China. As a citizen of

the world, your employment is needed there.

[snooper2]

16. you need to send Greece some tax money

:rofl:

[CleanGreenFuture]

23. So your tax bill must be enormous.

[FreeJoe]

24. I'm with you.

I find it odd that people will complain that people in other countries get paid so little that it isn't fair to US workers. What about to those workers with the low paying foreign jobs? As I grew up, I watched Japan go from a country with pathetic wages to part of the first world. I hope/think I'm seeing China and India do the same today. We're talking about billions of people earning their way out of the abject poverty and people act like I'm a cretin for not wanting to stiff them.

And no, my support of free trade does not make me a Republican. I'm aligned with the Democratic party on about 80% of issues. This just doesn't happen to be one of them.

[originalpckelly]

26. They'd be making their way out of poverty sooner if they made American minimum wage.

Why shouldn't they, if they're going to sell into our market?

They should also have to work in humane conditions.

These things do not describe the Chinese economy.

[FreeJoe]

28. Actually, I think our minimum wages would put them out of business

The problem is that their productivity is very low. Our workers are more skilled, better managed, have better tools, have better supply chains, and many other advantages that help them produce significantly more value per hour. In order to compete, they need to produce at a lower cost, so their labor costs need to be significantly lower. As we've seen in places like Japan, Singapore, Taiwan, and Hong Kong, their productivity will improve over time and so will their wages.

[brentspeak]

29. We have free trade with China and India?

We've had free trade with Japan?

Spoken like someone who doesn't know what they're talking about.

[Shagbark Hickory]

3. Finally, some underwear!!!

Now when I ask the protectionist people on this forum where their underwear is made, instead of hurling insults at me, they can just say it's made in america.

Or course they appear to be $12 for a pair of mens tighty whities but I digress.

[Rose Siding]

9. There are 3 in a pack.

[Shagbark Hickory]

13. I must've missed that. So now there's absolutely no excuse.

[originalpckelly]

14. We need to have a whole friggin' company based off of made in America.

But it has to have the coolest styles. It has to be cooler and more desirable than the foreign made shit. People have to drool over it.
If you're wearing undies, we want ads that make you want to wear them before you get laid. And we want styles that will be the perfect intro to it all.
Tighty whities will get you laughed at. They won't get you laid.
And that's all I have to say.

[trotsky]

4. K&R

Thanks for this.

[liberal N proud]

5. Right now this business relies on bus loads of old people

being detoured from Niagara Falls to spend their dollars.

[RKP5637]

6. K&R

[brentspeak]

10. Somebody get them a better server

The link konks out.

[Contrary1]

15. Try this one:

http://www.saveourcountryfirst.com/

[originalpckelly]

17. Oh shite.

No country music.

Sorry. This is not going to go well.

We need something cool.

[OneGrassRoot]

18. I don't like it when any website automatically plays music....

If they turn that off, I'll be much happier.

K&R though, 'cause it's a great idea.

I do wonder how many of these companies who promote Made in the USA (which I do as well, even though I consider myself a global citizen -- "act global, do local"), would be open to being listed in The Compassion Pages.

It will be interesting to see how may conservatives truly reject the concepts of "compassion, cooperation and community" -- beyond the knee-jerk reaction.

[originalpckelly]

19. We need to launch a liberal alternative to this.

Something that's COOL and people want to buy from. Think Target, only with all humanely made products, all green, all made in the USA, from as many raw materials as can be sourced in the USA, or if it has to be sourced from overseas, that the people overseas work at the same pay level as the US and in humane working conditions.

The problem with shipping pre-made things from overseas is the air. Even if the air doesn't weigh down the ship, you need more packaging to ship it, and you also need a bigger ship, both of which reduce the efficiency over shipping the same amount of materials.

I'm trying to come up with a co-op model that's just plain capitalist. Something that's as free as a coop from a worker standpoint in all the good ways, and as individualist as the small business corporate model.

[OneGrassRoot]

20. I think we should talk.

;)

I'm looking at many different cooperative models -- a combination of worker and member-owned enterprises -- doing exactly what you're talking about, and connecting with many existing co-ops.

I have an online store setup waiting for me to develop it...lol....to be made up of items made by members of Wishadoo!, individuals and small businesses/entrpreneurs. I want to have a Made in the USA section to it.

Maybe it could start that way and branch out into the bigger version you envision?

Just food for thought. Let me know if you want to brainstorm soon. This is right up my alley and always in the back of my mind....

If it's a co-op/social entrepreneurial approach, I'm in.

:hi:


Edit to add that I realize "compassion" isn't cool....YET. But I firmly believe it can become cool. I'm on a mission to do just that which I plan to launch very soon. Make compassion, empathy, cooperation, etc., SEXY.

:hippie:

[originalpckelly]

21. Ah, it could be compassionate, just don't call it that.

:P

I think an idea that could be tried is a marketplace of individual vendors inside what looks like a big box store. They would work together for logistics purposes, because that's something an individual operator would have a hard time doing on their own.

It must be investor-less somehow, meaning that investment from non-participating parties must be non-existent. Only those who work must own what ever happens.

It seems almost impossible under this system get the capital to start something without resorting to investment on the part of others, but that's the major flaw. The workers need to control the capital, they need to own the way they make their money, so that they are freer.

If there are areas where you simply cannot do an individual vendor model, then it should somehow be a real free market, in which the only bosses you have are a lack of money in your pocket and demand for your services.

I think most people want the freedom of owning their own business, but they're afraid to take the risks associated with it. Perhaps if people band together and work to eliminate or reduce the risk in free economics, they would be more willing to take part.

[OneGrassRoot]

22. Yep, worker-owned cooperatives.....

a marketplace is one of the easiest to do, with only those involved financing it.

I had a thread going about that a while back, as I found most people weren't aware that co-ops involve much more than hippie-dippie (in their mind) produce co-ops.

It's a model that can help so many of us, and our communities, imho.

Yep, yep.

:hi:

[originalpckelly]

25. With the corruption we have in this system...

we really cannot proceed with normal methods. We basically have to overturn it. Playing in the market is best way to do it.

If the co-ops can win against an unfair game, they will thrive in a fair one.

[malaise]

27. I saw it and it reminded me of a lady in one of the superstores in Jamaica

last week. She had her two kids with her buying snacks and made them read labels to support locally made producers.