Uh huh. Because the public demands cheap products.


It kept the cost from going UP.

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To tax the larger incomes at a higher percentage than the smaller, is to lay a tax on industry and economy; to impose a penalty on people for having worked harder and saved more than their neighbors. ~ John Stuart Mill

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But we didn't used to *have* to buy American. We bought lots of Japanese, some English and German, and others too. What's happened is that the Chinese labor market (and Mexican, Honduran, Guatemalan, etc) has come on the scene in a competitive way due to globalization. We were able to compete against markets similar to our own, but that isn't the case anymore. If I *had* to buy American, it would piss me off. I buy American because I want to, I like to, and I desire to support American manufacturers, not because I have to. I prefer Japanese, Spanish, and German over most other manufacturing bases (besides American).

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"Every morning in Africa, a Gazelle wakes up. It knows it must run faster than the fastest lion or it will be killed. Every morning a Lion wakes up. It knows it must outrun the slowest Gazelle or it will starve to death. It doesn't matter whether you are a Lion or a Gazelle... when the sun comes up, you'd better be running." -anonymous

In the not-very-distant past, when it was cheaper to produce things in America than to produce them overseas and transport them here, people bought American. They had no choice.
Maybe they had less stuff. Maybe they had higher quality stuff.
Maybe they made more of their own stuff, and took better care of their store-bought stuff, so it would last longer. Maybe they had to save up longer to be able to afford their stuff, and so it meant more to them.

If things became more difficult to obtain because we were forced to buy American, we would survive.
Believe me, we would.

Truth is the model of building and selling here and around the world never did fail. It was working fine. It was the desire for larger profits that skewed things. This current model doesn't work and never will unless we were a one world nation and nobady wants that. If we keep operating this way the inevitable result is our middle class will be paid closer to Chinese labor wages. There is no other possible result.

Prob'ly the majority of crapola people buy is so they can keep up with the Joneses. Heaven forbid a neighbor or other family member owns something they don't have, so they have to go out and best them. Pretty sad when one is defined by the crapola he or she owns rather than the person they are.

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If it makes people happier we could always revert back to the pre union days when bosses brow beat their employees, verbally and phsically abusing them or sicing others on them to beat them up. There was no such thing as paid insurance, paid vacations etc. And if you needed to use the toilet, there was a damn good chance you had to wait until whenever your lunch break came around, or stand there and do it in your pants. There was no such thing as catering to homosexuals. And near as I can recall, women didn't work in factories until America got involved in a big war. And if there were people with gender identity problems it was damn sure not put out there for the world to hear and see about as they'd have had the **** beat out of them.

So..........while unions have been a part of the problem, they have also helped in making the work place a much safer environment all the way around as well as making it possible for workers to earn more than $2 bucks an hour, which, I might add, is approx, what employers would be willing to hand out had there not been unions to demand higher pay.

While people love to slam the unions it just isn't as cut and dried as they try to make it seem. Oddly enough, there are a whole lot of countries out there that don't have unions. Anyone can feel free to move there and take their chances in the work places.

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Other than benefit packages, which is not imperative to survival in a civilized society, what does a Union provide NOW that is not covered by federal or state laws?

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"Try and fathom the hypocrisy of a Government that requires every citizen to prove they are insured, but not everyone must prove they are a citizen".

Health insurance and raises are obtained by the union. Nepotism is a thing of the past. No longer allowed to hire a relative or friend over someone who is more qualified.

All three of the big three companies are now working to cut the wages by half. And the money union members make has held this countrys wage standards higher. When they received pay raises, it was publized and everything from peanuts to gas jumped in price.

Do we really want to go back to the dark ages? If everyone is making the same wage what is the incentive to better youself?

Maybe it's time to start pounding on the teachers union as well. They make a whole lot more than minimun wage and have good bennies too. Why is it that only the auto unions are the ones that catch all the flack from people? The UAW isn't the only damn union in this country.

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Health insurance and raises and nepotism. For that, wages are artifically inflated to support an organization that does what any person could do for themselves. *shrugs*

No one said it was just the auto workers being discussed, ttbomk. The cost of Union wages forced the cost of living up, not visa-versa, since Unions workers were the ones making the mainstays of life (clothing-food-transport) so it wasn't to keep them up with the COL, they are the ones creating the COGs.

Unions had their time. IMO, their time is done.

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"Try and fathom the hypocrisy of a Government that requires every citizen to prove they are insured, but not everyone must prove they are a citizen".

I will say again. Truth is the model of building and selling here and around the world never did fail. It was working fine. It was the desire for larger profits that skewed things. This current model doesn't work and never will unless we were a one world nation and nobady wants that. If we keep operating this way the inevitable result is our middle class will be paid closer to Chinese labor wages. There is no other possible result.