That is probably more accurate......All generations! Starting with the baby boomers. I could agree with that. Getting them back won't be easy, that's for damn sure. I think it needs to be done though. I have been trying to spread around some of the facts Red posted, but I doubt that alone will work! I would love to know more about the school taxes, but don't know how to find the info? I know the slimes are making an attempt at redemption, but I highly doubt the auto-journalists will be forced into it as well. They have been attemping to rob the country from under us, and many of us are oblivious to it.

 

Uhmmmmmmmmmm..........have you looked at our trade deficit with Japan lately.........

How 'bout doing some research for everyone......look at the trade deficit for each of the past twenty years......and then tell us it's a two way street......

 

well ...this thread has certainly been all over the place!

I'll give you my thoughts......

I have about 8 national chain Drug Stores within 4 miles of my home. ....and one Pharmacy called "Merrit Woods" that's open 364 days a year. Yup, the prices are a little higher at Merrit Woods.........BUT.....it's locally owned.....and they'll deliver prescriptions to me if need be. The help is friendly......and they support the local school and local charities. I've never waited more than perhaps 2 minutes to check out......(I finally stormed out of a national chain one evening when I'd waited for 15 minutes and STILL hadn't gotten thru the checkout line......6 cash registers....one very slow clerk with an attitude)........
Now......I COULD save a few bucks by going to the chains.......and I could save a few more bucks by getting my prescriptions via mail......but I look at it this way......if I leave.....and a bunch of others leave...pretty soon, Merritt Woods won't be there............one.....I won't have someone to deliver a prescription if, perhaps, I were to fall ill. (I'm single....) Further, I'm quite certain that the chains aren't going to do for the schools what Merritt Woods does...........

It comes down to "what's good for my country.....and the people in it?" Yes, we're in a world economy.....but we're in uncharted territory.......with trade deficits and the value of the dollar. (thank you, China..)

Maybe I'm old school......and maybe I'm PROUDLY wrapping myself in the American Flag.............

I do believe in free trade........but I'm quite certain we don't have that with many countries........

Two last thoughts............ever notice who the world turns to when it comes to protecting freedom? Ever notice who pays the bills? Where do you suppose that money's supposed to come from?

And........when the economy tanks in your community because jobs left town.....think about what I just posted.

 

And thats all I have to say.

 

And then compare the sheer size and population of our country compared to theirs and realize that it's quite a bit easier for us to consume more of their products than it would be for them to consume ours, especially when our auto industry (understandably due to the cost of reworking all their cars to the small potential number of sales) doesn't even really try to market themselves in their country.

 

I couldn't agree more, with everything you said! I don't think there's anything wrong with being Old school at all, and would bet alot more of us here agree with you, than those who do not. I don't know when it became a bad thing to be proud to be American. I guess I mist that boat! Thank God! I just hope before its too late, Americans pull thier heads from the sand, and realize how they are hurting this country. Out Of Site, Out of Mind!

 

Oh, on a side note! My good friend was stopped at a light, on his way to work, in his 90 lexus is4-something, when a box truck didn't see the light, and just plowed right over him. There was rubber marks across the hood, the only thing left was his seat, but that damn thing folded like a tin can, he's lucky to be alive right now. Someone was definately watching over him that day for sure. Its a damn good thing he didn't have the baby in the back, the cops were, actually freaking when they saw the car seat in the back. I wonder what kind of steel they used on that JUNK! Everyone who see's the pics can't bieleve he got out alive. I was telling another buddy about it! He told me, yeah all that Junk is made cheap. He tells me a lady hit the side of his 69 Camaro, with a benz, which wrecked the whole side of the benz, and when I asked if he got the Camaro fixed....He said no, and showed me the tiniest little scratch! You can barely even see it! He just got the lexus too,(He didn't buy it new, he got a good deal on it from his boss, who knew he needed a car to drive). He got plenty of ribbing too when he brought that POS over. I'll have to see if I can get some pics on here, if anyone else still has them. My computer took a dump, I just got a new one, and all the pics are on there. The kicker is, he drives the exact same kind of box truck for a living, and told me, he used to see that guy every morning on his way to work.

 

Two things:
-Nobody in this entire thread has ever said it was a bad thing to be proud to be a US citizen. They simply said that these days buying a japanese car is not nearly as anti-american as you people keep insinuating it is, and buying a 'domestic' car is certainly not always as 'american' as you keep insinuating, either.

It's a gray area.

-And it's just one of many factors to consider when purchasing a new car. Buying a car that you don't like simply because it's a "domestic car company" is dumb in my personal opinion. But if you like the vehicle/price better in the first place, or if it's a close comparison, then sure, go for the domestic brand, no doubt about it.

And about the SC400... those cars are nothing but Toyota Supras Luxo'd out. I would expect them to be too much safer than a 15 year old Corvette, Camaro, or Mustang, really. But in case you don't understand this concept in the laws of physics: the force of impact is the rate of deceleration, which is the impact distributed over time.

Thus why a car that crumples up all the way up to but not quite including the occupants is going to have a much less severe impact than a car who just bounces off whatever it just hit. You're much more likely to be injured if your car doesn't crumple properly. Then again it's a catch 22, because if the car crumples too much, then you can be killed in that manner as well.

I just get tired of hearing people saying "this car looked like a crushed tin can while the other one hardly had a scratch!". News flash... unless both cars and the manner in which they impacted yields roughly the same tendancy to crumple, then one car is going to 'give way' quite a bit more than the other. Unfortunately for the driver of the crumpling car, his car's crumpling just made the wreck quite a bit less severe for both vehicles... not just his. So he just incurred quite a bit more damage not only for his sake, but for the other driver's sake. But that's just life... I guess at a time like that you want to save as many lives as you can.

 

I have to agree with you that it has become more "gray"... but it's a very pale gray.

I still think there is a very big difference. It might no be so absolute as it once was, but it's still a huge difference.

 

Exactly, its pale grey at best!

 

Now we're arguing about the shade of grey used in a saying.

I can't keep doing this.

 

Well, the point being...

You are basically saying there are no "absolutes"... and you are probably right.

However, just because things may have changed a little bit... that certainly doesn't make things "equal".

 

I do have to agree with this.

I don't think Trade Deficits are as much of a problem as Labor Costs. High Labor costs in the US make our exports more expense so yes we're going to have a Trade Deficit.

Manufacturing jobs tend to move to areas where there are Low Labor Costs. Now that China has actually made their currency Variable (somewhat) if it rises - I expect to see next an Industrial Revolution in Africa.

The real question is what do we do about it?

1) Impose Tariffs based on the difference in Labor Costs (might be good).

2) Wait it out and hope we still have manufacuring after everybody is "Industrialized".

3) Close our doors to the world and act as a self-sufficient country. (This actually has some good points to it. All you would have to do is put OUTRAGOUS Tarrifs so noone could afford foreign goods. Then we have to produce /everything/ that we want. The US is not a country without resources, there is not much that we can't mine/create/produce here.)

But again, - I don't know what the answer is. Hopefully someone will figure it out sometime soon!

 

So you're worried that the "chains aren't going to do for the schools what Merritt Woods does...."

Well, the odds are that those heavily unionized public school employees (teachers, janitors, etc.) and retirees all buy their prescriptions at high priced "Merritt Woods" because they have full and overly generous prescription benefits and don't really car how much their overpriced pharmaceuticals cost the taxpayers.

In the end, all of those dreaded "mail-in" pharmacies save society (i.e. taxpayers and consumers) money.

[QUOTE=Red Planet]Sure, blame China. In reality, you should thank China for providing the labor for America's consumer economy. The Chinese have discovered a fundimentally efficient economic model - more blatantly "capitalist" than any democracy.

Red Planet, I doubt that you seriously understand currency markets or monetary policy. More to the point, I doubt that you can comprehend the real forces at work behind the revaluation of the Yuan.

I somehow doubt that you'll be happy with the results if the Yuan is ever allowed to freely float in the world's currency markets.


Sadly, plenty of rubbish has also been "wrapped in the American Flag" for very cynical commercial purposes.


Oddly enough, plenty of American companies have actually benefited from unfair trade policies. Would you argue that GM's Chinese joint venture hasn't benefited from China's restrictive automotive import policies.


As always, the money is going to come from the consumers. Personally, I can't think of a single tax on business that isn't ultimately passed on to consumers.


Sorry, that happened in my hometown before I was ever born. Do I mourn for "The Death of American Industry?" Let's put it this way, I'm doing pretty well in the here and the now.

Maybe the post-Industrial future isn't something to be afraid of.

 

Gee, nothing like insulting the intelligence of one of the most respected members of the board.

What a clown. If you want to make an assumption, you might say something like, "I wonder if you understand..." or "do you understand..." in a questioning manner. But, in true redzed fashion, you state that you think he is INCAPABLE of understanding. Wow. Ladies and gentlemen, we are so privileged to have such a powerful mind posting in our midst. Let us not forget just how intelligent the great and powerful redzed is, and pay homage to him by not questioning his posts anymore...

As for fearing a post-industrial society, that is a whole different discussion. But I sure hope we never get to the point where we lose all knowledge, skill, capacity, and resources to MAKE stuff. Imagine if WWII happened and we were a "post-industrial" society. Would have been a bit tougher to build all those tanks, fighters, bombers, and munitions...

I'm sure we could buy all that stuff from China though, right?

LAME.