Can't afford to purchase U.S. made products? What's your health worth?

[delayer]

From today's New York Times:

 

"Before the recall was announced, Mattel began an advertising campaign yesterday aimed at reassuring consumers of its commitment to product safety."

 

How much is your health worth? I consider mine, and that of my children, to be priceless. Why then do so many of us buy products produced at the lowest possible labor rates, in factories that may have no oversight regarding hazardous materials?

 

American consumers should be very angry at the fatcats at the top who rake in obscenely high salaries, partly due to their willingness to cut costs, usually starting with labor. And what about our government watchdogs? They've largely been phased out by "big government" haters, who believe business shouldn't be hamstrung with red tape and bureaucracy.

 

Who loses? The American worker, whose job is long-gone, and the American consumer, who is gulliably purchasing cheap and sometimes even harmful goods. Vote with your pocketbooks people, the cheapest products may have a huge hidden cost: your health.

[Kindness]

Welcome to the bass forum. Next time give us a reason not to label you a troll.

[NeonVomit]

My Washburn is made in China, and it rocks

[WynnD]

My Fender was made in Mexico. The bass I mostly use, I built myself. Both play well.

[misterhinkydink]

I LIKE the tonal qualities of lead paint.

[Perfessor]

My Washburn is made in China, and it rocks

 

 

My Washburn T24 was made in Vietnam so I'm safe, right?

[Super Bass]

I have 3 Chinese instruments and 2 Japanese ones. Not an American instrument in the house. F**k'd if I'm paying that kind of money, its not worth it. If I want really high quality I'll go Japanese or Euro!

[misterhinkydink]

 

My Washburn T24 was made in Vietnam so I'm safe, right?

 

 

I think the Vietnamese paint subsitutes DU for the lead.

[thebeatcatcher2]

I LIKE the tonal qualities of lead paint.

 

 

i love how my strings glow in the dark onstage

[hawkhuff]

I have 3 Chinese instruments and 2 Japanese ones. Not an American instrument in the house. F**k'd if I'm paying that kind of money, its not worth it. If I want really high quality I'll go Japanese or Euro!

+1 for Japanese and Korean.

 

You do realize you're paying for the labor of US workers when you buy a US product, don't you? [/rhetorical ?]

 

Watch out, this sounds like a pro-Union thread.

[GRANKOR]

the only US made products I'd want are guitars/amps/music equipment in general. I can't think of anything else made there I want

[NeonVomit]

When trying something out, where it was made is one of the last things I check.

 

I usually try and see if it sounds/plays good and was built with care.

 

I guess you can say an American or European-made product will generally be of higher build quality than a Chinese equivalent, but that's not always the case.

[fretless]

 

From today's New York Times: "Before the recall was announced, Mattel began an advertising campaign yesterday aimed at reassuring consumers of its commitment to product safety." How much is your health worth? I consider mine, and that of my children, to be priceless. Why then do so many of us buy products produced at the lowest possible labor rates, in factories that may have no oversight regarding hazardous materials? American consumers should be very angry at the fatcats at the top who rake in obscenely high salaries, partly due to their willingness to cut costs, usually starting with labor. And what about our government watchdogs? They've largely been phased out by "big government" haters, who believe business shouldn't be hamstrung with red tape and bureaucracy. Who loses? The American worker, whose job is long-gone, and the American consumer, who is gulliably purchasing cheap and sometimes even harmful goods. Vote with your pocketbooks people, the cheapest products may have a huge hidden cost: your health.

 

 

This can happen regardless of where it is manufactured , all of that crap was legal up to the 80's and our local environment and population is still damaged from it , then the {censored}ers go overseas and wipe out their environment and population but with a free ride and no one to answer too . Yeah just think twice about that tub and tile cleaner you buy next time or all the bleach you use for your nice white socks .

[Craig Vecchione]

 

When trying something out, where it was made is one of the last things I check. I usually try and see if it sounds/plays good and was built with care. I guess you can say an American or European-made product will generally be of higher build quality than a Chinese equivalent, but that's not always the case.

 

 

All well and good, but not really the point of the original post. American consumers have been shopping price-first, and American corporations have put share growth first, for decades. The result has been a steady loss of jobs as manufacturing, and now support, have been 'outsourced'.

 

We're now seeing that imported products aren't been QC checked by many corporations...they ship from factory directly to store in many if not most cases. Support operations (the person who answers the phone when you call a company with a tech problem, for instance) are suffering because of language barriers, problems with huge time-zone differences, and a generally low quality of performance....you really want to book a hotel through an "agent" in India who doesn't know that Pittsburgh is 350 miles away from Philadelphia??

 

And of course the bottom line all along has been the fact that no country can long maintain an economy that imports a majority of anything, let alone everything.

[hawkhuff]

All well and good, but not really the point of the original post. American consumers have been shopping price-first, and American corporations have put share growth first, for decades. The result has been a steady loss of jobs as manufacturing, and now support, have been 'outsourced'. We're now seeing that imported products aren't been QC checked by many corporations...they ship from factory directly to store in many if not most cases. Support operations (the person who answers the phone when you call a company with a tech problem, for instance) are suffering because of language barriers, problems with huge time-zone differences, and a generally low quality of performance....you really want to book a hotel through an "agent" in India who doesn't know that Pittsburgh is 350 miles away from Philadelphia?? And of course the bottom line all along has been the fact that no country can long maintain an economy that imports a majority of anything, let alone everything.

+1

 

And this brings up a good idea that will swing the US labor pendulum the other way.

 

Set up a new government agency to inspect everything coming in from China. This, of course, means passing the cost of these inspections on to the company whereby they have to raise prices and subsequently make US labor a marketable commodity once again. Make products that are price competitive and people will buy them.

[wilki29]

Ive got 3 US basses made by G&L. I love all three and I dont think I would get rid of any of them. They were cheap and they are amazing. Although I do have one chinese bass ive yet to try out since it need new electronics. I doubt that I would ever buy a new instrument from the US though. Way too pricey. I'll stick with used gear.

[T. Alan Smith]

+1 And this brings up a good idea that will swing the US labor pendulum the other way. Set up a new government agency to inspect everything coming in from China. This, of course, means passing the cost of these inspections on to the company whereby they have to raise prices and subsequently make US labor a marketable commodity once again. Make products that are price competitive and people will buy them.

 

Good stuff!

I prefer to support the local economy as much as reasonably possible, but reasonably to me is

a) designing things attractive to ME and

b) making them more easily available.

So, needless to say, I support China's booming economy as much as the next ignorant sucka.

[burdizzos]

+1 And this brings up a good idea that will swing the US labor pendulum the other way. Set up a new government agency to inspect everything coming in from China. This, of course, means passing the cost of these inspections on to the company whereby they have to raise prices and subsequently make US labor a marketable commodity once again. Make products that are price competitive and people will buy them.

 

 

I'll assume that you're being completely sarcastic becaause I cannot imagine you supporting gov't expansion, make work jobs, tariffs and protectionism as those are all hallmarks of liberalism.

[Crescent Seven]

It's obvious that the only viable solution to this is to Bring Back The Bomb. Things we can't solve with internet protesting and activism should be solved with gigantic explosive devices. Who's with me?!

[i_wanna_les_paul]

My girlfriend was made in China. She has caused no harmful side-effects to my health. Now to my pocketbook, yes, but not to my health.

[1tallbassguy]

I LIKE the tonal qualities of lead paint.

 

As long as no one is chewing on it, you should be fine.

[ThudMaker]

I LIKE the tonal qualities of lead paint.

So do lead guitarists!

[Funkee1]

My Fender was made in Mexico. The bass I mostly use, I built myself. Both play well.

Someone on this forum once said the difference between a Mexican Fender and an American Fender is:

 

The Mexican Fender was made by Mexicans in Mexico.

The American Fender was made by Mexicans in Corona, CA.

[takeout]

I'll assume that you're being completely sarcastic becaause I cannot imagine you supporting gov't expansion, make work jobs, tariffs and protectionism as those are all hallmarks of liberalism.

Indeed. That post surprised the hell out of me too.

[takeout]

My girlfriend was made in China. She has caused no harmful side-effects to my health. Now to my pocketbook, yes, but not to my health.

Yes, but is it safe to assume that you've undertaken an extensive QC inspection process with regards to this product?