Just FYI (A Small Rant)

Reply #15 – December 06, 2006, 01:03:44 PM

The best things in life are free, but you can keep 'em for the birds and bees. Now give me money! That's what I want!

Old song but still true today. Kinda sad too.

Just FYI (A Small Rant)

Reply #16 – December 06, 2006, 01:05:06 PM

Quote from: jkirchman;117225

To be more specific, everything comes down to the love of money, for that is the root of all evil.

Nuh-UH! It's women that are the root of all evil...

Quote

Mathematic proof that Women are evil

first, we state that women require time and money:

Women = time * money

...and as we all know, "time is money":

Time = Money

...and therefore:

Women = Money * Money = (Money)^2

...and because "Money is the root of all evil":

Money = sqrt(evil)

...therefore:

Women = (sqrt[evil])^2

...and we are forced to conclude that:

Women = Evil

:D

(and if you want to see a couple of nerds elaborate on this mathematical equation, click here)

Just FYI (A Small Rant)

Reply #17 – December 06, 2006, 06:52:10 PM

Quote from: EricCoolCats;117238

Nuh-UH! It's women that are the root of all evil...

:D

(and if you want to see a couple of nerds elaborate on this mathematical equation, click here)

Those nerds have too much time on their hands. Time that could be spent getting dates with evil women

:ies:

Just FYI (A Small Rant)

Reply #18 – December 06, 2006, 10:28:25 PM

Quote from: thunderjet302;117272

Those nerds have too much time on their hands. Time that could be spent getting dates with evil women :ies:

you got that right!!!

Just FYI (A Small Rant)

Reply #19 – December 06, 2006, 11:18:26 PM

It's a very difficult problem (the "made in China" thing, not the women thing). On one hand we have the majority of the (rapidly shrinking) middle class trying to stretch their meagre pennies as far as they can, and this means that if they see a product cheaper than a similar product they will usually buy the cheap one.

Then the (rapidly shrinking) middle class also wants to live more comfortably, so they demand higher wages. This, of course, drives up the cost of manufacturing.

Large manufacturing concerns have all gone "public" and exist for no other reason to make money for shareholders, and the shareholders want their money at any social cost, so the manufacturers either cut R&D and build poor quality merchandise in North America (see Ford/GM) or move manufacturing overseas, and the jobs with it.

Major retailers are the same as manufacturers - they care about nothing other than profit and keeping the shareholders happy. To keep profits up they buy merchandise from the cheapest source, which is usually a foreign manufacturer. If one does this all have to in order to remain competitive, so fewer and fewer items are manufactured over here. The consumer flocks to the cheap prices, which keeps the whole thing going.

Politicians, caring only about votes and having utter disdain for actual voters, score points by removing barriers to cheap foreign goods. "We'll save you money" seems more important than "We'll save your jobs".

I personally believe that the "make shareholders as rich as possible, as quick as possible" mentality is nearly 100% to blame. Shareholders do not care about the long term health of the company, the workers, or the long-term effects on the economy, they only care about getting rich right now, and at the first sign of trouble they pull their money out and put it in greener pastures. This starts a snowball effect in which people panic and a company can be reduced to ruin (or made very rich) in moments.

People cannot be blamed for wanting to save money, and I am the first to admit that if I see two essentially identical intake manifolds, one for 1/2 the price of the other, I will buy the cheap one. It's the wrong thing to do, but I'm human and I can't afford to throw money away for the sake of a "Made in USA/Canada" sticker.

Politicians share the blame with the please-the-shareholder-at-all-costs nitwits too, by allowing the mantality to flourish. They allow this mentality to flourish by tearing down the barriers to this type of thinking. Free trade, for example. Free trade between to countries with similar standards of living (such as Canada/USA) is a good thing because the two countries have similar wage levels, so there's no reason to move the jobs. When you add another country that pays it workers considerably less (like Mexico - sorry, Mexcougar) you give manufacturers every reason to move production to where the monthly wages are equal to our hourly wages.

Tarriffs and duty were intended to keep this from happening - if you tax imports from a low-wage country to the point that they have to price it at the same level as made-at-home products, most products will remain "made at home". You will notice that countries that do levy large import duties (puppiesan, China, Korea, etc) have thriving manufacturing industries. Countries that welcome imports without leveling the playing fields are slowly eroding.

Sadly, no politician in his right mind would ever say "We're gonna tax imports to save your jobs" because that would only translate into "Things are gonna cost more"/
In other words, the entire industrialized world is headed for self-inflicted ruin.

Just FYI (A Small Rant)

Reply #20 – December 07, 2006, 01:09:11 AM

I wonder if its possible for America to undercut its self into ruins.