Fallacy of “Made in the USA”

The rich would preach that we stick to “Made in the USA” products, yet turn right around and head to Asian and Japanese stock markets to roll their investments. It seems a tongue-in-cheek agenda being fronted to stir patriotic sentiments to all that once was the domain in manufacturing of the most advanced industrialized country in the world.

For the sake of curiosity, I took an inventory of everything that I consume or wear on a daily basis. I simply wanted to find out just how much of the myriad of consumerable products carry the label “Made in the USA”. Here’s what I found out with great disappointment.

The trousers that I bought in Honolulu three years ago came from an Asian apparel factory. The three Polo shirts (red, yellow and blue) each came from Jamaica, Saipan and another country. The pair of socks I wear to work was from some strange Latin American country while my belt hailed all the way from France.

The wrist watch (Seiko) naturally came from Japan while my wedding band was manufactured elsewhere and definitely not a product of “Made in the USA”. As I was preparing to head to my farm at Mt. Tagpochau, I noticed the label on my machete manufactured in Brazil. My working gloves were made in South Korea. I asked my wife for some cold water which, well, came from the heavens above–“Made in the Universe”?. Too, the rice in my lunch box was produced in Australia with beef marinated in Japanese teriyaki sauce.

As I exited the house, I took a survey of the paint on the exterior and around the fence. The family house was built by Chinese construciton workers with lots of Taiwan cement. About the only thing allegedly “Made in the USA” are my refrigerator and stove, but then who knows where parts for these home appliances came from?

I finally got on my jeep–Japanese made–with superb gas mileage to the gallon, a pitch-perfect stereo system with CD, air-conditioned and grandly comfortable. I criss-crossed with a CJ Jeep–US made–jeeps that I sometime find by the road side waiting for a wreck truck for something must have gone wrong.

At the farm, I again took an inventory of equipment and tools that I would use that day clearing guinea grass and tañgantañgan. The bush cutter is Japanese made, sickle is also from Japan, the tractor is made up of parts between Australia and Germany; and the water tank among coconut trees is Korean made.

As I filled-up the bush cutter with fuel, yes it came from US oil refineries, but the crude oil hailed from Saudi Arabia or the Middle East. I gave up my quick inventory of, well, “Made in the USA”.

I came down to a basic truth about the warped platriotic promotion of “Made in the USA” products: Consumers hardly look at labels for country of origin. Much of what they buy in consumerable products is strictly based on stretching the elasticity of the dollar.

The ultimate truth in manufacturing (as the entire globe embraces the concept of globalization) is to head to venues outside the country where companies can take advantage of cheap labor in Latin and South America and Asian countries. Levi Strauss has moved elsewhere to a foreign venue. It is the last apparel icon that would change labels and definitely not boast the famous “Made in the USA”, but perhaps “Made in Jamaica” or “Made in Indonesia” or other Asian countries. So much for a label that has lost grounds beyond our wildest imaginings.

Finally, the country has moved into the service sector and about the only thing “Made in the USA” are the American salesmen peddling foreign made products that are superior in quality and far more inexpensive too than those made at home. It may be a sad trend but an inevtiable trend that warrants country-wide acceptance.