Yet again today, I noticed a vehicle in front of me with a big "support our troops" sign along with flags including a good-sized one attached to the passenger windows, a "Real" patriot, perhaps? Not in my books, it was nothing more than lip service to me as they were driving a late model foreign built vehicle. Yes, I am dead set against buying foreign products when we have similar products manufactured here in the USA.
Every dollar spent on foreign products weakens our own country and our sovereignty. You might be asking how this affects our sovereignty. When we purchase a product from a foreign entity while we have a similar product manufactured here in the USA, we are taking away profits form the American company, which in the long run, could drive them out of business and possibly leave yet other product that "must" be imported, increasing our every growing trade deficit.
Some may feel it is radical to think that we in the USA should actually think it is wrong to purchase from outside our country when we have the ability to purchase USA products. I have heard people argue that they only want the best or least inexpensive product and that if companies in the USA do not provide a better deal, they will look elsewhere. People of this nature to me have no idea of Patriotism, nor what it really means to be a Citizen (a long forgotten term in today's world).
Support of our country should be foremost in the mind of every "Citizen" of the USA, when they purchase products and services. Unfortunately, the vast majority appear to be addicted to the term "discount" and have actually sold our nation's sovereignty in exchange for "good deals". Yes, you read that correctly, "sold", past tense! The USA lost control in the 1970's and 1980's when our manufacturing sector was decimated by the flooding of cheap, inexpensive foreign manufactured goods. Many manufactures went out of business or were bought out by foreign companies. Some simply outsourced all their manufacturing to other nations and then would stick their label on it, confusing Americans who think they were American products. Even those manufactures that remain, battle daily to maintain manufacturing here in the USA.
Our sovereignty vanished, as we became a "consumer" country and not a "producer". There are some areas such as technology that still keep the USA alive, but even those areas are moving out of this nation at light speed. Greed has taken over this country and is destroying it from within.
Even today, many of our large corporations have no form of patriotism as their investors are multinational and all their investors seem to scream for higher profits at any cost. A good example of this happened recently when our government suggested that the large oil companies, who have racked in overwhelming profits this year with all their fuel hikes, would be required to share some of those profits with the country in some form or another. One large corporation said something to the effect that "they are not serving the USA" and felt they did not need to help. Absolutely no form of patriotism for the nation from whence they grew or even basic appreciation for the people they gouge with their high profits.
Still do not understand how becoming a "consumer" nation, we lost our sovereignty? It is simply that we, the USA, now are dependent other countries for our very existence. We are at their feet, waiting to be destroyed, but most people never open their eyes and see what has already happened.
If even just China (the one to who we are the most dependant) where to say tomorrow that the borders of trade were closed, our economy would crash in that one day, worse than any time in history. Most retail stores would be closed due to empty shelves. Empty, closed and decaying Wal-Mart stores (along with most other retailers) would be littered all across the USA. All their workers would be out of work and no longer have any money to make purchases or pay taxes, and many not even able to buy food and shelter. Thus, most other industries would fail shortly after.
The Technology sector would also be hit hard. No longer would you be able to purchase most computers as most of their components are made in China or Taiwan. Remember, China wants Taiwan back and if the USA economy crashed, we would be in no place to help Taiwan.
Even the health care industry would be hit hard, as the technology it depends on would no longer be available along with many medical supplies. There would be no new equipment and no parts for the existing equipment.
The ramifications go on and on, affecting every industry in our nation. It would be the worse moment in USA history, a dark time even more hopeless than the Great Depression! We would have over a 100 million people with no work and no means to obtain even basic food. The USA would become a third world nation practically overnight.
The Sovereignty issue comes into play when a nation such as China on whom we have such dependence, threatens to shut down trade, what would the leaders do? The only thing the leaders could do is bow to the other country and accept their terms, otherwise there would be no USA left to govern. How could this country exist with over a 100 million people not able to provide basic survival for themselves, not to mention how many products we depend on from China in our daily lives that have no USA nor world equivalent anymore?
While it is in China's best interests to keep the USA around "at this time", if an issue of contention arose, we (the USA) have no foot on which to stand, thus force closing of trade with China unless we made concessions. This will happen one day in the future unless the American Citizens wake up!
So, what is the answer? It actually is quite simple, we all get back to generating products, and consuming those products thus turning this nation back into a "producer" instead of a "consumer" nation! More on this aspect in a future post.
All "Citizens" of the USA need to show support for our nation with our purchases not with lip service. A citizen's loyalty of purchases should flow first with their local products, and then their countywide products followed by statewide products and then USA produced products. If all "Citizens" of the USA would follow this pattern, we would once again be a "producer" nation and would not dependant on foreign entities!
The same pattern above should be used in every nation. I am not against any nation, but believe every nation should provide from within and trade should be for those exotic products, not for your basic needs when possible. Many nations will still have to depend on other nations for some products, such as today's energy requirements or those that lack the basic materials to build products from within, but it is in a nation's best interests to build from within and have as little dependency as possible.
Keep in mind that a nation who depends on a foreign nation for survival is at that other nation's mercy for their existence. The greater the dependencies the less sovereignty the nation possesses. To me the answer is simply for all nations to become "producers" of either goods or services. If a nation becomes more of a "consumers" than "producers" (as with the USA), they live on the edge of their destruction.
It is time to invest in the USA, supporting our businesses, regardless of what we find elsewhere, get rid of those foreign vehicles and products it is time for the USA to rise once again. For those that have investments in large corporations that do not have our nation at heart (such as companies like Wal-Mart), pull those investments and put them into good American companies that support our nation!
Only, the good "Citizens" of this country have a chance to bring us back from the brink of destruction! Are you a "Citizen"?