----- Original Message -----
Great discussion here guys and gals... lots of great posts came in while
my slow fingers typed this out but here is my buck 85 worth :)
I think a huge part of it is American consumers are cheap! We are selfish
people who want as much of stuff as we can. Bigger TV's, fancier cars, louder
stereos, faster computers... etc etc. No one is happy with just a house, a
couple cars, and a happy family anymore. The thing is to afford the large
amount of luxuries we have, either our salaries need to go up or the prices
need to go down. Well if human labor (our salaries) goes up, obviously
the costs of production go up, thus in order to make a profit companies need
to raise prices.
It is real easy to look at corporations out there and complain... but to
anyone who has attempted to start their own business... it is a royal PIA.
Start up costs are high for most areas (especially in machining and
manufacturing) and many times at the beginning companies eat huge losses. But
once you break even and pay things off.... you make tons of cash. BUT... keep
in mind you have to stay up on top too. A huge problem is like what stated....
profits are expected and dividends are expected... thus our companies have no
capital that stays in house to focus on new technology to stay competitive
with foreign and new markets. This is why Japan and Europe are right next to
American car manufacturers today when 25 years ago they were so far behind US
automobiles they were barely on the sheet. This is why the US
Steel industry is dead... totally out dated by factories over in Germany
and in the East. Now you are outdated... sales are falling... and you still
have a bunch of yuppies with their hand out looking for a buck cause they own
shares. What choice do businesses have but to cut costs? They have to move
operations overseas where labor is much cheaper... they have to cut corners
sometimes in quality to save time or money in the production and
manufacturing... that or their processes for manufacturing is just simply out
dated and not as good because they don't have the new technology to keep their
quality control high. There are a million little things going on out there to
save money. Then corporations have to shell out big bucks in a bidding
war to get good CEO's that can organize these operations and can make the
corporation able to make a profit. If they don't pay a hefty salary they
simply loose out on the top executives.
The fact at hand is American consumers now have less and less
opportunities to buy American products. Even if we did have the chance though,
most of us would but the cheaper product. We have all become bargain shoppers.
The problem I think simply relies and the American system and with American
consumers. Quality doesn't seem to matter as much as it used to to companies.
It is all about profits. On the flip side consumers seem to care more about
having a DVD player then to how decent of quality it is. Who cares if it is a
50 dollar close out at Kmart... it is a DVD player and now I have money left
to buy more stuff.
If people really want to start making a difference then start buying from
the little guy. Throw you Summit and Jeg's in the trash and go out of your way
to go down to the local speed shop. Or Search on the net for smaller places.
Most importantly find people in your community who are selling these
products and buy from them. Chances are it will cost a bit more and probably
make you get off your duff and possible drive a considerable ways, but I know
I would personally like to keep my local speed shops around. The nice thing is
in return they give me some superb service that no mail order
company can match.
Mikey
