Buying American even when there is a cheaper/higher quality foreign option amounts to charity, but in a roundabout fashion that harms our country's competitiveness. If you feel that strongly about the plight of American workers out of jobs because they couldn't compete with foreigners, you should just donate your money directly to the unemployed and continue buying the best you can get for your money, whether foreign or American. Giving an American producer your business even if they charge too much or make an inferior product allows them to continue their sub-par business practices and stay in business. Having lots of companies like this in business keeps their capital from going to more efficient producers, and harms our country's global competitiveness.
American Made
- Thread starter WoodchuckAssassin
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A couple of months ago I was invited on a tour of the Remington factory in Ilion. Saw model 700s, 870s, Marlins and others being assembled and various parts being made, and guns being test fired. Perhaps there are certain models being made elsewhere, But I saw plenty being made right here in Ilion, and we were only allowed in a couple areas on 2 floors. The Remington plant is huge, 4 stories, so I'm sure there were plenty other guns being made there besides what we were allowed to see.
MachIVshooter
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Ardent has US-made reels for reasonable prices. They start at about $150. These are bait casting reels, though, not fly reels.
Well, in point of fact, Wally world does have quite a lot of USA-made stuff, including a lot of things you wouldn't think, like spray bottles. But generally, I agree-the budget-minded customer is going to have a harder time finding made-in-USA stuff. You will have to spend more, like the USA-made Hein-Werner 3 ton floor jack I paid $550 for, as opposed to the Harbor Freight 3-tonner you can get for $80. But there's really no camparison in quality most of the time, and this is especially true of tools. I don't like that I have to spend 10-20 times as much for my Matco and Snap-on equipment as I would for Chinese or Taiwanese stuff, but the difference is a distinct lack of busted knuckles and mangled fastners when you buy quality.
Price isn't the only factor. Why did people start buying Japanese cars in the 70's and 80's? Because they were all-around superior to their contemporary American counterparts.
I love America, but if someone else make a better product, I won't hesitate to send my dollars to a foreign country. If they do it better, they deserve it.
S.W.G. I find your example of Japanese cars to be lacking. Those cars may not have been as crude or as junky as many people would believe but I don't find the quality to be the same. The biggest reasons people began switching to those vehicles was lower prices and better gas mileage. The durability and features of those vehicles was of no comparison. If you want to say German or Italian cars were superior I think you could possibly come up with a valid arguement but, saying Japanese cars of that time were superior is false.
How many Chevrolet's from the 70's are still on the road? How many Honda's from the 70's are still on the road?
More reliable, more efficient, cheaper. In a word, 'superior'.
With companies like Diamondback and Kel-Tec making "all-American" guns...sometimes I feel better with something German of Italian instead. Beretta has been making guns longer than the USA has been around. You don't get that kind of longevity by making a mediocre product. I don't know of an American made O/U that can hold a candle to the English, Spanish or Italian ones.
MachIVshooter
Member
You're shooting holes in your argument with that camparison. The truth is, there are A LOT more domestics 30, 40 years old and older still on the road than imports.
The Asian cars were better than the domestic ecomomy cars during that period. Why? Because that's what they'd been doing all along, but we were just getting our feet wet with that concept.
I wrench for a living and own my own shop, and I will tell you that, today, the quality is really model-specific between domestic and Japanese cars. As a whole, they will all go the distance if you take care of them.
Henschman: You beat me to it, and your words are more erudite.
I wonder whether the competition from both US and foreign-built guns give strong incentive to Auto Ordnance to improve the quality control of their M-1 Carbines. Mine was bought brand-new in '07.
Even after the succesful, free factory repair, I was still so disgusted that a new product (my first gun purchase: age 52) could jam for no visible reason that I sold it at a real loss.
I wonder whether the competition from both US and foreign-built guns give strong incentive to Auto Ordnance to improve the quality control of their M-1 Carbines. Mine was bought brand-new in '07.
Even after the succesful, free factory repair, I was still so disgusted that a new product (my first gun purchase: age 52) could jam for no visible reason that I sold it at a real loss.
You guys and your car metaphors. They all suck, break down eventually, and cost money to refill, maintain, and keep in working condition because anything man made will at some junction fail miserably.
Guns, on the other hand, I don't mind so much.
Ardent reels are made here. There's a few others but they are small companies that make real high end stuff.
If a rifle was made in one factory one year and another the next, there's a good chance something will change, regardless of where the factory is located. Also, if a company is bought out, going through financial trouble, not replacing aging equipment, has a high turnover rate, etc etc...that can all play a part in the quality of a gun just the same.
I won't buy anything solely based on where it's made. There are many other factors to consider. Stossel wrote an article recently about the uniforms made in China that just about summed it up. You can't be all about the free market and free trade one day and complain about things being made in China the next.
Cornhusker77
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Umm...A lot more 70s Chevies and Fords on the roads of the United States than there are 70s built Hondas or Toyotas or Datsuns...so I don't know what you are talking about...
Anyway...I've bought two Czech made guns in the past 3 years, an Austrian made gun and a gun probably made in America, but owned by a Belgian company. I put money in American and foreign guns. I shop by what I like, not where it is made.
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I don't think I've seen a single 1970s Japanese made car on the road in the past year. During the 70s, the Japanese made cars that were very fuel efficient, low quality, and would rust away in no time. Their only comparative advantage was fuel economy.
By today's standards, NO ONE was making good cars in the 1970s.
Anyone bad-mouthing American made cars today have no clue. They have their head stuck in the 80s and 90s. Today, there is no better car or truck being made than products made by General Motors. Bang for the buck, they are the best.
Everyone piles scorn on American products these days. I think that's bull. When Chevy screws up, everyone hears about it. When Honda screws up, no one talks about it. My wife's Honda CRV (bought before we were married) had the AC go out conveniently after the warranty expired. Come to find out that this is a long-standing flaw in Honda's AC. When you read Consumer Reports, do they say "avoid Honda due to the long-standing AC flaw?" NO THEY DO NOT. An American company could never get away with this because the eyeball of scrutiny is always on them 24/7.
By today's standards, NO ONE was making good cars in the 1970s.
Anyone bad-mouthing American made cars today have no clue. They have their head stuck in the 80s and 90s. Today, there is no better car or truck being made than products made by General Motors. Bang for the buck, they are the best.
Everyone piles scorn on American products these days. I think that's bull. When Chevy screws up, everyone hears about it. When Honda screws up, no one talks about it. My wife's Honda CRV (bought before we were married) had the AC go out conveniently after the warranty expired. Come to find out that this is a long-standing flaw in Honda's AC. When you read Consumer Reports, do they say "avoid Honda due to the long-standing AC flaw?" NO THEY DO NOT. An American company could never get away with this because the eyeball of scrutiny is always on them 24/7.
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I meant as a percentage of those that were imported. Ford and Chevy pumped out tens of millions of pickup trucks and the like, so of course they will be seen more frequently. A Honda from 1975 is more likely to still be on the road than a Chevy made in the same year. But Chevy produced more cars, so it looks like they are more reliable.
I have a family friend who has worked on cars for 30+ years, he is a licensed BMW mechanic, and he has told me more than once that American cars have a worse service record than their Japanese counterparts. They come in for repairs with fewer miles on the clock, and they are more likely to have parts that were assembled wrong at the factory. I think I'll take his word for it.
Economy cars are the simplest and most basic that come out of a factory. If they screwed up an economy car, how could they get anything else right?
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