Corporate greed is the one common denominator in this equation. The bean-counters are at the helm and the 'bottom line' is the driving factor, while quality control goes to hell in a hand basket! To quote Pogo.."We have met the enemy,,and He is US".
Do you realize that there are virtually NO US dress shirt manufacturers in the country, none, nada, zilch..! Hathaway was the last and it bit the dust in the mid 90's. The demise of textile industry (the mainstay in the south) was due to attempting to get by with 50 year-old technology while third-world countrys got on board with cutting edge tecnology. The same is true of the steel industry. If a country like Japan which has NO iron ore resources of her own can import US ore, refine and process it there, then turn around and ship it BACK to the US and STILL sell it at a profit.....well WHAT's wrong with this picture??
Did you realize that General Motors announced in 2003 that they had to tack on an average additional $1400.00 to the price of every vehicle just to offset the cost of union bennefits in order to make a proffit?? Wonder what that that figure is now?? Yet virtually every major foreign auto maker has taken up residence here in the US manufacturing cars that from a quality/price-point put us vehicles to shame. And don't just take my word on this, as a cursory glance at Consumer Digest will bear this out. Toyota, and Honda has consistently been No.1 in ALL categories for the last 25 yrs.
Let's look at the firearms industry...Winchester is but a memory due in large part to Pi$$-poor management. Then there is Remington. The quality of " Big Green" today vs. thirty years ago is dismal. The fit, finnish and accuracy of my circa '69 Mod 700 is heads above it's modern counterpart, absolutely NO comparison. Just look at the rimfires this once great company has perpertrated on the US consumer over the last 30 years ie: Mod 522 Viper,
the Mod 597, and most recently the Mod. 504 (with the former two being their answer to the Pinto and Vega!!.) As a rabid rimfire fan I cannot begin to recall the number of horror stories about the dismal accuracy of the 504 from their owners. Most bit the bullet (pun intended) and sold at a loss in favor of CZ and/or Anschutz. Yet a few companies like Marlin, and Savage are producing ACCURATE rifles at a price-point that remains competetive ie; Savage series 93's, Mod 10, and 12, and the Marlin 17VS, 917VS. Granted the Savage and Marlin are not 'pretty' rifles but 'pretty' dosn't put meat on the table.
Case in point: After much homework (read wringing of hands and gnashing of teeth :banghead: ) about a new varmint rifle, I opted for a Savage 12BVSS .223. and haven't looked back. Even former confirmed Remmy fans (like myself)
said (almost to the man) said "get the Savage you won't regret it"..... The first trip to the range confirmed my choice. After zeroing @ 100, the first 4 of 5 groups recorded were in the low to mid 5's with Black Hills 55 grn'ers.while a friend was struggling with a year-old Sendero w/ hand loads trying to break the 1 5/8" mark.
I say all this to make a point; I believe in the " buy American" theory to a point. All things considered (I F) the quality is there the nod will certainly go to the US product. But I will not 'Blindly' do so if a better non-domestic product is available for at a competative price and for this I make no appologies. Sadly ours has become a nation of services, information and technology, rather than one of "goods". And to those who insist they will only buy American I submit but one recourse: Sell your Japanese TV, VCR, Clock-radio,and Stereo, your Taiwanese kitchen appliances, and by all means, type a cancellation notice to your Internet Service Provider on your Phillipine-made keyboard while you search for a non-Korean assembled monitor/processor....
Ron
Do you realize that there are virtually NO US dress shirt manufacturers in the country, none, nada, zilch..! Hathaway was the last and it bit the dust in the mid 90's. The demise of textile industry (the mainstay in the south) was due to attempting to get by with 50 year-old technology while third-world countrys got on board with cutting edge tecnology. The same is true of the steel industry. If a country like Japan which has NO iron ore resources of her own can import US ore, refine and process it there, then turn around and ship it BACK to the US and STILL sell it at a profit.....well WHAT's wrong with this picture??
Did you realize that General Motors announced in 2003 that they had to tack on an average additional $1400.00 to the price of every vehicle just to offset the cost of union bennefits in order to make a proffit?? Wonder what that that figure is now?? Yet virtually every major foreign auto maker has taken up residence here in the US manufacturing cars that from a quality/price-point put us vehicles to shame. And don't just take my word on this, as a cursory glance at Consumer Digest will bear this out. Toyota, and Honda has consistently been No.1 in ALL categories for the last 25 yrs.
Let's look at the firearms industry...Winchester is but a memory due in large part to Pi$$-poor management. Then there is Remington. The quality of " Big Green" today vs. thirty years ago is dismal. The fit, finnish and accuracy of my circa '69 Mod 700 is heads above it's modern counterpart, absolutely NO comparison. Just look at the rimfires this once great company has perpertrated on the US consumer over the last 30 years ie: Mod 522 Viper,
the Mod 597, and most recently the Mod. 504 (with the former two being their answer to the Pinto and Vega!!.) As a rabid rimfire fan I cannot begin to recall the number of horror stories about the dismal accuracy of the 504 from their owners. Most bit the bullet (pun intended) and sold at a loss in favor of CZ and/or Anschutz. Yet a few companies like Marlin, and Savage are producing ACCURATE rifles at a price-point that remains competetive ie; Savage series 93's, Mod 10, and 12, and the Marlin 17VS, 917VS. Granted the Savage and Marlin are not 'pretty' rifles but 'pretty' dosn't put meat on the table.
Case in point: After much homework (read wringing of hands and gnashing of teeth :banghead: ) about a new varmint rifle, I opted for a Savage 12BVSS .223. and haven't looked back. Even former confirmed Remmy fans (like myself)
said (almost to the man) said "get the Savage you won't regret it"..... The first trip to the range confirmed my choice. After zeroing @ 100, the first 4 of 5 groups recorded were in the low to mid 5's with Black Hills 55 grn'ers.while a friend was struggling with a year-old Sendero w/ hand loads trying to break the 1 5/8" mark.
I say all this to make a point; I believe in the " buy American" theory to a point. All things considered (I F) the quality is there the nod will certainly go to the US product. But I will not 'Blindly' do so if a better non-domestic product is available for at a competative price and for this I make no appologies. Sadly ours has become a nation of services, information and technology, rather than one of "goods". And to those who insist they will only buy American I submit but one recourse: Sell your Japanese TV, VCR, Clock-radio,and Stereo, your Taiwanese kitchen appliances, and by all means, type a cancellation notice to your Internet Service Provider on your Phillipine-made keyboard while you search for a non-Korean assembled monitor/processor....
Ron
