What About Made in America??

The rash of emails I have been receiving this week from a well meaning sibling has caused me to want to rant and rave at toy manufacturers like Mattel and Fisherprice and say "Why aren't you making these toys in America?????"

I think every parent should be sending protest letters to every major American Company demanding that they take some responsibility for the manufacturing of the items which they sell for our children. First the dog food then the tires and the seafood and toothpaste and now our children's toys. Why isn't American industry waking up to the fact that perhaps it is time to invest in ourselves?

As an employer I can tell you my opinion as to why this is not happening. American workers expect salaries which force big manufacturers to outsource the work to foreign countries who pay their workers much less than what is expected here in this country. This of course would require one of two things to happen: first the public would have to expect to pay more for the product and/or large corporations would have to make less of a profit.

I have had prospective employees walk into my office with literally no experience in the field of law with one woman telling me she was unsure if she could successfully type a letter, but demanding a salary of $40,000! I do not think that this is typical however across the country and would venture to bet that there are workers out there who would accept minimum wage pay if it were available in manufacturing plants in this country. These plants should perhaps take the place of the old ones which were forced to close down when we decided to increase our imports from nations that do not have anywhere near the safety requirements or standards that have long been established in this country.

As a parent, I am willing to pay more for items made in America knowing that my child is better protected and less likely to ingest something we found out long ago was harmful. We claim to be one of the wealthiest nations but sometimes in our quest to be frugal we forget that we should be more vigilant in demanding the same level of responsibility and accountability from others that we demand of ourselves.

I say give us the opportunity and we will buy American!