That is what we found stamped on the Jacker Crack prizes, toys, some other low cost items that we found in the five and ten or the drugstore. (Dating myself, am I!). The one thing that these products all had in common, they were crap.
Fast forward a few years and we have "Made in China." These products, too were crap. And many still are considering the materials that are used to make these items. Lead in the paint and other dangerous materials they use to keep the costs down. Would you trust a sipping straw that said it was made in China? That is what it said at the hospital where we got a drink. The problem is that we, Americans, don't make anything anymore. Maybe that is an exaggeration,or maybe not. How many factories are there in your city? Of the ones that are functioning, what do they make?
Go to you local Home Depot and look for made in the USA on products that sound like USA products. Tools, power tools, building materials, all made in China. Consider the drywall made China that was corroding wiring and creating unhealthy conditions for new homeowners where they had to tear the home down - now that is crap. There is no pride in workmanship.
What happened? Starting in the 80s our government said that we should build things cheaper, borrow more money to buy them things and we will all prosper. The government gave tax credits to companies that moved their manufacturing off shore - and the companies obliged by moving manufacturing to places we only heard about in musical comedies - such as Bali, Sri Lanka, etc. and of course China where slave labor was real cheap and there were no unions.
It started with Ronald Reagan, who famously said and we forgot that he said it, "Taxes should hurt." "Deficits don't matter." He forgot to enumerate who taxes should hurt - after all it was the middle class that pays the bills for the top 2% of the US. Since George Bush (W) took a surplus, gave tax cuts to the top 2% and went out an borrowed the money to pay for it, he agrees, deficits don't matter. Where did the borrowed money come from - yep, China!
In an overstatement, let me say we don't make anything in the US anymore. Remember when the GOP wanted not to bail out the auto companies? They want to continue to make things elsewhere - even if it is crap. Toyota is a good example of crap wrapped in a pretty package. Their opposition was so overt it screamed "I am being paid by Mazda, Infiniti and other made somewhere else products. Yes, there are factories in the US assembling parts made in Japan - lower wages are being paid to assemble there cars - no union benefits such as health care, vacations, pensions, etc. I am not a big fan of unions, but they have their place - and they are not where they should be.
Be careful - we are in a time that Seinfeld called Bonzo time. Up is down and down is up. The United States Chamber of Commerce is not part of the US Government, bet you didn't know that. The 95% of Americans that got tax cuts are convinced they got raises - Bonzo! Letting the Bush tax cuts expire and return to where they were is not raising taxes - it is reducing borrowing - but you are being told it is an increase in taxes. They want us to pay back the loan to China for that tax break - now that is crap.
Oh, but don't pay any attention to this stuff - the Muslims are building a terrorist operational center at ground zero. Look there, that is where the problems are all coming from! Or, watch out of all of the illegals coming in to the US taking our jobs and beheading citizens. Now this is real crap - made in the USA.
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