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Why I buy American Tools

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Chipmunk

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LMAO ! ! ! ! Your the one that said Europe is thriving because of unions, then when I mention a bankrupt country, and one of the better off financialy, you argue geography. LOL. I'm not talking like a jerk, I'm talking like someone who dissagrees with you and wants you to clearify your stand, you cant do that can you? It's ok to be wrong, I do it all the time.

When you make a point other than "Europe seems to be doing just fine thanks to unions" I'll happily address that point. Until then, if you can, tell us what countries you were referring to, its your assertion, tell us who you meant, please.

Are you really that dense? I have never said Europe is thriving because of unions….I said Europe has stronger unions and they are doing fine. Then as a counter argument you mention a country not in Europe as if that defeats my argument. And when you belittle Snap-On employees you are talking like a jerk.

Keep digging you’re just digging yourself deeper into an already untenable position.
 

mmack66

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So the problems of United States manufacturing can all be attributed to unions, CEOs, consumers, Wall Street, Capitalism, cheap foreign labor, the EPA...

What hope do we have?
 

O_M_Jeep

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I never belittled Snap-On employees, management, yes, CEO, yes, corporate structure, yes, absolutely. I also said "as long as the keep ol Bob on the tool box line" and "he sees another ratchet, then looks at the clock".

Do you have anything other than geography to add? Did you mean the unions in Europe are doing fine? Because Europe isnt doing fine at all, and if the unions are doing fine in an impoverished country that kinda proves the point huh.
 

Steinmetz

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OK here are a few comments from am ole' fart!

1. Americian tools are made to some defined level of quality. If you purchase a $5 tool, you purchased a $5 tool. Likewise, you purchase a $100 Tool, it's quality will be higher than the $5 tool.

2. Corporate Americia is driven by profit margins $$$, which result in $$ going into their pocket books in the way of bonus

3. Businesses have dumbed down who they hire these days! I don't care what business you walk into, you can't find anyone who can tell you how to remove and install a bearing, or drill out a snapped off bolt!

4. Also, Corporate America has seen what Wallmart has done, and has fallen in line in regards to salary, and any employee is replaceable. Oh, did I mention, they only hire part time workers, so they don't have to pay insurances...........

5. The American Public has brought some of this on them selves, as "WE" want everything cheep, cheep, cheep!!!!!

6. The clock is ticking, and the car is going down the road. The Baby Boomers are retiring, and all the technical knowledge is going with them. The younder generation can't do anything for themselves, unless the device tells them to change their oil, inform them that their tire is going flat, or change the darn air filter!

I Try buying anerican as much as I can! I have a ole Husky wrench and breaker bar that are over 45 yrs old and still function. Can't say that about Craftsman. SK is also a winner!!

While I'm on the buy USA kick, my wife wanted to replace out coffee pot for the past several yrs. I have refuse to purchase one as I want to purchase one made in the USA.
Well I'm happy to report that BUNN has several models that are made in the USA. Models GR, BX, or BT. The NHBX are made in Canada, Creston IA, and China. So you need to check the box to see where it is made!!

OK I'm done!

With respect to Number 5, agree. Nothing will change until the public values high wage jobs as much as they value low prices.
 

Perrorojo

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Back on topic:

Since i would be considered a part time tool user I could probably not tell the difference between the COO on a tool if blindfolded. I do try to buy American at every chance and I ask that my gifts that come in the form of tools be American. One of the problems we are seeing is the result of efficiency. It doesn't take as many people to build a car/wrench/ fill in the blank.... as it used to. Also, most of those facilities aren't viable in todays manufacturing process.

I do have a problem with the way they are declared as brownfield sites and rendered virtually untouchable. I'd like to see those sites sold off to private firms for repurposing without fear of environmental repercusions. There is way to much delapidated real estate out there blighting our cities.

The question should be: How do we bring those facilities and jobs back? I don't think we can answer it at this point. We are an entitlement society right now (not as bad as Italy or the other European nations) and physical labor is looked down upon.
 

Steinmetz

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Sadly, it is the gov't (EPA) that is to blame for most of those closings, not people buying imported goods. You just can't seem to get the folks that live up that way to realize who the real villain is.

Ever hear about Love Canal? Times Beach? Whose villainy? Tell me.
 

03protege

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stock-photo-8811594-rugged-man-digging-deep-hole-with-shovel.jpg


:D
 

Chipmunk

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I never belittled Snap-On employees, management, yes, CEO, yes, corporate structure, yes, absolutely. I also said "as long as the keep ol Bob on the tool box line" and "he sees another ratchet, then looks at the clock".

Do you have anything other than geography to add? Did you mean the unions in Europe are doing fine? Because Europe isnt doing fine at all, and if the unions are doing fine in an impoverished country that kinda proves the point huh.

You said “I wonder how many of you realise that you value American made tools considerably more, infinitly more than the guy who makes them and depends on them directly for a living, when you buy a $125 Snap-On ratchet you look at it like Excaliber, the 8th grade drop out who made it looks at it like another ******* ratchet and then he looks at the clock” (That’s your quote)

Calling people 8th grade dropouts is belittling Snap-On employees, even if you want to disown it now. Apparently you know as little about the people working at Snap-On as you do about geography. The one thing you appear to know best is how to avoid the point.

Keep digging!
 

Perrorojo

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You said “I wonder how many of you realise that you value American made tools considerably more, infinitly more than the guy who makes them and depends on them directly for a living, when you buy a $125 Snap-On ratchet you look at it like Excaliber, the 8th grade drop out who made it looks at it like another ******* ratchet and then he looks at the clock” (That’s your quote)

Calling people 8th grade dropouts is belittling Snap-On employees, even if you want to disown it now. Apparently you know as little about the people working at Snap-On as you do about geography. The one thing you appear to know best is how to avoid the point.

Keep digging!

What if it was an imported Snap-On and the educational system in the COO stopped at 8th grade?:lol_hitti
 
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garfunkle24

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Chipmunk, Italy is as European as the USA is American. Every factual source in the world will tell you so and arguing otherwise is just making you looking foolish.
 

O_M_Jeep

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You said “I wonder how many of you realise that you value American made tools considerably more, infinitly more than the guy who makes them and depends on them directly for a living, when you buy a $125 Snap-On ratchet you look at it like Excaliber, the 8th grade drop out who made it looks at it like another ******* ratchet and then he looks at the clock” (That’s your quote)

Calling people 8th grade dropouts is belittling Snap-On employees, even if you want to disown it now. Apparently you know as little about the people working at Snap-On as you do about geography. The one thing you appear to know best is how to avoid the point.

Keep digging!

I'm an 8th grade drop out :) and havent suffered much for it, so I guess if thats belittling to them, then it is to me too since I'm right there with them.

Semantics and pedantry aside, it doesnt make it less true.
 

jmm

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If this guy discounts Italy and every other country which touches the Mediterranean, he's giving up France, Spain and Portugal too. You might as well take away the UK, Ireland, and all of Scandinavia. Thus leaving you with Germany, who struggle to prop up the rest of this non-continent, and a handful of it's otherwise irrelevant neighbors.
 

Chipmunk

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Alright, I have to leave for a few hours. While I’m gone some of you can look at a map, sharpen your shovel and keep back tracking.
 
OP
C

Conductor562

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Guys, I'm at work and don't have time to get involved, but I'm looking forward to it tonight. I posted this because I wanted everyone to have a peek at globalization through the eyes of a young man in the "rust belt" trying to hold on to what little we have left. Talking about all these contributing factors is exactly what I wanted to happen. Great responses guys! Keep em coming.
 

blklegend

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Guys, I'm at work and don't have time to get involved, but I'm looking forward to it tonight. I posted this because I wanted everyone to have a peek at globalization through the eyes of a young man in the "rust belt" trying to hold on to what little we have left. Talking about all these contributing factors is exactly what I wanted to happen. Great responses guys! Keep em coming.

This thread got railroaded, have fun reading make some popcorn and then read it while having the popcorn. Lol
 

Perrorojo

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Alright, aside from the "one of these kids is doing his own thing.." part of this thread.
How do any of us propose we create anything from these sites? You could melt down the steel and make wrenches? That still won't impress on the current generation of 12-20yr olds the importance of hard work, physical labor or having an economy that runs 4% unemployment.

I hate to say it but 10% unemployment may be a permanent reality. Anybody ever seen those signs that say "Don't feed the animals or they won't learn to feed themselves"?
 

blklegend

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I hate to say it but 10% unemployment may be a permanent reality. Anybody ever seen those signs that say "Don't feed the animals or they won't learn to feed themselves"?

This is so true, I just came back from Hawaii visiting my cousin who is stationed there. They have high unemployment with locals yet there are many jobs, for example McDonalds, Best Buy etc all are hiring. Most locals choose not to work those jobs because the entitlements provided by our government is better and more money that actually having a job.

If government entitlements make it more lucrative them actually working why work. This is the real state of the nation.
 

creativecars

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Alright, aside from the "one of these kids is doing his own thing.." part of this thread.
How do any of us propose we create anything from these sites? You could melt down the steel and make wrenches? That still won't impress on the current generation of 12-20yr olds the importance of hard work, physical labor or having an economy that runs 4% unemployment.

I hate to say it but 10% unemployment may be a permanent reality. Anybody ever seen those signs that say "Don't feed the animals or they won't learn to feed themselves"?

In this area its not so much the 12-20 age group but the generation or two before who have been telling their kids they are too good to work for a living (factory or skilled labor) and they should get a 4 year degree. Well guess what.. now there is no one with the skills or desire to have the skills to work. This did not happen over night, but with several generations pushing to this point. They need help and guidance from someone with a clue.
 

O_M_Jeep

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Greed comes in many forms, in America it's personal wealth, in Germany it's economic stability, in a lot of Asia it's national pride, we have to change what we value in order to change our priorities, as long as the goal is personal wealth the business model will be to take as much as possible and give back as little as you can.

Look at it this way, you have a company, you make schematics, engineering, whatever, intellectual work product, you pay your underlings enough to keep them happy and keep them leaving with the training you gave them, you keep the profits as high as you can and the costs as low as possible. This is the way business works.

The problem is, a group of M.I.T. and Stanford educated engineers just got their doctorates and have returned to their home country, they were here on an H1B visa, now they are back in Malaysia, where $25000/year makes them rich, and the internet makes them accesible, and they are just as good at turning out intellectual work product as your company, maybe more, no weekends, no holidays, and less staff, and all at 1/3rd of what you can do it for. Now your out of a job and the job is outsourced, not because you did a bad job, but because it was $18/floor/unit cheaper to send it to Taiwan.

If you think the lack of education in this country isnt a direct threat, the see what the educators who see it everyday have to say, you want to save the USA, start here -

 

Hiball

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Unions can take a lot of the blame, sorry, but unions create greedy lazy workers with a sense of entitlement who "create" products that are mediocre at best, if you cant be fired for doing a bad job you stop caring about what doing a good job means.

Look at NW, Yellow, Roadway, Detroit in general, the old rail lines, now google "union tries to enter subaru plant in Kentucky" or whatever it is to read how the UAW destroyed American auto manufacturing.

In the days of the robber-barons yes, unions were needed to protect workers from bad conditions, thats true, today you look at places like UPS and Boeing and see what unions do for American companies.
.

You do realize that only about 10-12% of the American work force is unionized, on top of that its getting smaller everyday. Eventually corporate America will have to start taking responsibility for poorly run companies and a failing economy. I get it... It's easy to blame unions.

NW? Do you mean Norfolk and Western Railway the one that merged with Southern to form Norfolk and Southern of which employs me (unionized) and is making record profits, Year after year?
 

mmack66

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Greed comes in many forms, in America it's personal wealth, in Germany it's economic stability, in a lot of Asia it's national pride, we have to change what we value in order to change our priorities, as long as the goal is personal wealth the business model will be to take as much as possible and give back as little as you can.

Look at it this way, you have a company, you make schematics, engineering, whatever, intellectual work product, you pay your underlings enough to keep them happy and keep them leaving with the training you gave them, you keep the profits as high as you can and the costs as low as possible. This is the way business works.

The problem is, a group of M.I.T. and Stanford educated engineers just got their doctorates and have returned to their home country, they were here on an H1B visa, now they are back in Malaysia, where $25000/year makes them rich, and the internet makes them accesible, and they are just as good at turning out intellectual work product as your company, maybe more, no weekends, no holidays, and less staff, and all at 1/3rd of what you can do it for. Now your out of a job and the job is outsourced, not because you did a bad job, but because it was $18/floor/unit cheaper to send it to Taiwan.

If you think the lack of education in this country isnt a direct threat, the see what the educators who see it everyday have to say, you want to save the USA, start here -


So we should all get degrees and move to Malaysia?
 

O_M_Jeep

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No, NW (North Western) the trucking company that when it went out of business, the drivers were on the news 24/7 in Denver wondering what the thousands of them would do without the $90k-$130k/yr income they were used to, all those foreclosures and bankruptcies were big news, mormal people who made the decision to go on strike and the evil corporation decided they couldnt afford to stay in business.
 

Hiball

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No, NW (North Western) the trucking company that when it went out of business, the drivers were on the news 24/7 in Denver wondering what the thousands of them would do without the $90k-$130k/yr income they were used to, all those foreclosures and bankruptcies were big news, mormal people who made the decision to go on strike and the evil corporation decided they couldnt afford to stay in business.

Gotcha .. I'm not gonna pretend to know that situation, but I can say with great confindence everything isn't always how it's portrayed via the media. The majority of the unions that are left have adapted over the years and learned that there must be concessions during trying times. There will always be that one union UAW that all are judged against but the majority of us don't carry that much clout.
 

O_M_Jeep

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So we should all get degrees and move to Malaysia?

No , but when we stop exporting intellectual prowess we can stop exporting the jobs that come from them. I've never seen a Nobel loriate build his own machines or facilities, when was the last time you saw a physicist swing a hammer.

I live in the oil fields, we have more $20-$50/hr jobs than anywhere and no one to fill them, no 8th drade drop outs, we also have no geologists, no metalurgists, no chemists, and no engineers to make the $250k-$500k/yr jobs, they are all in Kuwait, Saudi, Qatar, even in the North Sea where it pays better. The jobs are here, there is so little unemployment where I live hotel maids make $14/hr and McDonalds starts out at $12.50/hr and they cant find workers.

Guess which jobs were open first, Guess which jobs couldnt be filled first, with the exportation of education, and the emphasis on white collar corporate jobs, there is no one left to do the Joe jobs (funny how here geologist and pipe-fitter and McDonalds crew member and hotel maid are all Joe jobs (as in the average Joe)). We have college graduates everyday leaving to go elsewhere to work while the ones who stay here become lawyers and government workers, I live in a county of 12000 people and there is only one gynocologist, no cardiac or respratory or any other kind of specialists, medical care isnt unaffordable, it's unavailable.

This is what exporting education does.
 

CWP1616L

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In addition to corporate greed and the American public wanting everything cheap, we also have this problem:

1 Chinese yuan = 0.1606 US dollars
 
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