Naked As A Jaybird

With the start of 2012, one of the pressing questions for most people is "What is wrong with America?". There is no single answer and I hope to discuss some of my thoughts throughout the year. One thing that is for sure is that we just don't make things in America anymore. I don't know if this trend started with the new "information technology age", or with Republican trade and tax policies, or just with the greed of corporate America to make more profits by going to places with cheaper labor costs and taxes. I have heard the term "buy American" by many groups, hoping to spark the economy and grow jobs. I thought I would try it, so I went to my closet to see where I stood so far. I was amazed. Based on what I found, even though I was buying from American companies, almost all my cloths were made or assembled someplace else.

I started with pants. My Levi blue jeans were made in Mexico, and somewhere I had never heard of, Lesotho. My Chaps were made in Egypt, Old Navy made in the Dominican Republic & the Philippines, Dockers in Thailand, Eddie Bauer in the Dominican Republic, Hager in Guatemala, and even my dress pants from Bill  Blass and Murano were made in Mexico. 

I then moved on to the shirts. Again Arrow, who advertise as being a USA company since 1851, makes their shirts in Bangladesh & Viet Nam , Kenneth Cole made in China, Croft & Barrow made in Taiwan, Jos. A. Banks made in the Philippines, Van Heusen made in Viet Nam, The Express made in Indonesia, and Eddie Bauer made in Hong Kong. Even my Bubba Gump Shrimp t-shirt was made in Honduras.

In the shoe category my Rockports were made in China, my Nikes made in Thailand, my beloved Florsheims made in India, my Bostonians made in China, and even the Giorgio Brutinis purchased at the Shoe Carnival were made in China (not even Italy).

Even my underwear was not made in America. Hanes T-shirts made in Haiti, Jockey shorts made in Honduras, and the ever popular Fruit of the Looms made in El Salvadore.

Based on this unscientific assessment, if I had to wear only made in America clothing I would be, as my mother used  to say, "naked as a jaybird." If you are not familiar with men's clothes, check out your own closet and see if you find any surprises. This onslaught of foreign made products does not stop with clothes but is apparent in almost everything that we buy. Even the walker that I got at the hospital to use with my hip replacement was made in China, TV's and the power tools I just bought at Sears no less, were made in China. Even "this" computer used to compose this posting, that I purchased from Dell, hailed as a great American success story, was "made in China".

If you are not making anything, you had better have something to sell that everyone wants or needs. Right now we are not filling that bill either.