Buying American
This question was asked on TV news: "Would you buy an American car?"
Then a worker at a Detroit plant said, "It's time for a wake up call."
A wake up call for what? To buy only products made by an American company? Wonder where his TV set came from? Or his computer, or the suit hanging in his closet, his wife's new dress, his son's athletic shoes.
Or did he mean products put together in America? If so, our Toyota came from Lexington, Kentucky. Honda makes cars in a plant at Marysville, Ohio and Subaru in another at Princeton, Indiana. Those and other Japanese and German companies have numerous plants in the U.S.A.
I wonder a number of things about this man's wake up call. Does he feel we should be concerned about GM, Chrysler and Ford stockholders and executives making huge salaries and receiving obscene bonuses whether they deserve them or not? Did he rush out and buy a Studebaker or Packard or Hudson when those auto makers were on the verge of going under? Did he insist his new TV set was made here when the Japanese began producing superior products? Did he continue shopping at the locally owned stores downtown when the big boxes were going up? I wonder indeed.
Would I buy an American car, apparently meaning something made by GM, Chrysler or Ford? Should I forget the Chevrolets and Buick that were lemons? How about the Fords or Chryslers? It's decades too late to expect an affirmative answer from me. But we're making them really good now, they cry out. Am I to believe that? Maybe it's true, but why weren't they making a decent product in the past?
So my answer is a resounding "NO." To coin a fresh new phrase, the chickens have come home to roost. Nor do I appreciate the Chrysler TV commercials with American symbols in the background or those from Ford saying Honda makes good lawn mowers. Very cute. I'll bet that one plays well in Central Ohio where Honda is a major employer.
No, Detroit, I've learned my lesson. Learned it the hard way. You'll just have to look elsewhere for a customer. You waited too long to start building them well.
Then a worker at a Detroit plant said, "It's time for a wake up call."
A wake up call for what? To buy only products made by an American company? Wonder where his TV set came from? Or his computer, or the suit hanging in his closet, his wife's new dress, his son's athletic shoes.
Or did he mean products put together in America? If so, our Toyota came from Lexington, Kentucky. Honda makes cars in a plant at Marysville, Ohio and Subaru in another at Princeton, Indiana. Those and other Japanese and German companies have numerous plants in the U.S.A.
I wonder a number of things about this man's wake up call. Does he feel we should be concerned about GM, Chrysler and Ford stockholders and executives making huge salaries and receiving obscene bonuses whether they deserve them or not? Did he rush out and buy a Studebaker or Packard or Hudson when those auto makers were on the verge of going under? Did he insist his new TV set was made here when the Japanese began producing superior products? Did he continue shopping at the locally owned stores downtown when the big boxes were going up? I wonder indeed.
Would I buy an American car, apparently meaning something made by GM, Chrysler or Ford? Should I forget the Chevrolets and Buick that were lemons? How about the Fords or Chryslers? It's decades too late to expect an affirmative answer from me. But we're making them really good now, they cry out. Am I to believe that? Maybe it's true, but why weren't they making a decent product in the past?
So my answer is a resounding "NO." To coin a fresh new phrase, the chickens have come home to roost. Nor do I appreciate the Chrysler TV commercials with American symbols in the background or those from Ford saying Honda makes good lawn mowers. Very cute. I'll bet that one plays well in Central Ohio where Honda is a major employer.
No, Detroit, I've learned my lesson. Learned it the hard way. You'll just have to look elsewhere for a customer. You waited too long to start building them well.
posted by Dick Stodghill | 4/30/2009 11:47:00 AM
2 Comments:
To paraphrase another's words: Build a better one and we will come. In droves. We want to buy American, but we need to make every dollar count, too. Detroit, we know you can do as well as your competitors. (And again, stealing another's ad words that work) Just do it!
You're right, Deborah, they can do it if they want to. They waited too long, though, to ever win me back.
Post a Comment
<< Home