Tag: trade

The little bit I do to make a difference

Hey all,

Wanted to post this random thought. I read zwoof’s diary about living in China and it made me think of my job.

I am a Dog Obedience Instructor at Petsmart and I own 3 cats. Many of you may remember the pet food recall awhile ago, the more recent lead in toys and the date rape drug in kids toys , all from products made in China. I am not really going to go into whether it is bad or good to import so much stuff from China etc. but what I am going to talk about is the little bit I do to help US companies in my store.

When it is slow at work, I read labels, I read labels on new dog toys, read food labels. I find out what products are made where. If they are made in the USA I promote them. I have a fair percentage of people who ask me if there are products made in the USA. Even when they do not ask, I tell them anyway. We got a new line of dog toys made by a company called GoDog..You can see them here. They are guaranteed for life, have new “Chew Guard Technology” and from what I can tell are made in the USA. I recommend them to all the customers at the store who are in the market for new soft chew toys. Everyone is willing to try them especially when you say  “They are made in the USA.” So to anyone out there who works retail, you CAN make a small but over time an exponentially huge difference to small companies in the US. Customers are always looking for new things to try, they WANT to shop MADE IN THE USA, but very few read all the labels. I think too it is depressing to read label after label that says “Made in China” etc.  So use your position to make recommendations of products that are made here. The more we sell, the more they can make.

Chaos

Mexican Farmers Protest NAFTA

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The Megamarch Yesterday In Mexico City

Chanting “Sin maiz, No hay pais” (Without Corn, the country doesn’t exist), Mexican farmers by the tens of thousands demonstrated in Mexico City against NAFTA.

Join me across the Rio Grande.

Action: Tell the candidates, No More Toxic Toys!

Today Public Citizen released a new report “Santa’s Sweatshop ‘Made in DC’ by Bad Trade Deals”. According to the report toy safety problems have skyrocketed as major U.S. toy corporations relocated their production overseas to exploit sweatshop wages in countries where they cannot ensure the safety of the products.  Thankfully the good folks at Public Citizen’s Global Trade Watch has put together a easy to use petition to the presidental candidates that simply says this:

Our current imported toy safety crisis is a symptom of race-to-the-bottom globalization. We need new trade policies that protect our kids and support strong consumer safety protections – not trade deals like NAFTA and WTO that promote the relocation of toy production overseas to venues where safety cannot be ensured.

The U.S. President has the power to ensure U.S. trade policy doesn’t undermine the safety of children at play. Urge the candidates to oppose provisions in trade deals that provide special benefits and protections for manufacturers to produce goods in other countries and limit U.S. border inspection and imported product safety standards. Also urge the candidates to provide greater funding for domestic agencies responsible for product safety.

That sound sensible to you? Join me below the fold to learn more about the issue and how to take action.

Theoretical Political Questions

The following questions are theoretical questions.  They resemble real-life situations, but are not presumed to be correct in their analysis of actual events.  The purpose of this is to view our reactions to situations in isolation, free of the fuller picture that incorporates all truths.   By doing so, we can break complex reactions down to their components, to better understand the complicated layers of analysis we all use, and to recognize how fallacies in one component of our reaction can cause fallacies to be accepted by the whole of our reaction.

Also by doing so, we can free ourselves to answer the actual question, rather than ask a different question which allows us to give the answers we would prefer.  In the interest of that, and of getting actual answers to the question, I ask that readers consider the information in the questions to the exclusion of real-life matters which are not considered.  If you believe that the questions excluding unasked issues are meaningless, then of course, so would any potential answer to them be.  If those are your feelings, then do yourself a favor and spend your time considering other things you feel are less stupid.

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