Quote:
Originally Posted by HarryT
I don't follow your argument there, I'm afraid. If incandescent lightbulbs are manufactured in your country, why can't fluorescent lightbulbs also be? Is there something inherent in the manufacturing process which prevents it?
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No reason they can't be... in fact, fluorescents for offices had been manufactured in the U.S. for years... before those manufacturing jobs were largely shipped overseas. As usual, cheap labor was the culprit. (If you check, most I-bulb manufacture also goes on overseas today.)
Considering how badly the U.S. needs to provide jobs, you'd think someone would jump at the opportunity to create new manufacturing jobs here. But again, cheap labor (and fewer safety- and health-related regulations) will likely send those jobs elsewhere. That's the effect of a global economy (unfortunately for U.S. workers... not so much for everyone else).
But that effect also keeps costs down, which is obviously a concern for many people. And when given the choice, a majority of Americans will accept cheaper goods, even if it means local jobs go away (someday they'll probably coin that the "K-Mart Effect," if they haven't already).
So the trick is to convince Americans to buy local--in this case, national--and accept higher costs, in support of their fellow Americans (and in this case, their environment). So far, that's been a really hard sell. American patriotism can't hold a candle to American capitalism.