Why I love America

[Platapus]

http://www.cnn.com/2010/TRAVEL/11/11...hip/index.html

Cruise ship goes out and has an accident. Passengers OK but vacation not what expected. Slow tow back to shore. And then...

One woman, who said she worked for the cruise line, was wearing a T-shirt that said, "I survived the 2010 Carnival Cruise Spamcation." Vendors met passengers at the port, selling the shirts for $20.

Vendors already waiting with the T-shirt.

That's entrepreneurship at its finest.

Would this happen in another country, or is this only an American thing?

[Happy Times]

Originally Posted by Platapus

Would this happen in another country, or is this only an American thing?

It is originally but i would say it could happen here also.

[Buddahaid]

What's more incredible is the shirts were made in China.

[UnderseaLcpl]

Originally Posted by Buddahaid

What's more incredible is the shirts were made in China.

So? Chinese people don't deserve the chance to earn a living and prosperity?

[Ducimus]

Originally Posted by UnderseaLcpl

So? Chinese people don't deserve the chance to earn a living and prosperity?

Sure they do. However, I don't know about you, but personally, I draw the line where Chinese prosperity is taking jobs and industry away from America. China, is after all, a foreign country, and not the land that I love.

[UnderseaLcpl]

Originally Posted by Ducimus

Sure they do. However, I don't know about you, but personally, I draw the line where Chinese prosperity is taking jobs and industry away from America. China, is after all, a foreign country, and not the land that I love.

An understandable and popular sentiment, if not an entirely correct one.

China does not "take" jobs from the US. US jobs are given to or earned by China because the price of US goods is such that they are no longer desireable. At the end of the day, you have to be able to provide a product that people want at a price they are willing to pay if you want to have an industry.

Your apparent mindset is typical of people who have bought the protectionist propaganda of dying US industries. I can't say I blame you for your opinion, as the general argument is very persuasive and appeals to our sense of pride and self-reliance. I once thought the same way. It feels good to "Buy American", support domestic industry, help American families, fight against outsourcing, and all that other assorted nonsense. Who doesn't want to help fellow Americans? (provided it doesn't require any kind of significant sacrifice on the part of the people making the argument- typical of unions and politicians) Who likes the idea of a countryman losing his job (and, surprise, the potential of losing one's own job) to a foreign national interest?

The laws of supply and demand tell us that it simply is not possible to sustain an industry whose product is not desireable, no matter what policies we adopt. You've been had by people who have nothing more to offer than a tug at the heartstrings. No amount of national pride or dedication will ever bring back the US steel industry or auto industry or any other industry comprised of highly-paid workers making overpriced goods in an overly-restrictive state framework that charges an additional 36% or so (not including legal costs, permits, licensures, and lobbying). Economics do not work that way.

Your opinion is a product of indoctrination and personal appeal on the part of people who are fighting to keep their jobs, and are not above stealing your money and the opportunity of others to earn an income by competing. I'd know, I am a union employee; a member of one of the most powerful unions around: the BLET. I am not proud of what my union does to American consumers out of sheer self-interest, but I'd be a fool not to take advantage of the opportunity. Just because we're working Americans does not mean we are incapable of extorting consumers and manipulating legislators to our advantage at the expense of everyone else.

Again, you've been had, my friend. The nostalgic appeal of the American factory worker is not the way forward. It is only a product of lazy and unimaginitive jerks who are not above bilking consumers and taxpayers alike out of their hard-earned dollars for their own purposes.

The only way to national prosperity is full speed ahead and damn the torpedoes. We must have not only a free market, but the most free market. We must not just espouse the ideals of competition, we must be the most competitive. We must not linger in the past and burden our industries and consumers and importers and markets with taxes and state-supported unions and protectionism. The lazy ass who gets paid $25.00 per hour to fasten doors to automobiles isn't going to like it when he has to pursue an education and/or do some kind of skilled labor - hell, I'm not going to like it when I have to actually put some kind of effort into earning a decent living - but that is the only way to get ahead, no matter what crocodile tears we may cry.

By simply cutting the corporate tax rate to an efficient 0.0% rather than the 30-something percent it is now (which we pay, btw), and reducing government entitlements for idiots to the point where they no longer threaten the viability of the dollar, we could catapult this nation's economy into the dominant role for the next century or so. There would be an unprecedented surge in the growth of new industries and technologies, much as there was before the state got around to shackling consumer electronics. Incidentally, given the current state of affairs, watch for silicon valley to become the new Pittsburgh in the next decade because of the aforementioned reasons. Trade protectionism and government have a habit of making the goose lay lead eggs.

Maybe you're convinced, and maybe you aren't, but I would like you to take another look at the wall of text I just had to post to explain my viewpoint. I didn't even really go in-depth on this one, but it takes that amount of explanation to even try to override the commonly-held opinion that outsourcing is bad, and the result of corporate greed, or that keeping unproductive industries is good. Common sense dictates that the economy should be more fluid and competitive, but there are legions of people who believe as you do for no better reason than that they have been swayed by compassion and pride, neither of which are the keys to making a nation's industry worth either.

[the_tyrant]

Originally Posted by Ducimus

Sure they do. However, I don't know about you, but personally, I draw the line where Chinese prosperity is taking jobs and industry away from America. China, is after all, a foreign country, and not the land that I love.

Even if I offered you the job, you would refuse
No health-care, no pension, a salary of $1 an hour, no safely, 10 hour work day

Even being a paper boy is better

[Buddahaid]

Originally Posted by UnderseaLcpl

So? Chinese people don't deserve the chance to earn a living and prosperity?

That was a joke even though it could be true.

[UnderseaLcpl]

I love it. Capitalism lets nothing go to waste. No opportunity for progress or proseprity goes unrealized.

The article doesn't mention the lengths to which Carnival Cruise lines went to reimburse the passengers - a full refund and a free cruise of comparable value, replete with a sincere apology! http://articles.latimes.com/2010/nov...-ship-20101110

Let's see socialism top that without stealing money from people