Foreign Products and Me!!

Outsourcing. The very thought of it brings fear to the hearts of many Americans. I mean, wasn’t it part of the reason that all the good manufacturing jobs left America? Exactly how much of what we use is outsourced?  If you guessed a lot- you’re a winner!! The large amount of items made in other countries shows that as Americans, we have unconsciously become dependent and addicted to foreign made products.

I am an addict. Without my Paper Mate erasable pens that were assembled in Mexico and imported from Canada, and my Jansport backpack that was made in China; I start to get the shakes. If the Chinese made computer I am writing this blog from gets separated from me, I begin to sweat. Yes, I am addicted to foreign products through and through and I didn’t even know it.  The kicker, most Americans are too. Truthfully, I couldn’t on without some of these items and I know many Americans couldn’t go on without some of their foreign made products either. Where would we be without our Japanese phones, Pakistani towels and favorite pajamas made in Mexico? That’s right. Nowhere. These and other foreign items dominate everything we use from the time we get up to the time we go to sleep (even my bed was made in Taiwan). Because people hardly pay attention to where their things come from, foreign products have become like a drug unwittingly slipped to us until we are dependent and have reached the point of no return. As a country and humans in general, we are cheerful robots and we don’t think; we use. The really sad thing is that all of this never had to happen. In the 1950’s, America was a manufacturing powerhouse. What happened?  At this point, finding made in America on anything seems a rare occurrence (only one lone College Edition notebook I had was made in America) and it shouldn’t be.  Although outsourcing and gaining back jobs is a concern, we have a long way to go before we kick our addiction and dependency to foreign products and see the label made in America prevalent again.