Now that I have your attention,* I wanted to see if all of us revelers could take a little pledge. This weekend, please do not buy anything not made in the U.S.A. While you don’t have to buy American to be American, it does make you a better American. And it makes me and your neighbors better off as well, financially and ecologically. I don’t have to recount all the reasons to avoid goods made in other parts of the world (which may and often include a bigger carbon footprint, poor quality and cheap parts, lack of rigorous standards, excessive and harmful chemicals, poor working conditions without fair wages, use of child labor, etc. etc.). Let’s keep the spirit of Memorial Day alive by honoring those who have sacrificed to fight our wars and protect U.S. interests abroad by doing our part to improve the U.S. economy and send the message that we are willing to put our money where our mouth is. An item made in the U.S. may be a few cents, or more, greater than a cheaper item made elsewhere. Consider the cost, though, if we fail to consume responsibly and patriotically.
Love your world neighbors but patronize your local ones.
*Based on what WordPress tells me, the greatest number of hits to this site came when I posted “Still on the Weed.” Let’s see if we can beat that. Don’t bogart this post. Pass the dutchie.
Pass it on.
revelgardener 
the key to any marketing campaign is tags..you’re it!
i bought an orange and some cigarettes today with usa as a label. unidentified super amensity?
Congrats! Good choice. 😉
If I were still a smoker.
I don’t have any problem buying American, but it seems that some types of products are simply not made here any more. I recall when Japanese products first started showing up in quantity here, mostly portable transistor radios (pre-pre-pre iPods). They were looked upon as cheap plastic crap. Along the way came American made parts- assembled in Mexico, cars made with Canadian parts assembled here (or was it the other way around), and now cheap Chinese goods apparently used to export their dangerous waste out of China. Most of these goods are cheap crap too, but it seems saving a dollar is consumer’s top priority. The move away from American made goods has slowly been happening for many years, and will probably take many years to even partially reverse. Now days with the economy on the brink of disaster cheap prices are the main selling point- although for some reason people stand in line to buy the latest cell phone for hundreds of dollars only to repeat the cycle a few months later when the next model comes out.
The answer is not simple, but supporting American business whenever possible is perhaps the best way to help turn things around. I’ll have to buy a good Kentucky bourbon and keep America working.
I like that approach! Here’s to Maker’s Mark. Did I tell you I won a Maker’s Mark cozy — it’s a green & red Christmas sweater — at a derby party I went to this year? My Maker’s Mark would probably not be sitting around long enough to get cold, but it was a nifty idea anyway. My horse came in third place. Several mint juleps and a $20 spot lighter for the pool, I left after a day of great food and revelry. When I first came to NY, I happened upon a small KY contingent that I’ve stayed tight with since. Every so often we get together and lift a glass, toasting our patriotic duties.
With my elder offspring back home after graduating college, I have been doing more shopping than usual. (Likewise, with my mother here for a short visit, I’ve been watching more TV than usual), so I’ve had close-up view of what the bigger marketplace is offering in terms of goods. I’ve made several Ikea trips recently. I also made a rare-for-me visit to Target. I shopped at Target for bed sheets (which, don’t know if I’ve mentioned it but has been on my shopping list for several months – no lie). Not surprisingly, I didn’t find any made in America, but I did find some from India that were organic. 300 thread count, which isn’t dispositive but I have found a correlation between quality and thread count, even though many would pooh-pooh that. Aside from the thread count, which I was willing to look past to end this damned search, the last and only color they had was red. I had red sheets as my penultimate set. (I tend to stick to two sets, rotating them for wash). Therefore, I wanted something other than red, but Target was all picked over. The fancier (and more expensive) sheets were all made in China. So I left without any, and continue my search. What I wonder is why aren’t more companies picking up on this, and making “Made in America” part of their marketing campaign. Anyone? Anyone?
I have seen “Made in USA” on some websites, but it seems most if not all were small companies. Wouldn’t it be interesting if someone started a site where you could type in a product and have it give you a list of companies, or type in a country and see what they produce.
You know I was thinking about starting a site like that, kind of a social/Eco-conscious Amazon of sorts. It’s a huge undertaking though and I didn’t really have the means. In considering whether to do, I did some research and found a few others that are along the same vein. I’m out and about right now but will post some links later.