See I would say patriotism sounds great in speeches, and it might've been a great motivator in the 1920s and 1940s, but in 2020 it's just the modern evolution of tribal thinking kept alive by propaganda. That same tribal us vs. them thinking keeps us trapped in a Red Vs. Blue mentality where both sides are being robbed of their worth as human beings by the true rulers of the world, oligopolies headed by international peoples who own entire islands and control the GDP of countries. How many Millionaire and Billionaire leaders do we really need in a world where 3/4 of a Billion people don't have access to clean water or regular meals?
If I go to the local grocery store instead of online to buy a chocolate bar what does that matter to the child slaves who picked the cocoa beans? The consumer is NOT to blame in that equation. It is the fault of the country in which the child slavers are allowed to continue their practices, the local and foreign governments that turn a blind eye to those practices, and the corporations who pay all of the aforementioned to do so solely because it's cheaper than paying a living wage elsewhere.
As automation becomes more prevalent is anyone still under the illusion that the technological progress of humanity will be shared by all? Jobs in the American auto industry have been falling since the 2000s, and while many would say that's because of outsourcing, in truth roughly 4 out of every 5 jobs lost in that sector was due to robotics. If you buy a Ford, are you really buying "American Made"? According to Investopedia, a source for making detailed investments into supply chains......
"Ford's main parts suppliers, along with the parts they supply, are as follows:
- Flex-N-Gate Seeburn, Ontario, Canada: door hinges and arms.
- NHK Spring, Shiga-ken, Japan: suspension stabilizer linkages.
- U-Shin Europe, Komárom-Esztergom, Hungary: steering columns.
- Valeo Electric and Electronic Systems, Czechowice-Dziedzice, Poland: starter assemblies.
- Webasto Roof & Components, Schierling, Germany: sliding sunroofs.
- Summit Plastics, Nanjing, China: instrument panel components.Dee Zee, Des Moines, Iowa: running boards.
- Warn Industries, Milwaukie, Oregon: axle assemblies.
- Chaidneme, Carabobo, Venezuela: mufflers and exhaust systems.
- Autoliv, Valencia, Spain: airbags, EcoBoost Engines
Other major parts suppliers for Ford include Comstar Automotive Technologies, FCC Adams, Flextronics Automotive, LG Chem and Mahle Engine Components."
According to American University the Honda Ridgeline has more US/Canadian made parts than the Ford F150.
It would seem to me the marketing promotion of "American Made" and "buy local" sentiments are there so the board members of those companies can keep shipping parts production overseas and replacing American workers with robots without upsetting their US customer base. It also seems like it's been working great for them over the past decades since CEO compensation is up 940% over 30 years while average worker pay has risen 12%!
I'd happily pay $4000 for a cellphone if I knew there wasn't a 7 year old kid mining lithium and cobalt at the end of the production chain. In a just world a $4000 cellphone pays for everybody to have a decent life along the production line, not 10 people at the top of that food chain taking $3900 and giving $100 to the 100 factory workers who assembled it. I couldn't give less of a shit about if the person making the products I buy lives in the same country as me or looks the same color as me, as long as I knew they had enough to live a decent life, that's what needs to matter to everyone in the world in order for humanity to progress as a whole. That would mean that the world was a better place and we could all easily afford $4000 cellphones.
But is someone ever going to actually step in with worldwide regulations and say "You can't make $10,000 for every $0.50 you pay your lowest earning workers, that's stupid and only leads to more suffering in the long run." even though it's a fairly obvious conclusion?? It's like people have never heard of the French Revolution and what inevitably happens when you have insanely wealthy people living extravagant lifestyles at the expense of their workers. Only difference is, now the insanely wealthy people have excellent PR, Lobbyist, and Marketing teams to shift the blame away from themselves and onto easily identifiable/more everyday conflicts like middle class vs. lower class or black vs. white or red vs. blue.
