Mach 1-
This was the first I had seen of it, and I just thought it was interesting enough to share. Certainly didn't mean to dampen your day.
Quote:
Originally posted by Dark_5.0
Honda makes cars here and puts americans to work to me they are as american as GM or Ford for that reason.
JMO,
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I hear you, and you are probably more correct on this point than I am, but I just don't agree. There is no doubt that having assembly plants located here as opposed to Japan is beneficial on the surface. It is beneficial to the manufacturers because they save on shipping costs and import tariffs. It's beneficial to the town they set-up in because it gives the townfolk a job (not a career, mind you, but a job). The problem is that that's about as far as it goes, as far as being "American". It saves the manufacturer alot of money, yet only puts pennies on the dollar back into our economy. We, as a country, are much better off having the vehicles shipped here rather than just their parts. There are millions and millions of dollars spent on R&D for every vehicle made, and the bulk of that money stays in Japan. Then theres the corporate employees. The upper 20% of the workers Honda employs worldwide make 16 times more money than the rest of their employees combined (Time magazine). None of them live in this country, or reinvest their money into our economy, other than to buy up all the property they can. While there may be several hundred people who now make a living wage in each of the towns where a foreign company has set-up an assembly plant, we as a country are losing millions as a result. It is true that there are very few items a person can buy that are completely American made, but supporting a company that is headquarted in the United States is almost always better for our economy. If I have a choice, I will always buy "American". I am overly patriotic at times, but I'm not apologizing to anyone for it. I am a direct descendant of one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence (Edward Rutledge Jr, South Carolina), and although that means nothing to many, it means something to me.
Take care,
-Chris