Sick of Buying Stuff Made in China?

[Jim]

All I have to say is this. When you go to bed at night I want you to stare up at the roof that gives you shelter, and say thank you to the blue collar guy that put it there.

Ok one more thing. I have grown up around construction, and have met many college grads who wouldn't make it a day on a job site. I see it every day in fact. College grad some where that dosn't have the common sence to hang a plasma tv on the wall. Heck I even talked to a college grad the other day, that tried hooking his 110 volt tv to a 220 volt outlet, and didn't understand why he fried the insides "I used the little adapter thingy".

I never made any comment about manufacturing employees being stupid. My dad has a degree and works at General Motors as a shop manufacturer. I am pissed off about the comment about every putz out of high school thinks that he deserves $50,000 + benefits. I think that everyone deserves a family supporting job. So don't make ANY accusations about me thinking shop people are stupid. Besides, I am the one who started this post about buying things that are maufactured here. The point I was trying to make was the fact that I DO know people who are hard workers, but couldn't make it through college, so they need some job to support themselves. $9.00 an hour is not an adequate wage. Maybe you should read my post thoroughly before you make an accusation like that. I do stone masonry/construction when I am not in school.

[GlassWolf]

he didn't say everybody with a line job is stupid.. but come on. a monkey can do the same non skilled labor job over and over every day on a production line. Its not rocket surgery after all.
I do concur about salaries, but hell up here in rural MI, $9/hour is considered great pay when most people scrape by on minimum wage without benefits or even 40 hours per week at teh same job because then they'd be required to be offered benefits likle healthcare.
Increase minimum wage and get what? more inflation because labor to produce goods goes up in cost. It bites the poor in the ass the hardest when people with money try to help by doing things like that.
I've lived at both ends of the scale, and I can relate.

I have other issues with unions but that's for another day.

[kevinberry1]

what,so manufacturing employees are stupid?i would like to see any college joe schmuck come do my bue collar work for a day,he'd cry because he got dirty,or because it's 130 degrees in the shop when it's 100 outside,oh and by the way,i make $50,000 a year in a town where the average income is $7 an hour and the average rent is $250 a month,so fuck college...i'm blue collar to the bone,and damn proud of it...besides,if it weren't for people like me, you'd have no cars,no electricity,no gas,NO CAR AUDIO,etc,etc...i work for a company called alstom power air preheater ic. in concordia,ks...i have been there 5 years,my brother 4,and my father for 27,i am a leadman over the brake,roll,and holes area in the prefab dept,my dad and brother are both welders...here is a link to an article on my plant

http://chapters.sme.org/230/0504index.htm

there are four pics together,there is a guy with glasses in the one the right ,this is my plant manager...he is a vietnam combat vet,and has worked at this plant the majority of his life...by the way,he lives in a $300,000 home,and makes about $100,000 a year...just to the right of him is our stretch former,the one of only two the world,the other is in our finland plant,it is used to make a special type of expansion joint,kind of like a shock absorber that goes between the endns of big ductwork,the big green machine behind him is our 1,250 ton,12' bed pacific hydraulic press brake,that's 1,250 TONS of pressure at your finger tips...we also have a 320 ton press brake,a 1,000 ton press brake,a montgomery 10'x1" plate roll,that's 1" thick steel, an idustrial sized carlton drill press,an esterline 661 atc whitney with a drill,only 2 others in the world with drills,this machine stamps,punches,drills,taps,and cuts parts,$1,000,000 machine,completely cnc controlled,we also have an esab ltec burn table wit a 110"x500" table with 2 plasma,and 3 gas torches on it,also cnc controled...let's see,what else,...a 12"x.625" faccin plate roll,a faccin angle roll,a little webb plate roll,a do-all band saw,and too many little machines to list,and that is just in the area i'm in charge of,and i can run every damn one of them...we also have 3 welding shops, a precision machine shop,and a paint shop...here are a few more links to my company

http://www.raymondrollermill.com/AboutU ... uring.aspx


http://www.chemshow.com/kiosk_web/exhib ... 402%20Chem
http://www.raymondrollermill.com/AboutUs/

sorry to go on and on,but as you can see,i work damn hard for a living,as does my entire family...so i get just a wee bit offended when people imply that any type of blue collar worker is not smart...

Damon

Yikes, a wee bit sensitive?

[diceman1000]

yeah a bit...

Damon