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"C G" wrote in message . com... USENET READER wrote: I am starting a DYI home-improvement project and I notice that few power or hand tools are made in the USA. Even most of the Craftsman brand tools are made in the USA. Some are made in Taiwan (a democracy I have no problem doing business with) and Red China (perhaps I should call them Fascist China, a country where the factories are owned by the state and staffed with slave labor). Are you stuck in the '80s? Most Chinese companies have been privatized. Almost everything in Harbor Freight (except for the reconditioned DeWalt tools) is from China. The stuff is garbage and usually dies after a short period of time. Grinders and drills come with extra electric motor brushes which almost always get lost by the time you need them - and you will. HF always tries to sell you an extended warranty program, and most people I know don't buy them - even though for all intents and purposes, if you buy the EW, you can bring back the tool and swap it for a new one anytime the older one doesn't work. So other than the time you lose always gong to HF to exchange tools, that does seem like a good deal. How can American companies compete with that? They can't as long as American consumers puy the cheapest product they can find. IMO, Harbor Freight should not even be in business, but as long as people keep buying the junk, they'll survive. But I was talking to two buddies of mine and then mentioned something about the construction trades which made me wonder if any more tools are going to be made in the USA? There are some, but do you and your friends try to find them? Are you willing to pay a higher price to buy them? One guy works as a stone mason and he is finding it harder and harder to find American made tools of his trade in the stores. The Chinese-made crap (his words) are cheaply made, don't hold up to continued professional work, rivets pop, everything rusts unless you soak it in oil (which is not good for the mortar or cement, mason's hoes break after one use, etc. That's what happens when you buy the lowest cost tool. The other guy runs a catering truck that runs around to construction sites. He says that, except for the licensed trades (electricians and who are mostly younger white guys), the plumber (who are mostly older white guys) and the bricklayers (who are mostly African American) - everybody else is Mexican and they almost only speak Spanish and need a bi-lingual supervisor on the job. This supervisor - who is not dressed out for work - usually stands around talking on his cell phone, looking at his steel and gold Rolex watch - is a white guy. That's different than the crews I've seen. And the Mexican laborers I've seen are usually working their asses off. Can't say the same about some of the "American" crews I've seen. Amen! The Mexican workers around here bust their asses working two full-time jobs that no one else wants. They are some of the hardest-working and most honest workers we have in my area. Wal-mart survives because people actually WANT to buy crap for low prices. If they didn't want it, China wouldn't produce it. Blame yourselves, not the immigrants nor the foreign competition. |
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Oscar_Lives wrote: "C G" wrote in message . com... USENET READER wrote: I am starting a DYI home-improvement project and I notice that few power or hand tools are made in the USA. Even most of the Craftsman brand tools are made in the USA. Some are made in Taiwan (a democracy I have no problem doing business with) and Red China (perhaps I should call them Fascist China, a country where the factories are owned by the state and staffed with slave labor). Are you stuck in the '80s? Most Chinese companies have been privatized. Almost everything in Harbor Freight (except for the reconditioned DeWalt tools) is from China. The stuff is garbage and usually dies after a short period of time. Grinders and drills come with extra electric motor brushes which almost always get lost by the time you need them - and you will. HF always tries to sell you an extended warranty program, and most people I know don't buy them - even though for all intents and purposes, if you buy the EW, you can bring back the tool and swap it for a new one anytime the older one doesn't work. So other than the time you lose always gong to HF to exchange tools, that does seem like a good deal. How can American companies compete with that? They can't as long as American consumers puy the cheapest product they can find. IMO, Harbor Freight should not even be in business, but as long as people keep buying the junk, they'll survive. But I was talking to two buddies of mine and then mentioned something about the construction trades which made me wonder if any more tools are going to be made in the USA? There are some, but do you and your friends try to find them? Are you willing to pay a higher price to buy them? One guy works as a stone mason and he is finding it harder and harder to find American made tools of his trade in the stores. The Chinese-made crap (his words) are cheaply made, don't hold up to continued professional work, rivets pop, everything rusts unless you soak it in oil (which is not good for the mortar or cement, mason's hoes break after one use, etc. That's what happens when you buy the lowest cost tool. The other guy runs a catering truck that runs around to construction sites. He says that, except for the licensed trades (electricians and who are mostly younger white guys), the plumber (who are mostly older white guys) and the bricklayers (who are mostly African American) - everybody else is Mexican and they almost only speak Spanish and need a bi-lingual supervisor on the job. This supervisor - who is not dressed out for work - usually stands around talking on his cell phone, looking at his steel and gold Rolex watch - is a white guy. That's different than the crews I've seen. And the Mexican laborers I've seen are usually working their asses off. Can't say the same about some of the "American" crews I've seen. Amen! The Mexican workers around here bust their asses working two full-time jobs that no one else wants. They are some of the hardest-working and most honest workers we have in my area. They are the most honest? Define honest. If by honest you mean sneaking into the country illegally, lying about their names, using a fake social security number and stealing tools off trucks and jobs sites as being honest - then you must be a Republican to use such ****ed-up logic like that. They work two jobs because they aren't getting paid enough on one job to live here in the Triangle, and send enough money back home. And no citizens or legal immigrants want the jobs at what these employers are willing to pay - which is less than min wage in some cases. Are you saying that America is about people working for slave labor wages being exploited by ruthless employers who are trying to **** them over at every turn? That is something to strive for, isn't it? Wal-mart survives because people actually WANT to buy crap for low prices. If they didn't want it, China wouldn't produce it. Blame yourselves, not the immigrants nor the foreign competition. Go **** yourself - I blame the big corporations until someone can make a logical and rational argument that can prove otherwise. |
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