Obama can only do so much in this department. He's one man, and we're the millions of people who elected him to office. Regardless of your political preferences, he calls on us all to help make our country better.
To quote John F. Kennedy, "Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country."
The solution is actually pretty easy, but there's some sacrifice involved. I was watching a major newscast, and what I took from it was that if everybody spent $3.33 per year on products that were American-made, we'd create 10,000 jobs. Granted, we need MILLIONS of jobs to help our economy recover to where it was years ago, so, if everyone spent MORE than $3.33, and did it regularly in the course of a year, think of how many jobs we could create this way!
Part of the sacrifice is that Americans LOVE cheap deals, and frankly, that's why major corporations like Walmart exist and turn a profit every quarter. How do they keep their prices so low? Yes, they have American citizens working in their stores, but where do the products sold come from? Where are they made? Chances are, they're not made in America. Most of the time, we find products that are made in Asian countries (India, China, Japan, Taiwan, the Philippines, Korea, Thailand, etc.). These massive corporations are able to keep their prices low enough for Americans to buy because the products we buy for so little are made overseas where the corporation pays VERY, VERY LITTLE for the labor to produce the merchandise. Since they save money on overseas labor, they can cut the prices dramatically for consumers. In Walmart's case, consumers might "save money" and "live better", but it's at the expense of more and more jobless Americans.
I went to Target recently to get a few toiletries I needed, among them being toothpaste. Being among the aforementioned deal-seeking Americans, I went for the toothpaste I found to be the least expensive: Colgate. I picked up the box and looked at all its labeling. To my disappointment, I found it was Made in Mexico. I put it back and looked for another toothpaste at the same price I wanted. I found the price matched by an Arm & Hammer toothpaste. I checked the box, and BINGO: Made in USA. My purchase supported a company that creates its products in America. In short, my money went to my country.
This is just one small example in helping our economy recover. There's another way, but it gets more political.
In America, being a capitalist country, corporations are permitted to do whatever they want to make a profit. Corporations are so protective of their profits that they make major political contributions to make sure that laws get passed to prevent the government from regulating corporations. Without business regulations, they can do whatever they want, even if it's at the expense of the American people. And which of our two major political parties supports deregulating businesses? Republicans. The ironic part is that the Republicans are so bent on patriotism, nationalism, and loving our country. Anything that goes against their beliefs can be quickly dismissed as being "un-American".
If you oppose regulating businesses, like most (if not all) Republicans do, then you're telling major corporations they can make their massive profits at the expense of American jobs. I don't know about you, but to me, that is "un-American". For every low priced item we find, celebrating the money we saved, we're giving someone else in a different country the money, and we're telling the corporation to keep doing its thing.
Of course, if you're a regular at Walmart, I'm not saying to stop shopping there, but at the very least, make sure the products you purchase are made in America, and do your best to avoid products that aren't. After all, the most American thing we can do is support businesses run by Americans that make products for Americans that are made by Americans. That's part of the meaning of "united" in "United States of America".
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