Global Commercialism does not allow quality products
Economics is a rather interesting field of study. The school of thought that a global economy strengthens all the players has been the dominant economic model for the last 50 years or so. As such we have large multi-national companies that leverage cheap labor in Third World countries to make billions of dollars. Or they exploit natural resources in Third World Countries that are then refined and remanufactured and sold for many times the raw products value in First and Second World Countries.
Recently people have been starting Buy Local Campaigns. These campaigns are currently mostly geared towards produce and food purchases. The usual stated goal is to only buy foods that were produced within 200 miles (or in many cases less) of the point of sale. This means local farmers, local gardeners, farmers markets, food co-ops and tend to lean heavily towards organic and pesticide free foods.
Such movements have yet to catch on in the material goods realm, although apparently a lot of the “big” stores and companies are coming out of the gate and fighting fire with fire by using misleading advertising to state that buying local means any store, not just locally owned stores. We have “green washing” which means people trying to promote non-Green products as Green, and now we have “local washing” meaning people trying to promote themselves as local companies/products when it’s obvious they’re not. One has to wonder when the back lash against such false advertisement is going to hit.
My biggest problem with Global Commercialism as it stands is that over all quality of manufactured goods has gone drastically downwards. It’s near impossible to find anything not made in China in big stores, or even in the local mom and pop stores it seems. Of those items you do find, is junk. Yes the price is right but these days homes are filled with thousands of dollars of low priced fiber board furniture that needs to be thrown away the first time it gets wet. Plastic and ceramic dishes made of possibly contaminated materials. Family “heirlooms” that show cute cherubic angels are mass produced by millions.
Companies like Eddie Bauer supposedly have a high quality image attached to their name. Yet everything bought from them breaks or tears within five or six uses. Clothing items should not start falling apart at the seems after two months of use. Floor lamps are made of easily bendable materials that make you afraid to touch them for fear they’ll break. Even fully assembled they are still wobbly and crooked.
I could go on for ages describing poor quality items that surround us ever day. But the question is, who is the real culprit? Is it the stores that shove these items down our throats? Or is it the consumers who do not know what quality manufactured goods really are? Is it the US Government’s fault for allowing the trade deficit to grow so large and have low to no taxes on foreign goods?
Or all three?
My suggestion is the next time you need some furniture such as shelves. Build them your self. Shop around and demand quality from your goods. Buying something twice as expensive that lasts twenty years is cheaper in the long run then re-buying it once every three years.
If you own a company, go out of your way to make high quality products. Resist the temptation to build as cheap as possible at the cost of quality and reliability. Make good quality, charge what the product is worth, and advertise as such.
In the long run, this will make the world a better place.