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From: rjc@geech.gnu.ai.mit.edu (Ray Cromwell)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.advocacy
Subject: Re: Who cares if its made in USA?
Message-ID: <1991Jun23.201535.22178@mintaka.lcs.mit.edu>
Date: 23 Jun 91 20:15:35 GMT
References: <1991Jun23.203549.24627@wehi.dn.mu.oz>
Sender: news@mintaka.lcs.mit.edu
Organization: The Internet
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In article <1991Jun23.203549.24627@wehi.dn.mu.oz> baxter_a@wehi.dn.mu.oz writes:
[At the risk of starting an international flame war]

>There has recently been a number of postings decrying the use of
>foreign parts and the sale of foreign electronic goods in the USA.
>
>I'm a little surprised this is necessary, but I'll do it anyway...
>
>This is an international forum. Many of these comments have been
>racist, bigotted and inflammatory. It is quite inappropriate to post
>the sorts of nationalistic mindless drivel that we have been
>innundated with.
>
>There are very good reasons _not_ to buy USA made goods. They are
>often more expensive, poorer quality, less advanced, worse designed,
>worse supported, and less well distributed. "Buy American" campaigns
>just help to support badly functioning companies which cannot
>compete in the open market. 

  Most of this is pure bunk, except for "more expensive","less well
distributed", and "worse supported". American products are not of
inferior design, advancement or quality. There wouldn't be so much outcry
if some markets were "really" open.  Why isn't there American outcry
against Germany? Because the difference between Germany and Japan is that
American products can be sold in Germany, whereas Japan it's a different
story. I'm surprised you even made this statement. I recently watched
a show on PBS called "mini-dragons" that detailed the outcry against
Japan in Austrailia for taking jobs away from workers. The showed footage
of Austrailian workers protesting and throwing stones at a Japanese
ship coming into port with consumer goods. They also showed Japanese
rice farmers "destroying" a Chrysler because they didn't want foreign
goods in the the Japanese market. The Japanese society still seems
"closed" against outsiders. Examples were given in this show about
how Filipino immigrants to Japan were not allowed in Japanese restaurants
and stores because they didn't want foreigners in their country. A
Japanese "hard copy" type show was shown in which the number one problem
discussed was the 400,000 foreigners in Japan being a "problem". It seems
the Japanese society thinks its sucess is built upon the idea of racial
purity. We have racism in American too, but not of this scale, when
400,000 foreigners are considered a problem. I think American should
give up on pentrating the Japanese market and concentrate on Europe like
Commodore does.

(if you want more proof, just read on up studies done on Japanese
"dumping" in American to eliminate competition, or how Japanese
corperations gang up on new American startup companies in Japan and 
push them out. [I recall one incident where an American car company
was prevented from buying a factory for prodution in Japan])

  We American's have our problems too, but it all isn't just whining.
We are the largest debtor nation on Earth, and guess who our
number one loaner is?


>>Regards Alan


--
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