A different kind of "New Year's resolution"

I've never been big on making New Year's resolutions, mainly because mine never seemed to last past about February.  I think most people fall off their resolution wagon long before they meet their goal, so why bother?  Yet here we are starting a new year....again, and all over the blogosphere I see people proclaiming their resolutions for 2012. OK, I'll make one, too.


Well, actually, mine isn't so much a "resolution" but a pledge, as it isn't a black-and-white issue where you either win or fail.  *drum roll*  I pledge to do everything I reasonably can to buy products made in America, and to avoid as much as possible buying products made in China.  Understand, if you want an iPhone, it's going to be made in China.  If you want the latest, greatest child's toy, it's probably going be made in China.  You just can't escape it entirely, but I think in many instances we DO have a choice, and I'm gonna go out of my way to look for those products made in the USA, and I'm willing to pay a little more for them, too.


I think it's time we face the fact that saving a few bucks on a cheap imported product actually costs us more in the long run than we save.  Yes, as you walk out of the store you may feel like you saved $5 or $10 or whatever, but stop and think how many Americans are NOT working because their jobs were "outsourced" so the company could hire cheap foreign labor and make a little higher profit margin. (The stockholders demand it, they say.)  Whatever you saved is indirectly eaten up in welfare/unemployment benefits (your tax dollars).   At this rate, pretty soon we'll all be either cutting each other's hair or flipping burgers.  I say "enough"!


Anyone care to join me?


S