90% of my Walmart purchases are food.

My local grocery store charges $4.79 for a box of cereal, Walmart charges $2.50.

Between having no income due to the virus, and my disabled girlfriend only being able to work four hours a week, I need to make the money go a long way.

Read labels, do your research, stay out of Wal-Mart!

Buy American!

There are so many made in USA items at Walmart. Walmart is no different than any box store or even Mom and Pop hardware store.

If you care about buying goods made in the USA, it's not about what stores you buy it from, it is about where the actual item comes from.

This is essentially my life philosophy for many years now. I mean, there are reasons why people choose not to support Walmart, but doing so because they supposedly only sell imported products or stuff from China is flat out false. By this philosophy you would be telling people to stay out of Home Depot. Stay out of Target. Stay out of Cosco or Sam's Club. Stay out of Napa Autoparts or Autozone.

Buy things wherever you like, the point is, look at the labels and search for alternatives when it is important to you because most times there will be alternatives. You might have to go to ebay for a new old stock new in box item if it is no longer made here. Or maybe you will have to substitute for a different type item. Or maybe you will have to buy a good condition used item.

This can be done. It can be difficult, but also it can be easy because when you are trying to pick out what microwavable food containers to buy for instance, only buying made in USA does eliminate the imports right off the bat, so if you were having a hard time deciding which is a better mouse trap (yes there are imported and USA mouse traps), just looking for the made in or assembled in USA label makes the decision making easy.

Don't forget to look at food. Seafood items especially. Have you seen "wild caught USA, processed in China". Yup, they actually do that. Buy from US "processors".

Be American, Buy American.

Never did I intend for the "Wal-Mart" part of my header to be the focal point. Let me re-phrase.

Read labels, Buy American!

But it's a global economy. Has been for decades.

Free traders: Churchill, Eisenhower, Reagan, Thatcher
Protectionists: Bernie Sanders, Richie Rich the stubby fingered, draft dodging, orange tub of lard. As Trump himself said a few months ago "On trade Bernie sounds a lot like me"

I know who I will go with.

Never did I intend for the "Wal-Mart" part of my header to be the focal point. Let me re-phrase.

Read labels, Buy American!

Yes sorry to have caused any confusion. We're on the same page.

But it's a global economy. Has been for decades.

Said the CFOs and CEOs while closing their factories down. Cheap foreign labor yippie. Sorry suckers (American Labor).

Free traders: Churchill, Eisenhower, Reagan, Thatcher
Protectionists: Bernie Sanders, Richie Rich the stubby fingered, draft dodging, orange tub of lard. As Trump himself said a few months ago "On trade Bernie sounds a lot like me"

I know who I will go with.

My views are from my experiences and that from the community in which I live. Doesn't matter to me what Reagan or Sanders believe. I'm my own person. If you would rather align your views to those you like and against this you don't like you are just a follower. Go buy that made in Taiwan crap now.

I like to consider myself a world citizen and am all for free trade. That said I buy American when I can, and even more importantly I buy at local Mom and Pop stores when I can and avoid big box stores when at all possible. I also avoid buying from Amazon and other on-line retailers when I can, although this is becoming more and more difficult. I don't mind paying a little more if I have to, as long as I'm not getting blatantly ripped off. Local businesses pay local taxes, which help our communities. Amazon is one of the world's largest companies and they paid zero taxes. The choice in who to support is obvious.

Ironically I got my $1,200 in my account today. Still waiting on my tax refund from last year but I got this. Interesting.

"you are just a follower"

YES!! Of Aristotle over Plato, of Washington over King George, of Lincoln over Douglas,
We all follow, It's just some of us recognize that. Only an 18 year old college freshman in a midnight, cheap beer fueled, "philosophical" debate says things like "I can't take anything on faith. I have to understand something before I can accept it."

Ironically I got my $1,200 in my account today. Still waiting on my tax refund from last year but I got this. Interesting.

That doesn't mean I or anyone must accept the fact our corptocracy has sold us down the river. Do people wanting a cleaner environment accept that fossil fuels must continue to dominate our energy needs? Do women who are paid less than their male counterparts accept that just because it's the way it has always been? People fighting for change don't just throw up their arms and say "oh well". Why go out of your way to buy American, it's never mattered before.

I like to consider myself a world citizen and am all for free trade. That said I buy American when I can, and even more importantly I buy at local Mom and Pop stores when I can and avoid big box stores when at all possible. I also avoid buying from Amazon and other on-line retailers when I can, although this is becoming more and more difficult. I don't mind paying a little more if I have to, as long as I'm not getting blatantly ripped off. Local businesses pay local taxes, which help our communities. Amazon is one of the world's largest companies and they paid zero taxes. The choice in who to support is obvious.

I certainly get this principle approach. Buying local carries with it benefits. Unfortunately most of the made in USA items I search for are not offered locally. And my view, is I'd rather support an American online retailer a few states over selling an American made product than a local businessman selling an imported product. I see that as rewarding bad behavior of selling imported goods when USA goods are available. But I very much get the argument and have sometimes struggled with that. Amazon is a whole 'nother story...the new devil!

"you are just a follower"

YES!! Of Aristotle over Plato, of Washington over King George, of Lincoln over Douglas,
We all follow, It's just some of us recognize that. Only an 18 year old college freshman in a midnight, cheap beer fueled, "philosophical" debate says things like "I can't take anything on faith. I have to understand something before I can accept it."

Faith, like religion? Buying American is my religion.

Will do. Walmart is hell. BOYCOTT CHINA

Sorry tho I only go for Japanese automotive. nobodys perfect

[Edited on 4/15/2020 by BrerRabbit]

Yes Boycott China. Had a bumper sticker that said that once

Japanese cars, let me guess...Subaru? I say that because hippies love Subaru's just seeing how close I am.

Japanese cars, let me guess...Subaru? I say that because hippies love Subaru's just seeing how close I am.

nope. Not that type hippie. Toyota since I was a kid. Then later in Arizona - best outback machines. They take a beating,

Yes they are good. Old FJ Land Cruiser or the small leaf spring front mini trucks. I've seen them in action off-road. They are good. And have a very large following. Of course if we are talking about a 60s, 70s, 80s or 90s 4x4 it's gotta be a Jeep for me. Too bad it's been in and out of foreign ownership since then. Fiat now. Thanks Obama (thank is a joke).

90% of my Walmart purchases are food.

My local grocery store charges $4.79 for a box of cereal, Walmart charges $2.50.

Between having no income due to the virus, and my disabled girlfriend only being able to work four hours a week, I need to make the money go a long way.

Many of us have become Walmartians, Dollar Store devotees and Family Dollar families. The government sold us out long ago sending the jobs overseas, remember NAFTA, it never stopped. The greedy corporations wanted as much profit as possible and the only way to get it was to use cheaper labor and materials. The enemy is corporate greed not poor Americans.

Hang in there Ron lots of people are struggling.

90% of my Walmart purchases are food.

My local grocery store charges $4.79 for a box of cereal, Walmart charges $2.50.

Between having no income due to the virus, and my disabled girlfriend only being able to work four hours a week, I need to make the money go a long way.

Many of us have become Walmartians, Dollar Store devotees and Family Dollar families. The government sold us out long ago sending the jobs overseas, remember NAFTA, it never stopped. The greedy corporations wanted as much profit as possible and the only way to get it was to use cheaper labor and materials. The enemy is corporate greed not poor Americans.

Hang in there Ron lots of people are struggling.

I don't disagree with you on one hand, but it is important to know that there are companies that willingly outsource production because they wan to, and there are companies that outsource because they have to due to competitive pressure.

Take Square D or Eaton (Cutler Hammer), both who were leaders in the circuit breaker industry. Try to find a made in USA circuit breaker now, you can't unless it is 30 years old sitting on a shelf somewhere. Sure there were some Siemens circuit breakers (of course not made in Germany, instead they are made in low-cost counties like everyone else now), but there wasn't some competitive pressure abroad that forced Square D or Eaton to start making their products in Mexico or the Dominican Republic. No, those companies did that to lower overhead and boost margins. And the argument that these companies move production to be closer to the consumer, please, that argument only works when companies actually move to be close to the consumer...close facilities in the US to open plants in Mexico or the Dominican Republic are not trying to be closer to the consumer. There is one reason and one reason only for that move - that is to the point of greed and growth and profits and management compensation while facilities get closed here and US workers lose their jobs. But hey, Square D is making more money on their 30 amp breakers, so that is good right (not).

But then you have the on the other hand companies that do not actively seek to outsource and move abroad, but are forced to do so or die. One example, take the US furniture industry. Once a significant industry in the USA, domestic furniture has been undercut by a flood of imported product from places like Malaysia, Vietnam and China, some of these USA companies have been forced to outsource their production or else face bankruptcy. Fortunately some have survived like Vaughn Basset who's seen major contraction in their market share and employment, but they are still around thankfully and making furniture in the US. Or there is always the Amish made furniture, but at any rate, what was once a thriving industry has now been ruined and with it comes job losses in parts of the country that aren't easily absorbed by other growing sectors. (Basset once employed 10,000 people, now they employ 1500).

It is companies like these that face the pressure from imported goods that either have to contract or themselves outsource production that sadden me. They should not have to face this unfair competition, where foreign manufacturers do not have the same labor, environmental and safety standards that US companies must adhere to here domestically.

So, yes, there is plenty of corporate greed that leads to closures and job losses here. But at the same time, it is critically important to realize that the unmitigated flow of imported products puts domestic producers at a competitive disadvantage and to survive, they sometimes must also seek lower operating costs when they do not really want to do so.

We only have decades of government trade policy to blame for this.

US and foreign corporations can only do what our government policy allows them to do. Problem is we have both domestic and foreign corporate interests lobbying for the policy they want. So then, what do we get? We get fvcked. Sure maybe you like your made in Malaysia dinning room table, thanks a lot, you are part of the problem for buying that crap. Search for and demand USA.

Search for and demand USA.

Exactly and this is a "demand" we should all develop the habit of employing and then leaving products manufactured in China either on the shelf or at the checkout counter.

Search for and demand USA.

Exactly and this is a "demand" we should all develop the habit of employing and then leaving products manufactured in China either on the shelf or at the checkout counter.

Honest story, sometimes I take an imported item to checkout on purpose and then when I hand it to the cashier I act like I just saw the made in imported country tag and I tell them, no I don't want that sorry because it is made in XYZ country. My hope in doing this is that they tell a coworker or maybe tell a family member when they get home and they are like "huh, that guy didn't want this because it was made in Mexico". If it gets them thinking even a little bit that there are people out there that care about this then maybe they will think about it and it leaves an impression. Or maybe it doesn't do squat. I can only control what I can control. This is real, this is me. Let's do it.

My hope in doing this is that they tell a coworker or maybe tell a family member when they get home and they are like "huh, that guy didn't want this because it was made in (China) ". If it gets them thinking even a little bit that there are people out there that care about this then maybe they will think about it and it leaves an impression. Or maybe it doesn't do squat. I can only control what I can control. This is real, this is me. Let's do it.

Excellent

I can only control what I can control. This is real, this is me. Let's do it.

An act already in progress

My hope in doing this is that they tell a coworker or maybe tell a family member when they get home and they are like "huh, that guy didn't want this because it was made in (China) ". If it gets them thinking even a little bit that there are people out there that care about this . . .

Checkout clerks are working too hard to notice, trying to stay on their feet for 8 hours - give em a break,all you did was make more work for them. Contact the store manager. Write No Products from China on a comment card. Call corporate office. Pull a rickshaw carrying s skeleton down Main Street.

I guess I just don't see picking on checkout clerks
as constructive activism. They are more interested in avoiding you sneezing than they are in the funny noises coming out of your mouth while you hand them some random item they could not care less about.

[Edited on 4/16/2020 by BrerRabbit]

I see what you are saying. They put it under the counter and, I assume somebody at the end of a day or shift comes around and collects any items cashiers collect because they are damaged or the customer changed their minds. So yeah, somebody stocking shelves puts it back.

The point is to reach people you otherwise wouldn't...same as wearing a shirt with a message, or a bumper sticker, or any kind of conversation you might have with people. I'm really not a talkative person, but I try and make a couple small talk comments with cashiers. I find it kind of awkward when somebody just stands there and watches them scan all your items then you pay without saying anything the whole time.

At any rate, most times management can only put on their shelves what corporate sends them. It's not about changing what the stores have on a local or national level because those decisions are way up the food chain in most cases. Your local Ace Hardware is only going to sell what Ace Hardware distribution center sends them to sell. It is about people thinking about alternatives and that some people out there (me) are looking at these kinds of things. There are multiple ways one can go about this.

Me and Slav always argue about this. He never strays from the Russian brands, even when Putin put a crackdown on consumption. He hopes this scores points with the Soviet apparatchiks and they notice. I say he is wasting his efforts but Slav is not willing to spend the extra rubles for some of the other eastern bloc offerings. Their vodka does not have the taste of a summer crop harvested in Siberia under a dirty grey sky, he tells me.

Search for and demand USA.

Exactly and this is a "demand" we should all develop the habit of employing and then leaving products manufactured in China either on the shelf or at the checkout counter.

Honest story, sometimes I take an imported item to checkout on purpose and then when I hand it to the cashier I act like I just saw the made in imported country tag and I tell them, no I don't want that sorry because it is made in XYZ country. My hope in doing this is that they tell a coworker or maybe tell a family member when they get home and they are like "huh, that guy didn't want this because it was made in Mexico". If it gets them thinking even a little bit that there are people out there that care about this then maybe they will think about it and it leaves an impression. Or maybe it doesn't do squat. I can only control what I can control. This is real, this is me. Let's do it.

What a dick move that is.

What a dick move that is.

We can all be dicks sometimes to get a point across. Spread the word, buying imported products is un-American, just like the US companies that cut jobs here to bring in product from there.

Buying American may be a worthy endeavor but being an inconsiderate jerk to make a point is a laughably ineffectual move.

Buying American may be a worthy endeavor but being an inconsiderate jerk to make a point is a laughably ineffectual move.

Thank you for your feedback, but I'm not seeking your approval.