November 2010

November 22, 2010

THE ECONOMY  (IS NOT COMING BACK)

     Since I reduced my prices for sleeping bags by 30 percent many people have called inquiring how long the sale will last. I have told each and everyone who has asked that I will end the sale when the economy gets better. The universal response to my answer is always the same , a chuckle followed with the comment it will be in effect a long time. Therefore, the only conclusion I can come too based upon the responses I am getting is the economy is not getting better at this time. Actually I do not believe it will be getting better in either the immediate or distant future. Hence my sale may never end.

     The prime problem that the USA is experiencing is a “dumbed down society”. Young people are not being taught to “think” and this has been the case since the 1970’s. In the 1980’s articles were written “why Johnny can’t read”. The school system in the USA has been doing a very bad job of educating the young people for all these years. The system of government schools has tried to homogenize the population so one and all are the same. The brightest students in our school system are held back, not encouraged to excel. What a pity!

     Those who were supposedly educated in the 80s and 90s are now the teachers currently in our schools from grade school to universities. Therefore, we have mediocre at best teaching young fertile minds.

     Now let us enter the world of business. Starting in the 1960s many large businesses started to produce their products off shore because the costs were lower than in the USA. Initially the USA consumer was benefiting by getting product for less money. Of course the company was benefiting by selling more products do too lower prices. But the price for the savings on the part of the consumers and the profits on the part of the manufacturers is now costing the USA dearly. For almost 50 years we have had a demise of manufacturers in the USA which means factories have closed, machinery has been either moved to the off shore locations or liquidated and of course the people who were employed at these manufacturing facilities were laid off.

     Today there is a desire on the part of USA citizens to want to buy products “Made in the USA” so the companies who are producing product off shore consider bringing production back into the USA. The problems that these companies face are many. The men, women who run these companies are more likely to be between 40 and 55 years of age. They more than likely never worked in a factory that makes the products their companies market. They probably came out of some college where they were educated in corporate management or marketing so they have no hands on experience in manufacturing. If, they were to want to open a USA facility they would need a person with the background in manufacturing, a person who has the knowledge of the building required, could place the machinery in the proper production order, knows how to run the equipment, knows how to maintain and repair if necessary the equipment, knows who to hire from middle management to maintenance workers and of course the people who will be running the equipment. Does the corporate executive have the knowledge to hire such a person if the person even exists? I say no!

     All of the people needed to open a factory in the USA that did exist here at one time are either dead or retired. There are no young people available who have the slightest bit of knowledge. Of course the young people available to work today do not want to work, they are a product of our government controlled educational system and have been taught that they are equal to everyone else of their generation, not mine. That being the case they are all equally unqualified.

     Think of the many different products that are available in retail stores around the country and look at the label showing the country where these products are made. If 20 percent of the items you pick up were produced in the USA the economy would be a whole lot better. But they aren’t and will not be any time soon if ever.

     The population of the country keeps getting larger, therefore more products are desired but there is a significant number of unemployed and that number keeps growing and they claim to want to work but where can they find jobs. Without factories producing products the economy will as it is now is stagnating and I believe deteriorating.

     Therefore, Wiggy’s as well as a host of other companies will not be eliminating their discounted prices anytime soon.

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