Sale Pricing For Wiggy’s Sleeping Bags

The sale pricing for the sleeping bags has been going on for over two years. Many people call or write asking how long it will continue, and my stock answer is always "until the economy gets better". Hearing this is a relief to almost everyone. However it is not a good sign if the economy just doesn’t get better.

As a business owner I, like other business owners, do whatever is necessary to keep the business going. If reducing the selling price is necessary, that is what we do. In years past I was forced to raise my prices because the cost of raw materials had increased. But in the current economy, costs haven’t increased or remained the same, they have decreased; hence I am also able to offer special pricing as in the case of the camouflage sleeping bags. These prices will continue so long as the fabrics are available.

Do I see a point in time when this will change? No. At this time I do not believe the economy is getting, or going to get, better any time soon. In order for the economy to get better people have to have jobs. When I say jobs, I mean many jobs — probably 25 million jobs. Are they available now? No. Will they become available in the foreseeable future? In my opinion, no.

During the 1960’s it was said that the USA manufacturers produced products with "planned obsolescence" so people would always be replacing whatever the product was. This concept kept the economy going, so it was thought. In retrospect I think those who believed this were wrong. Companies that produced products — whether it was for industry or consumers — made them as good as they could. I have some machines that are used every day that I have owned since about 1980 and they were used when I bought them, a testament to the quality of product made 50 or 60 years ago. The men who owned those companies probably got their hands greasy developing the products. Now-a-days the people who own, or rather run, the companies get lost in the factories that produce what they sell, and the factories are probably in China. They don’t know how poor the quality of the products they sell are because they don’t know how to make them in the first place. See the January 2013 current newsletter. These people are the ones who think in terms of planned obsolescence. They should bring the work back to the USA since we have the ability to make the best of every product that can be made.

Politicians at all levels of government spout that we have to bring jobs back to the USA, but they are talking through their hats as the expression goes. If you read the January 2013 article you will see that politicians' efforts to bring jobs back here are non-existent. That being the case, we will not soon see our work force increased. An increased work force means more tax revenue going to the government's coffers. But that is not happening, so the printing presses speed up. The 25 million people working would be beneficial if there were jobs for them here and that would definitely speed up the turnaround in the economy. We have a population of 300,000,000 or more people, so seeing a few hundred thousand going back to work is a spit in the ocean. In order to get people back to work we have to become a producer nation as we once were. Having a population of computer literate people is great, but we need people working in factories producing radios, clocks, shoes, clothing, and washing machines. Need I go on? When that happens and only when that happens will we see a turn in the economy that will be beneficial.

Unfortunately we have a generation or two that does not have knowledgeable people to teach them the skills needed to produce product. Nor in my opinion do we have a generation or two of people who have any incentive to learn these skills.

It is for this reason that I do not believe the economy will get better anytime soon and it is also the reason why my sale will continue. When these unskilled people start getting some age on them they will find out that the government handout will simply not give them the ability to ever own a Rolex watch or a BMW.

So much for socialism.