Adam: What you got there, Eve? Eve: Beats me - here, try one. Label says "Made in China." Punk: They taste a lot like apples. Adam and Eve in the Banana Republic.
^^ I’ve been told on this forum that I needed some work on my cultural knowledge in this area but a compliment coming from a movie buff means I just might be improving a tad. ;-)
Once upon a time in a city far, far away a company employed hundreds of diligent workers. It paid a modest but satisfactory wage to the workers. It made products known for their quality. Some buyers had their products in their homes after ten or fifteen years of use. The workers typically bought the products at either the company second store or at local discount stores when they were available.
As time passed the discount stores realized they could make more money by buying very similar products from manufacturers outside the area.The stores first went to a poor part of the country, then to another country and to another and another until they found a country where the products could be made for only a few cents a day instead of the modest cost in the manufacturers original locations.
For a while the manufacturers kept a few factories open in some of the original locations but eventually the pressure to pay little for production to gain the most at sale caused all but the least cost production facilities to close.
Buyers accepted a lower quality product from the company because they didn’t see the change come swiftly. As the quality gradually diminished the customers simply did not notice. They did admire the fact that they could pay the same for the products as their parents did even when they were paid salaries in their careers far larger than their parents did when they bought the “home-made” products.
As time went on finally one of the factories closed and a news person asked the last employee out of the factory what she was going to do next.
Her answer?
“I am going down to Wal Mart to cash this last paycheck and then I am going to buy some new towels.”
The place? Gastonia, North Carolina. The company? Pillowtex. The towels? Royal Velvet.
The point? If you have to ask you are too far behind to understand.
Well we could just lay off all those money-wasting teachers and give the money to the bankers on Wall Street – I’m sure they have better uses for it than teaching kids to read etc. Wasn’t it the tree of knowledge that held the forbidden fruit?
^Thanks, Legacy; makes me think of the frog in the pot of cold water on the stove. He doesn’t notice it’s getting warmer and warmer, until he goes to sleep in the nice warm Jacuzzi and becomes soup!
So what industries should we start with bringing back, with a viable business plan to take to the bankers? Question to the entire Group Mind!
pbarnrob;
Did you happen to see the recent remake of Star Trek? Building starships in Iowa. Amazing what we could accomplish if we kept our space program with all of it’s Intellectual properties within our borders.
Live long and prosper………….
Gillette’s in business and making as much money as ever, but their goods are also made in China. For the outrageous prices the major shaving brands sell for at my local Wal-Mart, they should all be made in the US.
^^Agreed! Its ridiculous to think that a four pack of razors cost $12.99 plus tax when the sh#t probably cost $.50 a razor to make.
Its also the reason why they can have a stadium named after them and have multi-million dollar athletes like Payrod, Tiger, and Roddick in the same commercial.
How can a banana be made in China? Even 40 years ago, when we were an autarchy, we had to import bananas (tea and coffee, but nothing else). Maybe the Chinese can grow them in Vietnam, but the Vietnamese are mortal enemies of the Chinese (which Lyndon Johnson did not know)!
OmqR-IV.0 about 14 years ago
Logan’s run came to mind when I saw the image. Nm me.
Jason Allen about 14 years ago
But on the brighter side, they saved a whopping 50¢ by buying Chinese made goods. That’s /totally/ worth selling out American jobs, right??
OmqR-IV.0 about 14 years ago
^^ I’ve been told on this forum that I needed some work on my cultural knowledge in this area but a compliment coming from a movie buff means I just might be improving a tad. ;-)
lobkiller about 14 years ago
nice apples
zekedog55 about 14 years ago
“Come Mr. Tally man, tally me banana…”
T Gabriel Premium Member about 14 years ago
Once upon a time in a city far, far away a company employed hundreds of diligent workers. It paid a modest but satisfactory wage to the workers. It made products known for their quality. Some buyers had their products in their homes after ten or fifteen years of use. The workers typically bought the products at either the company second store or at local discount stores when they were available.
As time passed the discount stores realized they could make more money by buying very similar products from manufacturers outside the area.The stores first went to a poor part of the country, then to another country and to another and another until they found a country where the products could be made for only a few cents a day instead of the modest cost in the manufacturers original locations.
For a while the manufacturers kept a few factories open in some of the original locations but eventually the pressure to pay little for production to gain the most at sale caused all but the least cost production facilities to close.
Buyers accepted a lower quality product from the company because they didn’t see the change come swiftly. As the quality gradually diminished the customers simply did not notice. They did admire the fact that they could pay the same for the products as their parents did even when they were paid salaries in their careers far larger than their parents did when they bought the “home-made” products.
As time went on finally one of the factories closed and a news person asked the last employee out of the factory what she was going to do next.
Her answer?
“I am going down to Wal Mart to cash this last paycheck and then I am going to buy some new towels.”
The place? Gastonia, North Carolina. The company? Pillowtex. The towels? Royal Velvet.
The point? If you have to ask you are too far behind to understand.
Dtroutma about 14 years ago
Om and Church— Carousel!
cfimeiatpap about 14 years ago
A throw away socialist society; tastes alot like apples……..
fritzoid Premium Member about 14 years ago
“Made in China”? Try it, Adam! It’ll put some lead in the old banana!
(I just love the artwork on this one, but the cultural referents he’s mixing seem awfully disparate…)
CorosiveFrog Premium Member about 14 years ago
legacy;
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pKv6RcXa2UI
Sooky Rottweiler says; I don’t use much anyways, but …BETTER BLUE CAN DOGFOOD THAN BUDGET CAN!!! Keep Red Can alive!!!
SherriannPederson about 14 years ago
Run and do not look back!
lindz.coop Premium Member about 14 years ago
Well we could just lay off all those money-wasting teachers and give the money to the bankers on Wall Street – I’m sure they have better uses for it than teaching kids to read etc. Wasn’t it the tree of knowledge that held the forbidden fruit?
pbarnrob about 14 years ago
^Thanks, Legacy; makes me think of the frog in the pot of cold water on the stove. He doesn’t notice it’s getting warmer and warmer, until he goes to sleep in the nice warm Jacuzzi and becomes soup!
So what industries should we start with bringing back, with a viable business plan to take to the bankers? Question to the entire Group Mind!
cfimeiatpap about 14 years ago
pbarnrob; Did you happen to see the recent remake of Star Trek? Building starships in Iowa. Amazing what we could accomplish if we kept our space program with all of it’s Intellectual properties within our borders. Live long and prosper………….
attyush about 14 years ago
At least Gillette is still in business. Adam is clean shaven.
Jason Allen about 14 years ago
Gillette’s in business and making as much money as ever, but their goods are also made in China. For the outrageous prices the major shaving brands sell for at my local Wal-Mart, they should all be made in the US.
WarBush about 14 years ago
^^Agreed! Its ridiculous to think that a four pack of razors cost $12.99 plus tax when the sh#t probably cost $.50 a razor to make.
Its also the reason why they can have a stadium named after them and have multi-million dollar athletes like Payrod, Tiger, and Roddick in the same commercial.
VegaAlopex about 14 years ago
How can a banana be made in China? Even 40 years ago, when we were an autarchy, we had to import bananas (tea and coffee, but nothing else). Maybe the Chinese can grow them in Vietnam, but the Vietnamese are mortal enemies of the Chinese (which Lyndon Johnson did not know)!