When you fire up that vintage Mustang or Camaro, do you ever think about where it came from? Do you even briefly remember the long decades of American auto industrial dominance? Slide behind the wheel of your Plymouth GTX and look out over the hood and imagine the world of the late 1960s. Did you ever envision the huge shuttered buildings where cars used to be built, back when the Plymouth name still existed?
Many of us of a certain age have watched for decades as the United States, once the proud manufacturing capital of the world, lost its edge as one factory after another closed its doors. The immediate loss of jobs is the most visible effect, and not just in the factory itself, but in all of the small businesses supplying and supporting it, from the cafes and restaurants nearby, the shops fabricating parts the factory used and the service industries maintaining it to all of the local stores selling goods to the now unemployed. Less visible, but equally important, is all of the skill and knowledge necessary to produce what the factory made, now unneeded, it grows stale and eventually disappears.
The conventional wisdom says it’s all for the good. If products are made in other lower cost countries, we pay less in the USA and have more money to spend or invest elsewhere. While true for those still employed or keeping their own business running, quite a few former employees see less benefit to the great outsourcing of America. Many now question the conventional “wisdom” and wonder if a few things might have been missed as companies made the move overseas.
Is there a solution? Is there something you or I can do today to help slow or reverse this trend? Yes, I believe there is and it’s simple, but potentially very effective. The next time you need a part for your American muscle car, or anything else, for that matter, look for and ask for the parts Made in the USA. No need to join a group, no need to protest, no need to buy anything you weren’t going to buy anyway, just look for and buy the American made parts, products and accessories.
Be aware of where products are made. Look closely at labels and if you can’t see where it came from, ask. If it’s hard to determine, it probably isn’t made in the USA because companies here will usually tell you right up front.
The citizens of every country should be proud of the products made in their own country. No matter where you live, you should support your friends and neighbors and support the companies and products that employ them. Many other countries already do this, but, for some reason, the idea of buying American slipped away. Well, it’s time to bring it back.
I like to think of this as friendly competition, with each country doing its best to make great products. We’ll buy your great products, you buy ours, everyone benefits. If the products made here don’t measure up, buy the better one, but tell the American company why you did that, help them improve. If the product made here is a few dollars more, pay it if you can. Low cost isn’t a benefit if the result is another closed factory.
HorsePowerSports is going to highlight as many Made in America automotive products as we can. I already have a list, but if you have a favorite or maybe less well known American company you would like to see here, click on the contact form above and let us know.
Let’s make “Made in America” the high value label it used to be. Look for, ask for and buy American Made. The whole country will thank you for it.