Of all the ways to express love for our children, purchasing them toys is one of the most emotionally and socially charged. We all remember our own joy at receiving a desired toy and the fun that would ensue. We want that same feeling for our children. So in America, we buy toys. A lot of them. The critical problem we face is that most of these toys, in fact, most of our consumer goods, are not even made in this country. We think we are doing a good thing for our child, but perhaps, in the long run, the toys we purchase today are contributing to the loss of jobs our children might have in the future.Here’s the how and why of it: “Made in China,” or more specifically, not made in America. The classic (and pricey) American Girl doll? Made in China. Etch-a-Sketch? It’s now made in China, to retail at a slightly lower price for the consumer always looking for a better deal. Radio Flyer's ubiquitous Red Wagon, an emblem of American joy and adventure, is made in China as well. It’s true--we live in the new age of globalization and open borders. We were told this type of free trade was good for us. The truth is, other countries actively engage in protectionist practices to keep homeland manufacturing alive. They do this to protect domestic jobs, now and for the future. We, however, have effectively sold our jobs overseas in exchange for cheap goods in high quantities. We must start to care where our purchasing dollars are going if we want to secure a bright future for our children and fix our current economic mess. So, how do we do it?
If you have decided to make a conscious effort to buy American-made toys and goods (or goods from a country with balanced trade with our own), you may have found it hard to do. Labels can be notoriously inaccurate. The board game Scrabble, for instance, states on the box that it is “Made in USA.” However, the tiles, racks and letter bags are all made in China. Only the board and packaging are actually of American origin. So is Scrabble really made in USA? According to current labeling regulations, it is. This kind of misconceiving is surprisingly common. On the flipside, many products we use on a daily basis like computers, cell phones or game consoles, have some American content. But these companies cannot legally claim to have any American content because of the current “Made in USA” regulations. We need labels that tell us ALL of the places a product came from and our trade ratio with that country. Only then can we as parents and consumers exercise our power to choose purchases that our good for our families and our country. I have currently proposed legislation to put this type of information on all consumer goods.
The way the American economy looks today tells us that the loss of domestic manufacturing jobs has been gravely detrimental for all of us. Over five million jobs disappeared in the last decade. These jobs were high-paying, offered good benefits, and employed skilled workers for years. These jobs now belong to low-income countries and the Americans who used to earn a good income from them are now stuck working for half the pay at retail outlets or other service jobs. There is some good news: our consumer choices are incredibly powerful in affecting change.
Professor Robert Aliber of the University of Chicago School of Business recently calculated that each American shifting just $1 per day from goods made in foreign countries to ones made in America, or in countries we have balanced trade relations with, would create over a million jobs in this country.
A million high-paying jobs would increase buying power everywhere in the country and enable us to create even more jobs now and for our children’s generation. Each consumer can impact how his or her community will look. Little changes create huge shifts, even something so small as what toy you choose to purchase.
Alan Uke is a San Diego entrepreneur, community leader and founder of Underwater Kinetics. He is author of the new book BUYING AMERICA BACK: A Real Deal Blueprint for Restoring American Prosperity (SelectBooks; April 9, 2012). To learn more information about the book, how to join this movement or sign the petition telling Congress the need for a new Countries of Origin Labeling Act, please visit http://buyingamericaback.org/
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