A few days ago, I caught an item in our newspaper, that concerned a small town that had been trying for some time to raise the money needed to build a community type center. No big deal in itself, and I tossed the paper (in the recycle bin of course) and forgot about the issue. At least for a while anyway.
It seems that when this town was trying with little success to raise the money needed, along came a company in the community that came up with enough money to get the project finished. The name of the company? Wal-Mart!
Since then I have seen some ads in the paper where Wal-Mart has been in partnership with others to help fund worthy projects. Not bad really for a company that people associate with low cost merchandise and low wages. But in the end it got me thinking about how these things all come to pass.
I guess what I was thinking was how does this all come together full circle. The money for the project comes from profit the company has earned from the sale of wares in their stores. If we choose to buy from some off shore company, the local store suffers, sells less, lays people off and then there are no profits to spend on local improvements.
Wal-Mart doesn’t have any exclusive on community good works programs, a lot of companies do it. Even companies that do not extend beyond the town line for instance. Like your local car dealer, who ponies up for the uniforms that the local ball team wears. Yep the money for those came from profits earned on sales in the dealers community. This kind of thing happens all the time.
What I am thinking is that if we choose to go to E-Bay or Amazon for all our stuff, the local guy is not going to be able to help much, having not sold enough stuff to make a profit.
It goes beyond that really. Bought any garlic recently? We grow garlic in the US and Canada, but we find that the garlic in the stores comes from China often as not, and it is dry, tasteless, but it is cheap. Locally grown and sold tastes way better, and supports your neighbour. Same with pickles for example. I really enjoy Stuffed Queen Olives sold by Unico. Nowhere on the bottle is information as to where they come from. An email to the company in Canada, came back immediately with where they were obtained and where they were processed. Spain for the olives and packed in Canada.
Check out where your pickles come form, and a lot of the brands are sourced in India or China. Tuna in a can, Thailand. What is wrong with our fishermen. Shrimp, comes from Vietnam or Thailand. And what bugs me more is that a huge amount of our fish actually comes from an Asian producer, but because it is packed in Canada, it can be labelled as “Product of Canada” because that was the last place it was prepared in the entire process. Political bafflegab at its best!
We look for made in Canada or the US when we shop now. If the source of manufacture is not on the product, check it out on their web site and ask them. All companies on the web have a Contact Us link you can use.
We are in dire need to support our local producers, for selfish reasons, for sure. The local guy loses his job to a foreign country, the rest of us have to support him until he can find work. We have been very successful in losing our manufacturing work to the off shore world, Fishing is gone too, except for the farmed fish in North America. The list could go on for a long time, and we suffer for it with stuff we have little control over with respect to quality control, but it is usually cheaper, but that cheapness comes with a price in lost jobs, and that has a high cost to it, in money, social expectations, buying power and more.
Buy North American and support your neighbours jobs.
WEB SITE OF THE DAY:
The web page today is related to the above in that it involves WestJet airlines and Ronald Macdonald House. All locally owned and managed. They came together to help a young family with a situation that will get you to the Kleenex box for sure. Take a look: WestJet
QUOTE OF THE DAY:
When I think about the world I would like to leave to my daughter and the grandchildren I hope to have, it is a world that moves away from unequal, unstable, unsustainable interdependence to integrated communities – locally, nationally and globally – that share the characteristics of all successful communities.
William J. Clinton
EXIT LAUGHING:
THIS IS THE BEST MAXINE EVER, EVER, EVER! RIGHT ON MAXINE!!!
This is the best analogy yet!
I bought a bird feeder. I hung it on my back porch and filled it with seed. What a beauty of a bird feeder it was, as I filled it lovingly with seed.
Within a week we had hundreds of birds taking advantage of the continuous flow of free and easily accessible food.
But then the birds started building nests in the boards of the patio, above the table, and next to the barbecue.
Then came the poop. It was everywhere: on the patio tile, the chairs, the table .
Everywhere!
Then some of the birds turned mean. They would dive bomb me and try to peck me even though I had fed them out of my own pocket.
And other birds were boisterous and loud. They sat on the feeder and squawked and screamed at all hours of the day and night and demanded that I fill it when it got low on food.
After a while, I couldn’t even sit on my own back porch anymore. So I took down the bird feeder and in three days the birds were gone. I cleaned up their mess and took down the many nests they had built all over the patio.
Soon, the back yard was like it used to be … quiet, serene…
and no one demanding their rights to a free meal.
Now let’s see…
Our government gives out free food, subsidized housing, free medical care and free education, and allows anyone born here to be an automatic citizen.
Then the illegals came by the tens of thousands. Suddenly our taxes went up to pay for free services; small apartments are housing 5 families; you have to wait 6 hours to be seen by an emergency room doctor; Your child’s second grade class is behind other schools because over half the class doesn’t speak English.
Corn Flakes now come in a bilingual box; I have to ‘press one ‘ to hear my bank talk to me in English, and people waving flags other than ”ours” are squawking and screaming in the streets, demanding more rights and free liberties.
Just my opinion, but maybe it’s time for the government to take down the bird feeder.
Have a Great Day and be kind to one another.
Ross 
