Thinking Small could be the Road to Recovery for Middle-Class America

By Paul Pannone

America is faced with another difficult choice come November; choosing between the Devil we know and the one we don’t. In the decade after 9/11 we’ve faced every possible challenge governed by a new set of rules that no longer follow the success formulas of the past. Middle-class America is pulled in every direction, as the average worker– if they’re working– finds it more difficult than ever to give the basic necessities to their family. Yet they move along hoping that things will improve.

Last November eWNz reported the return of some jobs offering a glimmer of hope of a turnaround. But discussions with (larger) manufacturers continue to dash any hope of a real shift back to products manufactured in the United States and hiring American workers. Large, traditional manufacturers operate in a very narrow schedule of orders, production, delivery with very large scales of raw material ordering and labor schedules. Most dismiss the idea of manufacturing smaller orders more often.

 

A current eWedNewz poll shows most Americans would support products manufactured in the United States, if they were available. Most complained they didn’t know where to find them or look. Now you know.

 

 

A discussion with Jim Palmer of Buy Direct USA disagrees and says the shift of manufacturing and job creation in America is faster than most think.

“It’s not like we have many choices than to bring back some manufacturing and create jobs for our people,” Palmer told eWedNewz.

In a recent eWedNewz story we polled readers and asked if it mattered where products are made. Current results show it matters to 25% of respondents. But the more interesting finding shows over 60% of replies so far say they’d be willing to pay a bit more for products made here, in the United States.

Palmer commented on the story saying:

“Take a look at http://www.buydirectusa.com Lots of Made in the USA Products. Mostly from small companies. We need to support them and help create jobs here in the USA. Housing was the main manufacturing for a while but after that busted our economy tanked. We must manufacturer to thrive as a nation.”

Amplification from Palmer this week said he’s not surprised at the attitude.

“Politicians sold us down the river for reasons unknown. Their actions of the past and continued approach simply does not put the welfare of the American people at the top of the priority list. Cheaper prices from foreign countries don’t put our people to work here. If people aren’t employed or are under employed they can’t afford the goods anyway, so what good does it do?

According to Palmer promoting American goods and creating jobs is the main reason his company created the www.Buydirectusa.com website. For a small annual fee ($120 dollars) American-made products and services are featured and promoted. eWedNewz found the company’s grasp and use of social media especially exciting.

Palmer and a growing number of sources say a new, more creative and smaller way of job creation must pave the way for the future.  In a story in Global Post the following was said:

“The factory of the past was based on cranking out zillions of identical products,” writes The Economist in a special report on the new trend published in April. “Now a product can be made on a computer and ‘printed’ on a 3D printer, which creates a solid object by building up successive layers of material. … the cost of producing much smaller batches of a wider variety, with each product tailored precisely to each customer’s whims, is falling.”

 

 

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