A CHALLENGE TO ALL

[redmeat]

<font color="red">I Have made a decision in my life and I challenge/dare you all to do the same!......I am no longer shopping at big conglomorates(Lowes, Home Depot,Walmart,Target...ect ect ect).....I have started shopping at local stores for everything...sure it may cost me a little more . . . but . . .it is worth it to me!.....I am meeting new people and connecting with my community.....in the old days you KNEW your butcher , your grocer ,your lumberman, your car parts sales man, your milk man ect ect ect......I t may not make a big difference in the over all plan of the world because lots of you will still go to where it is the lowest price(no matter who it hurts)....it is still better for me and my well being.....we have become a nation of impersonal service and no-one cares about each others well being. . I for one will not put up with it any more.....I am NOT sorry for this little rant I am PROUD of my choice in this!

R E D M E A T </font>

[burndup]

Dude, one step ahead of ya... in CA we have a hardware chain called Orchard Supply Hardware... well, they have bitchen fastener section... even have heim joints...

after they closed the one in Whittier, I am determined not to let the one in Burbank die... Never touch lowes or home despot unless its and absolute emergency....

Even though theres this guy at the burbank OSH that has some skin malady... he's growing horns... out of his forehead... I'll avoid his checkout line like the plague... cause I think he has it...

[FoMoCo_MoFo]

J,
orchard is owned by Sears... they were wallmart before wallmart wiping out mom and pop shops since the 40's...

Where we live bro, even the mom &amp; pops are run by Ace. in this part of the world there aint no Indy places to shop, and if there is one needle in the haystack of gentrified So. Cal "they can get it for you in two weeks"

Welcome to Capitalism...

[du$ty]

not trying to start a big conflict...and nice choice for you...but if it wasnt for lowes my car wouldnt be almost finished.that little check every 2 weeks sure helps out...i understand your point.but you need to understand mine too.the little man works at those places too.

[burndup]

kartbreaker, from what I've read from you, you obviously are not a fucking braindead moron hellbent on insulting customers in your store....

Thats a prerequisite for working at the Lowes near me.

Asshole store employee comes up to where I am shopping, grabs whats in my shopping cart, sets it on the floor, and takes off with my cart.

"What the fuck do you think you're doing, cocksucker?" I casually inquire.

He just flips me off. I laugh, drop the product I'm holding, it breaks, I walk out never to enter another Lowes unless I need warrenty service on that Kobalt shit I bought...

At least OSH doesn't suck...

[Jkustom]

does Costco Fall into that category?



I think I will stop shopping at businesses on the Mainland, and only buy from the ones in Westseattle.....

[Deyomatic]

I agree. My local hardware store is an Ace, and they know what the hell is going on. My local Home Depot doesn't have a clue. Nobody knows where anything is, there is always 10 people standing around sniffing their thumbs- they don't even have Grade 8 bolts. Not to mention they always overcharge me for stuff that doesn't have a price tag right on the item- like plywood. They stack it in one pile, with a sign up in front that says $16.xx. When you get it to the register, they have to call the guy in the dept. who always adds a couple of bucks. I'll go to Lowes, because they know what the hell is going on, and where items are, and, let's face it- it is much higher class than HD. But, the Ace around the corner from me is usually my first choice.
It kind of reminds me of Howard Beale's speech from "Network"...

"We sit in the house and slowly the world we're living in is getting smaller and all we say is, 'Please, at least leave us alone in our living rooms, let me have my toaster and my TV and my steel belted radials and I won't say anything. Just leave us alone.'
"-Well I'm not going to leave you alone. I want you to get mad! I don't want you to protest, I don't want you to riot, I don't want you to write to your congressman because I wouldn’t know what to tell you to write. I don't know what to do about the depression and the inflation and the Russians and the crime in the street. All I know is that first- YOU'VE GOT TO GET MAD. You've got to say, 'I'm a human being-God Damn it! My life has value!'
"So, I want you to get up now, I want all of you to get up out of your chairs, I want you to get up right now, go to the window, open it and stick your head out and yell, 'I'M AS MAD AS HELL AND I'M NOT GOING TO TAKE THIS ANYMORE!'"

[tomslik]

i go where i'm treated the best, that's why i DON'T go to the indie lumberyards.
i ain't alking price, either.

[spark]

I know what your saying, I kept moving further out from “The Big City” and yes the local store or General store , would say guday Mark when I wonder in, he would get it next week if he didn’t have at the time.

10 years ago I moved were I live now and in that time, we got a traffic light and next it was a big supermarket (Safeway) and now the jewel in the crown - Mac Donald’s.

This is a Fishing/tourist town, people come for the holidays (and leave their brain at home) drink too much, locals have to rescue them, clean up after them, put on a smile and say “your Welcome”, After the holidays the place goes back to being a small country town again. There’s room for you and your mate but it’s a small world after all.

[rodrelic]

It is getting tougher to find small rural places, the Polaris dealer over the hill quit recently. He can't buy new sleds to sell competatively, all he has been doing is selling and trading used and mechanics. Warranty work on the superstore sleds the locals brought in gagged him so he said screw it.
I never ask questions so I don't interact with the staff. I do know I was hard up one saturday afternoon to finish a project, tie a new patio to a sidewalk. Went to Home Depot for 10 bags of portland, had to stack 5 in the asile to get enough not torn open. A week later I was back for conduit and they were still in the asile with a few more tears and cement all over the floor.
My dad uses the term slatherass, should apply there.

[raven]

I no longer shop at Walmart.
They are a major influence in America losing jobs...
r

[Tinbender]

[ QUOTE ]
I no longer shop at Walmart.
They are a major influence in America losing jobs...
r

[/ QUOTE ]
Wallmart and the others like them are symptoms of our problem, rather than the cause. Wake up, our government has sold us out. The rich get richer.

[Buick59]

I'll shop where ever the fuck I can find it the cheapest!!!

[porknbeaner]

If I did that here about all I'd get aquainted with is the local chemist.
If you live in Smalltown USA you need to be shopping with the locals, but in the city the mom'n'pops is about a thing of the past.
Tough challenge friend, go for it.

[gears-n-grease]

Right there with ya- Been boycotting Walmart for about a year now and I try to stay away from Home depot as much as possible- Lowes is a hard one to avoid though- Just for the sake of mine and your job I boycott MAJOR corporations and foreign made products

[ray]

[ QUOTE ]
I'll shop where ever the fuck I can find it the cheapest!!!

[/ QUOTE ]

typical attitude that is destroying this country! thats the same attitude YOUR EMPLOYER has! guess where the jobs are going? wal mart is not the biggest by using domestic labor...news flash. some chinese kid is going to love what you are doing to help him out.

it doesn't take major lifestyle changes to stop shopping at, at least the worst of the stores, Wal Mart, Home depot, Mcdonalds, etc. i reallw wish there was "one liners" that were effective, but untill you pay attention and sit your ass down and do some reading on what these companies are doing, the masses won't change. whatevers cheapest. whatever, thats what you get, whatever is cheapest.

ever sit back and look at those cheap accessories form the 50's and 60's, ever bitch about the quality of old Cal Custom parts? many of you, in one breath bitch vcause none of the old stuff makes it, then turn around and buy everything you own at wal fucking mart. http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused.gif

it really amazes me how many "old car guys" only have old cars to be cool, completely oblivious to the advantages of driving old tin.

have some PRINCIPLES people!

take a few minutes and do a google on wal mart. for example, each walmart store costs taxpayers nearly half a million each year, because they do not pay their FULLTIME employees enough to stay off government assistance. i don't know about you, but i like a job that i can stayy off the gov't nipple.

[Machinos]

Last spring and summer I worked in (but not for) Wal-Mart stores putting together bicycles. They're horrible places, I could barely stand them... in fact, the only reason I kept working that job as long as I did was that I got to wear earbud headphones and listen to my evil music all day long. But eventually I'd have to turn the CD player off to take a leak or talk to a store manager or something, and when I did I'd hear the sound bites they run over the store's speaker system. It's like something out of 1984.

Most of the stores were new ones that were built in the middle of new housing developments. One enormous Wal-Mart, one enormous Sam's Club, right next to each other. They couldn't run the smaller businesses out of town because they beat them to it! One store was fully built before anyone was even able to move into the housing developments.

And I never, EVER shopped there. If I had to get milk or something on my way home from work, I'd drive out of my way to some other place and pay a little more.

Oh, also, lots of Wal-Marts have a McDonald's inside them. One store had a McDonald's inside it, and right on the other side of the parking lot, not 500 yards away, was a regular McDonald's. I couldn't friggin' believe it.

[48_HEMI]

YEP!! THIS IS AMERICA, AND WE'RE AMERICANS DAMMIT!! http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

Red, I started this years ago and have come to the conclusion that

"it's to little and to late!"

We've been sold down the river by the Government. We have

"THE BEST POLITICIANS THAT MONEY CAN BUY!"

all elected officials have been bought and paid for, before they enter office by Big Business. it too is the American way!

My feelings for our American dream is being shipped overseas to low paying countries so big business profits can grow and the rich get richer.

Mean time all the so called MOM AND POP STORES are being bought up by foreigners that have come here with there own American Dreams and will work long hours at low pay and think nothing about it.

I think that it's is a terrorist plot (used to be a communist plot) to take over America buying all these gas stations and convience stores and even hardware stores that do 90% cash business they are able to ship billions of American dollars out of the country to fianance a take over of America and we're paying for it shopping at Mom and Pop stores.

Tell me how to win and I'll back you to the Hilt http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused.gif

Jim Arnold" an old fart that remembers how it was and might not be around for the end http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif "

[Roothawg]

I really started noticing this type of stuff when I befriended a guy that owns the local hardware store in our town. He is a hotrod guy at heart. He owns a blown 454 in a 48 Chevy pickup.

I know him, his wife, his kids, his brothers and his parents. He is the owner, the operator, the manager, the stockboy, the inventory clerk, etc etc. I saw how he reacted and how it impacted his family when they put in a Lowe's 10 miles away. He worries about this stuff. All of the people I mentioned above work at the store. If they go down, all of my friends, which they are friends, are unemployed. Now, there are rumors of an Ace coming to town. He is trying to make the extra effort, the emphasis is on customer service. Knowing people's names, what they want, who their kids are. I try and buy all my product from him so that I don't cut my buddies throat. His name is Chuck.

So ....what's the managers name at Home Depot? I didn't think you knew..... http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smirk.gif

[disastron13]

Buick 59, your sled is gonna look rad with all those Tiawanese parts on it.
But think about it man, where do you want your money to go?
If there's two guys standin there, one a guy from Wall Street in a suit who owns an import conglomerate of car parts chains, or the local parts counter cat who knows you and your car, which one will do "the right thing" with your bucks? Spend it in your town, pay his taxes there, maybe spend it at the place where you work?
I think you probably posted to get us goin on this topic, right?
I'm pleased to see so many HAMBers on the right side of this issue, it's important.
What got me started...
The little black clips with the wire handle, that offices use to clip papers together?
Used to be made in New Jersey, little company.
Now they are made in a Chinese women's prison, prostitutes have to assemble 1100 a day or they don't get fed. Yeah Office Max and Office Depot helped the Chinese govenment set it up... and of course the little factory (union) in NJ has been out of business for years.
No real American would be part of a slimey fucked up deal like that, right?
Well back to work and then workin on my Bonneville

[Smokin Joe]

I may not know the manager's name at Walmart, but I know a hell of a lot of the checkout, stockers, and department people. If they weren't working there, they'd be at their old jobs selling french fries. We haven't had any local places to shop in my town in 20 years. Walmart, Target, Home Depo, Albertsons, Safeway, Shopco, Sam's Club, all the Mall stores, Sears, Everything is a chain. Even the parts places that claim to be independent get their parts from the same source as the chains. I can get a part at Autozone where I know the guy, or I can get the same part from "Parts Service" where I also know the guy. Either way, the part came into town on the same truck from the same distributer. The difference is "Parts Service" will charge me more and have me go to the distributor's warehouse to pick it up and Autozone will have it on the shelf or they'll send someone to the warehouse to get it. Autozone has 5 employees in the store and "Parts Service" Has 2. That's why you have to go get it from the warehouse yourself. As for the little stores, they're all run now by ex-illegals who took advantage of amnesty and government aid to buy stores and settle here instead of just working the farms in the summer. They'll charge you higher prices because you're white instead of mexican. Mom &amp; Pop stores died a long time ago. It may be different in the cities, but out here everything comes from distributers in Salt Lake and it doesn't matter who you go to.

[Deyomatic]

Disastron, a year or so ago, some friends were in town from New England, and they were hanging out with someone that went to their high school years before them who also lives out here. When I met back up with them they were telling the story and laughing about how the guy that they were visiting had his own construction company, and that he'd hire the illegals that hung out at Home Depot for cheap labor, and at the end of the week, he'd dime them out to INS so he didn't have to pay them.
It made me fucking sick. Just one of the reasons I wish this was a union state- so assholes like that could't get away with screwing honest people so easily.

[Roothawg]

[ QUOTE ]
. Mom &amp; Pop stores died a long time ago.

[/ QUOTE ]

Not around here....

[zman]

No Wal-Mart, no Sam's, no Domino's. I try to support my local small business if I can. I'm there with you guys, I just wish the sheep woould wake up and see what's going on.

[JOECOOL]

This is the one I like
"can I help you sir"
"yes I need a set of wiper blades for my 91 chevy c 1500 pickup"
"OK sir is that a extended cab?"
" it actually doesn't matter but it is a regular cab"
"is it a 4 wheel or a two wheel drive?"
"it actually doesn't matter but a C truck is two wheel drive and a K truck is 4 wheel drive"
" Is that the 5.7 or the 4.3 engine?"
" I only need wiper blades "
" but sir I'm trying to get the computer to give me a #"
" OK it's a 4.3"
" do you want the winter or summer blades?"
" it's 104 degrees out there ,what do you think?"
" sir I'm just trying to help you!"
" heres your blades sir, will that be cash check or debit card."
" cash"
" Sir would you like a credit card application?"
"no!!"
By this time I am looking to have some fun ,I take them out of the box and tell them " look they put two lefts in this box,could you check the other boxs please?"
they then drag out twenty boxs of blades.
" sir they are all left hand wipers"
" could you call your district rep and ask him how I can get a Right one?"
"sure sir ,I'll do that right now"
Oh well you know how it goes.

[Paul]

thanks redmeat,

now I'm totaly depressed...

I have never been inside a Wallmart or Costco, I rarely shop at Home Depot or Lowes* or Schucks or any number of those big chain stores.

It's not only the political part that bothers me but, I really can't stand trying to deal with morons.

*there is a Lowes nearby that actually has a few good people working there, and the stuff they stock is better then Home Depot, barely.

Paul

[Roothawg]

Owens Salvage Company.......another Mom and Pop business. Brother Flt-Top Bob's family owns this 65 acre salvage yard in Wellington, TX. Family owned and operated.

Sorry for the shameless plug......gotta give the mom and pops all the advertising they can get.

[negativeMatt]

this topic really hits home with me. my father and i recently opened our kustom/car audio shop. after being in this business since '92 i decided it was time for me to try it on my own. this is probably the worst time in history to do this, but it's now or never.
in a world of best buys,car toys, circuit citys, it's very difficult for an independent to succeed. many customers also purchase these products online. in many ways i cannot compete with online sales. they have no overhead, most do not stock product. they just drop ship to you.
i was very selective in choosing products for my store that are not allowed to be sold online. does this mean i can charge more for them, NO.
my prices are dirt cheap compared to EVERYONE else around me. my products carry the best warranties in the biz as well.
it's the attitude of people nowadays that the cheapest is the way to go. "oh, i'll shop till i find whoever sells it the cheapest." well, go ahead. you do that. and when someone you know is moving away because they lost their job due to closures, pat yourself on the back, a job well done.

the internet is killing my business. people do not care about warranties i guess. or customer service. just think about it. you can go into best buy, look for a dvd player, choose from several, compare prices and features,grab the one you want right off the floor, and head to the register. the store is designed so the do not even have to know your name.(unless you finance it, or charge it, then they wanna know you!!) hell, now some places you can even check out without talking to somebody, man what a world we have built for ourselves.
i shop locally at everychance i get. my local hardware store built my shop. my local grocery store, even though it's way outdated, feeds my family.

to me it's kinda like route 66. we all wish that the road was still intact. it's fun to eperience the charm and all the quaint shop and stops. but all those people who wanted it faster and less stops built their highway, and killed the 66. they cruise by and miss all the things that made america great, just so they can get somewhere faster and cheaper. congrats folks, a job well done.


i'm sorry this is so long and possibly boring to some, but it really hit home for me.

[BARNETT]

Mom &amp; Pop hardware stores are pretty few and far between around here. http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif It doesn't hurt to try to make a difference wherre you can, though. I rarely eat at chain restaurants, though. In fact...I'm headed out the door now to go to the taco joint down the road. Owned and operated by a really nice family. Later.

[Flatdog]

We all know the problems.Need real answers.GERM help please.

[Jeem]

I hope this post really takes off. I am not a fanatic about boycotting the major chains but, 9 times out of 10 I'll go to a privately owned business. Ironically big chains are FREE ENTERPRISE at its best (or worst, actually). The missing link to free enterprise, however, is we as individuals have the right to shop or use the services of whomever we choose. Unfortunately, most people still go to the chains for convenience and price. We as car-freaks all know how irritating it is to go to Home Depot and look at their bolt selection and see a giant row of 5/8 and 9/16 bolts and little else. It sucks. Word to the wise, SUPPORT your local PRIVATE business', THEY almost always have the little spring or fastener that you need. Same with food, plumbing or whatever. I've seen too many of my favorite business' fold up. I give all my Autozone business to the Year,Make &amp; Model store.

[plan9]

i usually stop at home depot for bolts and small tubing... $2-$5 spent, tops

otherwise i rarely go into chain stores, and i get my clothes at surplus shops... then again, i dont have a family to support, and im still not familiar with the hardware spots in west LA/LA proper.

[SamIyam]

Unfortunately people shop price instead of quality and service... like I said before, stuff is cheaper than it's ever been.... and that comes at a price.
Sam,

[Revhead]

In north Dallas, there's no hope of finding a mom&amp;pop shop. C&amp;S, a smaller hardware chain is now ACE. P&amp;R the indy parts store is now napa. Even out in stephenville, with a pop. of 30k and 2hrs from any major town, only had one indy parts store. I buy where I can afford it. It's not a mentality, it's a necessity. If you want to send me some money I'll start buying in the smaller / higher price stores.

[Smokin Joe]

Food I can deal with. The place I go to is locally owned. They make their own stuff instead of prepackaged burger pattys and fast food. Nothing on the menu is over 10 bucks, you can smoke at any table in the place and no one cares. 1/2 the people who eat there don't smoke but come there anyway and they don't preach. Want pancakes and eggs for supper? No problem. Most of us are regulars and eat there or just go for coffee several times a week. Everybody knows everybody. It's like Cheers. You can walk in by yourself, grab a cup of coffee and usually find someone to shoot the shit with. They even put the car shows on the TV but they keep the sound turned off so you add your own dialog to the shows. I hit Mc.Donalds a couple times a year, but I hit the cafe several times a week.

[NoSurf]

I very rarely go to the evilbigchain stores.

When I lived in Massachusetts, there was this cool old local grocery, and at the deli the guy actualy ziplock closed my deli orders! Man I hate that they just fold over the plastic bag and put the sticker across it. Lazy bastards.

[Roothawg]

Even Ace stores are owned individually, even though they pay franchise fees.

[praisethelowered]

I am 100% on board with this one.

The idea that wall-mart has anything to do with free enterprise is insane. They push out competioin and have created a monopoly in many areas by using nearly slave labor from overseas or exploiting labor in this country. They absolutely do not "create" jobs. More part time jobs does not equall less unemployment. It just means there are more people working 2 or theee jobs with no benefits.

For the market to work, everyone has to be plying by the same rules. Wallmart has gotten big by ignoring labor laws and is getting bigger by using it's monopoly to control manufacturing. And ultimately the QUALITY of products has to go down to meet the low price demands.

I am not anti-capitalist. But capitalism has always needed a few checks and balances to keep the playing field fair. In the '30's people fought and died to bring some humanity into the workplace and end child labor. . . we just have to get that mad again I guess. I'm ready to fight for it right now.

[Germ]

I only Go to CORPORATE AMERICA BIG STORES,,,,,,,,,
that way I can SHOPLIFT, and Do credit card fraud,,,,,,,,,,
I get a CRACKHEAD, who has a BAD HABIT,,,
I bring them to my SHOP, and GET them HIGH on CRACK for three days STRAIGHT,,, then I INTRODUCE the STOLEN CREDIT CARD,, followed by the REMOVAL of CRACK COCAINE,,,,,,,,,,,,,

Then I pull out a 200 dollar ROCK,,, (it is like a SUGAR COOKIE on that BITCH ass HABIT,,) IT TAUNTS them to DO anything YOU want,,,,,,
I make them SIGN the CREDIT CARD, and I give them A LIST of what to buy,,,,,
They DONT care they ARE fiending so BAD to get HIGH,,, they will SIGN their NAME and show their LICENSE, to the IMMIGRANT RUSSIAN behind the COUNTER with NO FUCK*ING GREEN CARD.................

CRACK HEADS RULE,,,,,

MOM and POPS stores usually seem to entice a FUCKING HEADACHE, when you RETURN the BULLSHIT, that you have STOLEN,,,
The BIG STORES???
they seem to think NOTHING is STOLEN, because they HAVE some FAT LESBIAN BITCH behind a SECURITY camera,,, So they will give CASH BACK on any STOLEN ITEM...........

When Im too STONED to actually STEAL, and too lazy to KIDNAP a CRACK HEAD,, I go to BIG STORES....
When I do SHOP I only BUY from PLACES who APPROVE of CHILD SLAVE LABOR,,,,
The cheaper the LABOR, THE BETTER THE PRODUCT....

HAVENT YOU NOTICED AUTOMOBILES???
AMERICANS BUILD SHIT!!!!
so why BUY???

The JAPS BUILD A FUCKING MACINE that will run on CUM for 300,000 MILES without CHANGING a fucking THING...................
I hope some KID is being MISTREATED in a SHITBAG COUNTRY...
That means my CAR will BE CHEAPER.....

SLAVE LABOR rules......

I took BUSINESS in SCHOOL,,,
and a BUSINESS of SUCCESS is a BUSINESS with NO MORALES, but LOTS of PROFIT....

You people ARE HIPPIES,,,,,and you feel special when you invent some FAGGOT social CAUSE, to build your SUBURBAN SELF- ESTEEM...

Me???
I LIVE LIKE A KING,,
It's called LIVING THROUGH T.V. EYES......

[Germ]

[ QUOTE ]
Disastron, a year or so ago, some friends were in town from New England, and they were hanging out with someone that went to their high school years before them who also lives out here. When I met back up with them they were telling the story and laughing about how the guy that they were visiting had his own construction company, and that he'd hire the illegals that hung out at Home Depot for cheap labor, and at the end of the week, he'd dime them out to INS so he didn't have to pay them.
It made me fucking sick. Just one of the reasons I wish this was a union state- so assholes like that could't get away with screwing honest people so easily.

[/ QUOTE ]

That DUDE sounds LIKE a "RULER"... maybe you want to RAISE that ILLEGAL persons KIDS with your TAXES

[ray]

[ QUOTE ]
In north Dallas, there's no hope of finding a mom&amp;pop shop. C&amp;S, a smaller hardware chain is now ACE. P&amp;R the indy parts store is now napa. Even out in stephenville, with a pop. of 30k and 2hrs from any major town, only had one indy parts store. I buy where I can afford it. It's not a mentality, it's a necessity. If you want to send me some money I'll start buying in the smaller / higher price stores.

[/ QUOTE ]

Ace and Napa are good! better than home depot and autozone! just like target is better than wal mart, and all you need to do is spend a few minutes reading about wal mart and how they screw EVERYBODY. it is even small businesses that TRY to play the game, but can't and outsource.

and when you think about cost of where you shop, remember what it is like to frequent small stores, and get the buddy discounts. also, so an item may cost a few bucks more, you can sleep well knowing that that few dollars made a real differance in the store owners life, as opposed to the slave wages paid by the HUGE chains.

and i should not have to point this out to you guys, but buy used stuff! barter! use CASH whenever possible!

its amazing when you really start to look around how many hole in the wall cafes and stuff there is, all the money you spend there STAYS there! not deposited right into the corporate account!

i try to spend my money locally whenever possible, sure some things cost more, but when you take out shipping costs, finance charges, and the low quality of the crap you get at most huge stores, in the end, i have MORE money to spend on the things i WANT to spend money on. i don't even have a credit card, so that is money i have every month to spend on what i want, not interest to some nameless company, it makes me feel good to hand that money over to a real person who appreciates it.

stay apathetic if you wish, but this is just one of the basic steps of surviving the 21st century, and probably one of the easiest.

don't forget, levis has no more us factorys.

[Nads]

There are no Woolworths left anymore.
I predict that eventually WalMart will follow suit.
It's nature.

In the meantime I have to go cast some Grade 1/4 bolts out of chicken broth and silt.

[disastron13]

Germ get back on the subject
yer LOSIN IT
Punk Rock is about sayin NO to the corporations that FEED on us like LOATHSOME VAMPIRES...not about rippin some LOSER crackhead for your JOLLIES
EXENE would SLAP YOUR FACE for what you said
Your 52 will be DRIPPIN with STOLEN TIAWANESE PARTS and it will come around...
the SUBJECT here is how we're bein RIPPED and not TEENAGE BRAGS about how some MARGINAL ex punk in Califas is RIPPIN on LOSERS
Some GEEK
FUCK in a $900 suit in NEW YORK is laughin right now cause YOU DON'T GET IT
Man, kids these days.

[McGrath]

The owner of the ACE store here is a Rodder, plus he's into Dirt Track Cars. Anytime I can buy something from him, thats where I go.

WalMart pissed me off a long time ago. They came into our little town of 11,000 with a "Super Center" and within a year Kmart, two Grocery Stores, and several Ma and Pa places were out of business.

The final straw was the Door alarms. The damned checkers never manage to kill those little anti-theft things in the packages. After the third time the Door alarm went off on me, I took $100 worth of shit I had just bought right up to the return counter and made them give me my money back. Haven't set foot in WalMart since.

Assholes run off all the other stores, then jack up the prices and put Cameras in every aisle and alarms on every door.

WalMart=Communism

[Hot Rod To Hell]

[ QUOTE ]
WalMart=Communism



[/ QUOTE ]
If they were communists, wouldn't everything be free (or bartered for)?

[Muttley]

[ QUOTE ]
Oh, also, lots of Wal-Marts have a McDonald's inside them. One store had a McDonald's inside it, and right on the other side of the parking lot, not 500 yards away, was a regular McDonald's. I couldn't friggin' believe it.



[/ QUOTE ]
Was that in Clovis Cal?? Thats how ours is. http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/crazy.gif

[delaware george]

i like our local hardware store,but it is expensive....it's hard cause my wife works at lowes so we get a discount there http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused.gif

[Revhead]

[ QUOTE ]
and i should not have to point this out to you guys, but buy used stuff! barter! use CASH whenever possible!

[/ QUOTE ]

Ray, maybe it is different up there in CO, but I don't think I'll get much at napa by trading old car parts.

Most people on this board bitch about EBAY..but that's as close to free-enterprise as it gets. Face it, America is corporate. It's built to be that way. If you want ma&amp;pa stores everywhere, move to Italy. A lot of you are using "corporate" like it is a bad word. What's the big deal? If you succeed in your business wouldn't you want it to grow? Or would you really just stop after you make 50k a year to preserve the ambiance? If your business succedded at all that probably means there was someone else who got ousted. It works like that on all levels. For one to succeed, another must fail. Don't tell me it isn't true, or we'd have 50 million different stores and no-one would ever go out of business.

[Patina]

When i joined my first UNION in 1973 they were saying BUY A FOREIGN CAR an put 10 AMERICANS out of work, sure looks like the country thinks it's a good idea.We been doing it for 30 years ,sorry but it's WAY to late to turn it around now.BUY UNION BUY AMERICAN thats what the UNIONS have been saying for the last 35 years but No one listened so here we are.VOTE BUSH SEND ALL THE JOBS OVER SEAS. BRES http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/mad.gif

[Kilroy]

I just wish people (this is directed to these threads as a whole, I don't have any one person in mind) who think they're about to open thier pie-hole about International Commerce and the ramifications of what we import/export, would stop, and educate themselves before they fly off on some rhetorical, emotional diatribe.

Here's a hint... The complexities of our production/distribution agreements are so vast that I'd wager no one person could grasp all the ramifications of would-be changes to them. We have massive organizations full of highly educated people for that.

The cries of Anarchist gutter-punks seem almost quaint if you honestly try to understand the issues.

"Supply vs. Demand" as a concept has grown up to include the edicts of "Globalization." It ain't just a Joe's hardware vs. Lowes, concept anymore.

I shop at my local, family owned hardware store when at all possible, but I'm not so naive as to believe that if I buy a Chinese fan at Home Depot, I'm stealing jobs from hard-working Americans. Where would the Dock Workers work if we no longer imported anything? I bet their Union would sue to keep them employed even if all they did was clean the dock all day!

Is you're local hardware store on the NYSE? http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif

But then again what the hell does all this have to do with Traditional Hot Rods, or Kustoms....
Or mini-bikes and Low-Rider Bicicles... Or Rockabilly Dating? http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

[williebill]

I'm one of the FNGs here,but I gotta get into this one,or forever not say shit.Walmart,and all the other "price only" big box horror stores are for buying toilet paper,and dog food.I try like hell to not buy anything else there,unless it's 3 AM,and I've got to have cutoff wheels,or motor oil,and it won't wait 'til morning.In a few years,nobody there will speak English,but,hey,the prices will be cheap,huh???
All you price only guys try to remember how fucking wonderful Walmart,Costco,Sams,etc.,etc. are in a few years when you won't be able to find ANYBODY who knows shit about ANYTHING at these stores.By then,you won't have a choice,all the independent stores will be gone,and it'll be a Walmart world.So buy your $40 DVD player,your $80 bicycle,your $50 TV,then you can stand around,scratch your balls,and talk about how "they don't make 'em like they used to",when all your shit falls apart.As a society,most people have no fucking clue what quality is.I'm a little old fashioned about shit,I expect my stuff to do what it's supposed to do,and I expect to be able to find SOMEBODY who knows what the hell they're talking about when I ask a question.
And please,don't blame the government for jobs going to fucking China.If Americans were smart enough to consider anything but price,we would always have a choice in what we buy,but we are fast losing our options.Brand names that used to mean something are corrupted everyday.Guess what,the Black and Decker,Dewalt,Schwinn,Sony plus a million other brand names from "my" youth don't mean DICK anymore,because we get a fucking hard-on about price.
I know a lot of people here don't have money running out of their ass...Me neither,but I will do without before I will buy a piece of shit product that I KNOW will fuck up much too quickly.
Walmart doesn't force their vendors to produce decent shit,they force them to do it cheap.NOBODY GIVES A FUCK AT THESE STORES.
How about car parts places?Do you want a lifetime warranty on a bogus rebuilt part,and have to crawl on your ass several times replacing it,or would you rather buy it ONE FUCKING TIME ONLY???
Autozone,Advance,etc. already figured it out,too.If you buy a POS starter,alternator because it was cheap only,you deserve to crawl on your ass replacing it in 6 months.I tried to find a decent water pump for my 91 Caprice a couple of years ago...Everything was garbage China,with castings so fucking poor,I could hide my dick in them (and it's not quite that small).ALL the parts houses laughed at me when I asked about GM rebuilt,until I found the smallest,dirtiest rathole parts place hidden away,and they had 2 factory rebuilds.They shook my hand for knowing the difference,and sold me both of them.Cost a little more,but guess what,they work.
We used to have a NAPA store near here,went out of business a few years ago,couldn't compete on price.I've been told since then,NAPA has started selling shit,too,where before they had a higher standard.If you're trying to find vintage engine stuff,sometimes NAPA online still has the good stuff.
When all the little guys are gone,and you need help on your project,good luck.The internet can't always help you,and the big box stores don't care if you succeed or not.A good parts guy is worth his weight in gold,but they are disappearing fast.
Sorry for the rant,I could go on for hours,but I doubt anybody is still reading this.
Cars cost a shitload on money,but when places like Speedway and Kanter do more and more of their business with China,do you really think they go to these manufacturers because they make a superior product? If you believe that,you deserve what you get.......williebill

[MercMan1951]

I am on a personal crusade to not shop anymore. Period. That will help me maintain my sanity.

The cows in my yard provide meat, and will keep the grass mowed.

The sheep provide wool, I'll make my own clothes. I took home ec.

I am planting a garden for food. I'll can stuff for the winter.

I made a glass-blowing shop to make glass jars for the canning that has to take place for the winter.

I made a foundry, so I never need to go to the hardware store again for a screw or nail...but it takes me at least an hour to make one nail...

I made this distillery that makes rum, it only takes up one room in my house.

I have a hamster that makes me electricity, but he has a hard time keeping up on his wheel when I switch on the compressor.

I have a crew coming over to drill for oil, so I can refine my own petroleum and make oil and gas for the cars.

I haven't figured out how to make bondo yet.

So I guess I'm not totally self-sufficient.
Hmmm.

[4t64rd]

Have or would you you ever go to a swap meet and pass up an item priced at $20 because it should be $100? Have you ever sold an item for $100 even though you bought it from a poor schmuck for $20? When you bought a $100 item, did you offer him $80 first?

Have you asked the owner of that Mom and Pop store if he has has invested in mutual funds that invest in Coca-Cola, Sony, Home Depot and McDonalds or has a few shares of Toyota or Exxon stock?

It's a global community, your money doesn't stay in your community anymore.

[Germ]

[ QUOTE ]
Germ get back on the subject
yer LOSIN IT
Punk Rock is about sayin NO to the corporations that FEED on us like LOATHSOME VAMPIRES...not about rippin some LOSER crackhead for your JOLLIES
EXENE would SLAP YOUR FACE for what you said
Your 52 will be DRIPPIN with STOLEN TIAWANESE PARTS and it will come around...
the SUBJECT here is how we're bein RIPPED and not TEENAGE BRAGS about how some MARGINAL ex punk in Califas is RIPPIN on LOSERS
Some GEEK
FUCK in a $900 suit in NEW YORK is laughin right now cause YOU DON'T GET IT
Man, kids these days.

[/ QUOTE ]

Hey JADED PUNKER GUY who still HOLDS ON to an IDEOLOGY that made the REST of you OLD PUNKERS, WAGE SLAVES and HOMELESS BUMS.........
, The NUMBER ONE RULE I MADE UP FOR "PUNK ROCK" is

"That there ain't no chord in my MUSIC called POLITICS"

EXENE is a DYKE, not a punk
ANOTHER CRYING "ARTIST", who feels like "PUNK" means something.....
ITS MUSIC, if you want a MOVEMENT, john the FREEMAN IN MONTANA, or BECOME A SERIAL KILLER......

and JELLO is HUMAN RHETORIC ANNOUNCER.....
to a BUNCH of ARM CHAIR- AMERICANS. who DECIDED that they were going to BE PUNKROCKERS, cause they HATE their PARENTS.......

punk rockers WERE MORE like Billy THE kid, AND MY personal hero "MARION BERRY",,,,

I also LIKE "JOHN ROCKER" and MICHAEL SAVAGE, and SAM WALTON....oh and that DUDE who BOUGHT "VON DUTCH,,,,,

MOM AND POPS shops= PEOPLE who SHOW up for WORK LATE. shops that are closed on FAMILY BIRTHDAYS and LIBERAL HOLIDAYS,,,

BILLY CHILDISH was PUNK,,,,

KRS ONE, is PUNK,,,,

[praisethelowered]

Punk was always, and is now, more than music to me.

[robber grin]

The noble pursuit of a lofty goal is how we got here.

I salute your spirit sir.

Kind of sucks the way it goes, but it is the way it goes.

Price is the bottom line and likely will always be for most.

[Flatdog]

!?!?!?!?WTF

[RileyRacing]

[ QUOTE ]
When i joined my first UNION in 1973 they were saying BUY A FOREIGN CAR an put 10 AMERICANS out of work, sure looks like the country thinks it's a good idea.We been doing it for 30 years ,sorry but it's WAY to late to turn it around now.BUY UNION BUY AMERICAN thats what the UNIONS have been saying for the last 35 years but No one listened so here we are.VOTE BUSH SEND ALL THE JOBS OVER SEAS. BRES http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/mad.gif

[/ QUOTE ]

I hope your UNION was worth a shit. Mine wasn't. I worked in a shop for 4 years, and only saw my rep ONCE. That was for a strike vote. We voted for a strike. He went back to management, made us give up "field pay", which was .25 an hour, got us a 2 dollar raise over 3 years, and agreed to a clause the made it an automatic fire if you got caught on the job doing ANYTHING other than working. Oh yeah, we asked for PRO UNION bullshit, like hats or shirts or something to be proud of, and he sent ONE fucking poster for the wonderful, fabulous LOCAL 698... to hang in the shop.

So you guys think you're saving the world huh? Think about the guy who used to work for the big three, here in MO-FUCKING-TOWN, that now has to work at one of your "EVIL" chain stores, to make sure his family has formula and food, because the too good "independent" stores won't take a chance. People gotta eat, dudes... And if you guys were in the "know" you all would probably be doing the same things. Cause if you're a tight ass poor, you're still gonna be a tight ass rich. What about the people who helped the Waltons, or any other corporate family, rise to the top. When they were "mom and pop" stores, are they evil too. Or just in the right place at the wrong time?

I used to feel the way you do. Then I realized it is your "precious" unions that do the exact things you hate so much. They drive prices up, they save the workers that aren't worth their weight in used grease...

The boys talking about the govt selling out nailed it. It's been happening since the end of "the Big One" at least. If you haven't seen it coming, you have been left in the 50's.

My 2 cents, sorry if I pissed anyone off, but it's a true experience.

Jay

[burndup]

Face it.... Three options.

1) Maintain the status quo. We'll be speaking a mixture of Chinese, spanish and Tamil in 10 years.

(we fucked central and south america pretty good, I won't feel quite as shitty when they fuck us...)

2) Germ's way. we all go crashing down together.

3) Elect a "charismatic" leader. Close the borders, kick out all the immigrants. Bomb the fuck out a few key countries to wreck their economies. Begin a wartime economy here. We all take a massive paycut, suffer high inflation, and work a 14 hour day. BUT MADE IN AMERICA WILL MEAN SOMETHING AGAIN!! Import nothing, except maybe exotic prostitutes and luxury items that our armies plunder or that which is manufactured in the CAMPS we set up in conquered lands... Export only that which would keep other economies and industries pathetically dependant on our own. Ban automolbiles for the general public, we all ride nuclear powerd trains so that the middle east can drown in oil and poverty. Learn to click your heels together as you salute. EIN REICH, EIN VOLK, EIN WAL-MART!

So, whats it gonna be? I wanna make a movie about #2 and get rich before #1 happens... #3 will likely be a response to putting up with #1 for a couple decades...

[Buick59]

Hello all you Xenophobes! I didn't realize this was some half baked political board. I thought it was a Kar forum. How many of you dolts are typing on computers which have components made overseas?
What about your internet service?
Where do you buy your gas?
How about your clothing? Or towels?

Guess I outta toss my Canon camera out to the trash along with my chineese Holga and my Fuji Film and my Ilford film.

What about your TV?

What about your cable company or Satellite? They run wallmart ads and autozone ads on tv?

What about Levis......they are made in MEXICO!!!!

What about Rolls &amp; Pleats magazine.......It's made by the fuckin french!!! We should not read it anymore cause it's not American.

While we are at at it....lets look at we export to the rest of the world. American culture is our biggest export. What if all the damm french people and Swedes, Mexicans, Asians said fuck those Conglomerate american Businesses and their filthy Hot Rods and music, art, movies,food!

I am a dues paying Teamster........and often wonder what good does it do? Hell yes I like to rent my movies from our local MAW AND PAW video store but....im only renting a "Time/Warner/AOL" movie and making them rich. What if he only has 5 copies and they are always checked out? I'll go to my local nutbuster chain where they have 500 for rent!

THIS IS SILLY. Im done.

[CadillacKid]

Very noble cause Redmeat...I think Walmart is the new, gentle face of Fascism...they only stock what the think people "should" have....look at their music department for christ's sake...everything's the censored versions...you can thank TIPPER GORE for that one....just think...you can buy beer, alchohol, guns and ammunition all in the same store...but not a song that has the word damn in it? Walmart's been inventing what's "right for America" for a long time now...let idiots think that they're getting a deal and they'll spend their money with you, everytime....a fine example is my brother...he was a T-shirt Vendor at car shows for years...everybody always wanted a "deal"...so when asked he'd say "It's $15 for one shirt, or we're having a special right now, 3 shirts for $50..." They'd have their green outta their wallets before they'd realize he was pulling thier chains...Ah well...I don't think you have to change anyone's mind on here...it's the mass public that needs the wake-up call...It was nice to see the unions in my area fighting against Wall Fart for a while...all of the builders got pissed cuz Wally World brought in outside workers to put up their new Super Shitter...so the main highway here was flanked by union bought "Don't shop at Walmart" billboards....you're never gonna stop the mass public from goin for the cheap or the throw away, at least not in this lazy attituded country...I try to stay outta there when ever i can though....the place just gives me the creeps...bright lights, security cameras even in the parking lot, censored music (and probably books too), not to mention the useless knownuthins that run the place! Just my $.02...

[OGNC]

I'm with Buick59 on this one. This whole post is just a giant fart in the wind, just like that whole "Boycott Exxon and Mobile post. And I swear this is the only place on the net where you'll fina a post on boycotting Walmart with a whole shitload of support right next to a tech tip using parts from Walmart because they're cheap getting a shitload of support RIGHT NEXT TO EACH OTHER!!!

How long before we're boycotting big businesses like GM and FORD?

Aren't they the reason that we're all here (on this board at least)?

Wanna make a difference, write your senator, go to city council meetings, vote, get to know your assemblyman, pay attention to what's going on around you instead of feeling like the world is out of control when something happens that blindsides you. I know that it is going to cut into your American Chopper/ American Hot Rod/ Monster Garage/surfing the internet for porn time and it is boring as hall most of the time but nobody is going to do it for you!

And, yes, I realize that was a huge run-on sentence there is no need to point it out...

[Hot Rod To Hell]

Being a business owner in Flint, I have to TOTALLY agree with RocketJ2...Unions protect drunk, lazy americans, and that's it. They screw everyone else, INCLUDING the economy.

[Killer]

I have a belly button.

[burndup]

Oh, and what the fuck is up with Wal Mart not selling any BEER? Thats goddamn UN-AMERICAN, I tell you...

[Steve]

you all fucking crack me up. I dont shop at walmart becasue I hate their work practice. I know damn well though that not everything I buy could be made in the USA, well it could but it would be unreasonable and like what 40 phil said what about the dock workers. I think 40 phil summed it up quite well so I will shut my trap and watch everyone get pissed off at germs comments, which cracked me up. what is punk can't be defined except as anger and disruption, for what well thats a personal agenda otherwise you get into the whos punker then who argument which just kills it.

[DrJ]

I have a Pipp ick.

[Pigiron]

I've got a brand new pair of roller skates, you've got a brand new key! Off the Pigs! Power to the People! Don't worry, be happy! Shut up and get off the computer! The car is in the garage! http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

[Satinblack]

Well lets see....
Walmart - Sometimes shop there
Home Depot - sometimes shop there
Auto Zone - sometimes shop there
Mom &amp; pops stores - sometimes shop there, but I'm not paying 9.99 for a can of spray paint!

MOON - I never F%^&amp;ing shop there, nuff said
Satin

[CadillacKid]

Yeah, that's right...not every Walmart does sell beer...went down south and they didn't have it...They do in good old Wisconsin though! Just shows you what people here value the most...making sure you can always get tanked up enough to forget about how shitty livin here is...(winter/rednecks/tightwads/fatchicks/cheeseheads/.....)

[burndup]

OH YES, I forgot the most despicable thing about wal mart...


YOU AND I are helping pay the salaries of the people working there. They won't give people 40 hours... just little shifts at minumum wage. So, they can stay on Welfare too. Who pays for welfare? You and me.

I fucking don't like subsidizing the salary of some shitty megacorporation's employees salary with deductions from my paycheck.

[Steve]

ok I said Id shut up but. your right burnedup they do that cause it would cost them by having to pay insurance. They are know to make workers work just under the number of hours required for benefits plus they force companies to have their products made overseas by slave labor to make them cheaper to sell in their stores. ok Im done.

[Jkustom]

One time I was being literally harassed by some greenpeace vegan nazi on the street, wearing shoes and a belt made of leather.... As me and my girl were doing our errands and getting bothered by this greenpeace chick who didnt really have a clue what she was talking about, every time we walked by her corner she would start up again.
The last thing I said to her stopped her in her tracks.
"You cant protest everything, cuz sooner or later you will contradict yourself."
Yeah I shop at home depot sometimes... But I also shop at the locally owned hardware store that is closer to me anyway....I also shop at the locally owned grocerystore, and eat at the locally owned restraunts, but I also eat at mcdonalds sometimes too. Convenience is bliss....
But mostly I look at it like I should give my money to the businesses who earn my business...
How do franchises fit into the ban? -J.

[river1]

walmart SUCKS

a good but long read on walmart business practices

http://fastcompany.com/magazine/77/walmart.html

[Kaucher]

Redmeat,

Your heart is in the right place, However you're attacking this problem at the wrong end.

The problem is China made products. We need to start writing our legislators about envoking tariffs on products being imported into this country.

Tariffs would at least give American manufactures a fair playing field at costing out jobs, and/or products.

America is losing manufacturing jobs as fast as the Chinese can import there crap into our retail stores.

I'm in the wheel business you cannot find an American made aftermarket wheel anymore.

Going after the chain stores will only hurt more American workers, alot of them who have lost there good paying jobs in manufacturing, and are now working there for minimum wages.

Hurt the Chinese not Americans! KK

[Jeem]

Wrong Praisethelowered,

WALMART=Free Enterprise

Like I said, the missing part of the "free enterprise" equation is us. We have a choice where we shop and who we give our business to. Most people are complacent and comfortable and want their $40 DVD playuhs.

too bad

[redmeat]

<font color="red"> .....Sorry Jkustom. . .yes COSTCO is one I am avoiding

.....some folks say there are NO mom and pops..not true...i thought the same until I just opened my eyes and looked ..they are still their you just drive by them quickly to shop at the MONSTER sized super store..

.....ACE is still better than Home Depot or Lowes!....

....GERM you speak of raising some beaners illegal fucking rugrats....how about how much of your tax dollars that go to the lowlife bastards at Walmart....at Walmart they actually have people that help their under paid employees get welfare , SSI, and government housing!...Walmart costs you more then the illegals snotnosed beanbags!

...for those that tell me it's a Global economy ...yes it is but sending our $$$$$ overseas is not the only point here....we also need to support the people in your community and spend some time with them.....our society has became to IMPERSONAL.......many of you miss the point on this part completely!

<font color="black"> ONE OF THE BIGGEST POINTS OF MY RANT IS WE DON'T KNOW OR SUPPORT OUR COMMUNITY ENOUGH... <font color="green"> NOT THAT WE SHOULD JUST BLINDLY BOYCOTT BIG BUSINESS....... </font> NOW GO OUT AND SUPPORT YOUR COMMUNITY . . YOUR NEIGHBORS. . .YOUR FRINEDS....CARE ABOUT YOUR FELLOW MAN </font>
Oh and for all of you that think I am some Lefto/faggot/pussy....I am a Hard-Core Libertarian...that means that I believe that the government should kepp it's hands off my wallet and my person and protect me from foreign intrests,AND in return I shall support/protect my local community as to the best of my abilities......

this whole rant was to get people together to help themselves and their communities not to destroy big business ..there are enough SHEEP out there that that will never happen!

R E D M E A T </font>

[burndup]

Well, shit, where can I get a $799 DVD player that is CERTIFIED to have been made in USA out of entirely domestic components?

Will it play a DVD any better than my $40 Korean one?

[junkboy]

Bright, intelligent, well informed and/or educated people are the minority. The masses(to make a sweeeeeping generalization) are ASSES http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/blush.gif. Carry on http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif.

[CadillacKid]

Well put junkboy...

[burtrido]

Now lets look at the other side of the coin. The American Gov. puts pressure on the little countries (the ma and pa countries of this world)with high import tariffs and then expects said country to give them a low tarrif in return.

For example....The Australian gov. Gets pushed into a corner trying to get our movie industry or some other small time gig off the ground, trying to get lower import tarriffs on movies into your country. Like Hollywood profits would be threatened by anything we could dish out. The US gov says no problem, give us your wheat or sugar or orange growers or steel or coal industry. With lower import tarriffs on that US made product into Aust. But won't change the tarrif on same US product be it wheat, coal or what ever. It's never apples for apples. This is happening right now, our 2 govs are in negotiations as we speak.

Now don't get me wrong I don't really have a problem with all this, it just doesn't make any sence to me seeing one boat load of australian oranges leaving our port heading for La. to get passed by 3 American boats comming in to dock. Go ahead shut your borders to imports but shut your borders to exports as well. We live in a global economy, GET USE TO IT. You complain about the cheap Chinese tools etc. you have to buy now. I wonder how the Chinese feel about have to put up with Mc Donalds. The Capitalist world got rich exploiting the slaves in this world. Those days are gone now we only have each other left to exploit. Capitalism (Greed)isn't that the Western way.
By the way I do try and avoid the big chain stores when possible, But Target etc. are here to stay. Have a nice day http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/crazy.gif http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/crazy.gif

[gotcha]

I opened an upholstery shop about 6 years ago. It was slow taking off, but now I get business from all over...The bad thing is, work comes and goes with the seasons, so I had to get a "real job"...Our local hardware store burned to the ground about 3 years ago. I built many car parts from pieces I got there. Now, all we have is a local lumber yard that has a small section in the back that has a few hardware parts. As for me, I try to build parts if I can't buy them local...I'm on board to support local business.

[Jeem]

[ QUOTE ]
Well, shit, where can I get a $799 DVD player that is CERTIFIED to have been made in USA out of entirely domestic components?

Will it play a DVD any better than my $40 Korean one?

[/ QUOTE ]

Hey man, I received a cheepie DVD player for X-mas. Do you think, out of principal, I'll return it? Probably not. I'm not preaching, I'm just stating what's going on. I'm making a conscious effort to try to utilize the products and services of the small guy.

[Satinblack]

Yes I agree, sucks that thay don't give 40hr weeks. But on the other hand, how can they shit is so expensive now including insurance. And where nowdays can you find a place to work that offers retirement? Things have changed alot through the years and there are a ton a reasons why its that way now. Impossible to pin point any one reason for the problem. Oh well, back to the important stuff, cars cars cars. Satin

[hatch]

There's too much government....just let the chips fall where they may.....everything will work out much better without all the rules and regs.....

Doesn't the cream still rise to the top?....Oh yeah, I forgot....no more cream....gotta use that fake ass powdered shit in my coffee.

[Pigiron]

I will bet that within the next 5 years or less you are going to see Chinese made steel Model A roadster and 32 Ford bodies being sold at low cost (compared to Brookville and others). You think Walmart is the problem? http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

[Kilroy]

Burtrido, for your info, the US is the largest single IMPORTER of foriegn products in the world. We don't export anywhere near what we import.

China is damned glad McDonalds it there. Without it's trade agreements with the US, China would still be a third-world nation. They know it. In one of their latest presentations to the WTO they outlined a plan to triple their gross national product in an ambitious ammount of time (I believe it was 5 years!). Central to their plan was increasing (actually quite drastically), imports and exports with the US, specifically. This is from a country whose GNP had climbed at a rate far below global averages for decades. But in the last 10 years they doubled their GNP through more open trade agreements mainly with the US. The Chinese Steel industry is absolutely hemoraging money (think of all the new sky-scrapers) whereas the once-dominant steel industry (Rockafeller, etc) in the US, has all but dried up. This is due to us agreeing to get our steel from China, with relatively low tarrifs. Our steel corporations are unable to compete.

Ask an Australlian government official the next time you have a chance, how much money is generated (for Australia) from trade with the US? I don't know off hand but I bet you'd be surprised.

This is what I mean by the complexities of the relationship between what we import and export and where we buy our goods being complex.

[InPrimer]

perhaps you should review the movie "Gung Ho" perfect American logic in action....

[Satinblack]

Well if the prices of 32 stuff keeps going where its going, then it wouldnt surprise me. I can't afford one!

[ruralrod]

very good post , the big box stores are the worst thing that has happen to this U S A. I agree totally boycott the bastards. if a person is looking for the cheapest price no matter what , it tells me alot about the person. I think we should pile all those people up in one of the box stores and let them all live there for like a year ,with no contact to the rest of us sane people. maybe they screw each other. I HATE Box stores,. Long live the Mom and Pops of America..

[DrJ]

Remember who went to China and started our current trade with mainland China?

The most Honest, and Honerable, Richard Milhouse "Tricky Dick" Nixon.

[Kilroy]

Tricky Dick was the latest in a long line of presidents that tried to open the "Silk Curtain" of Chinese trade.

Opening trade with China has been a mandate for almost as long as the US has existed as a viable nation. Chinese trade was long looked at as the fast track to national prosperity.

[DrJ]

[ QUOTE ]
There's too much government....just let the chips fall where they may.....everything will work out much better without all the rules and regs.....


[/ QUOTE ]

That's just fine as long as it also means doing away with government protection of so-called Corporation rights.
The concept and legalization of the autonomous above the law corporation is the scourge. they should all be reverted back to "private" businesses with the "Owner(s) fully responsible for what the company does and publicly known who the owner(s) is of each company.
If they need capital to grow they can do it the old fashioned way, borrow it!
Yes, dissolve all the "Wall Streets" too. They are just corrupt pyramid clubs for the benefit of the "haves" anyway.

(This is still Economics...Not the banned from discussion Politics or Religion!)

[Kilroy]

I keep replying but I hate myself... http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/crazy.gif

I think this discussion has out-lived it's applicability to the HAMB. Time to let it die I think.

Still the idea is a good one. Buy from the little guy so you have more choices as a consumer!

Now let's get back to Rodding! http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

[Satinblack]

I second that 40, lets get back to rodding. I'm getting tired of the chinese thing.....

[Jkustom]

REDMEAT....
Why are you avoiding costco? Costco is locally owned! Yeah its a fucking huge deal now, but about 20 years ago it was basically 2 fellas with an old wherehouse down on 4th ave. in seattle. It was a mom&amp;pop of sorts... Now they are based out of issaquah, they have costcos world wide, but the 2 guys that started it are still the same two guys that sign my check every two weeks.... I'll introduce ya if you want....

Besides, where else you gonna get 5 gallons of mayo? http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/crazy.gif

[GR-RRR]

I wasn't going to get involved with this thread but the half truth and misconceptions are running rampid. Yeah Wal-Mart has employees not working 40 hour weeks, but that has become common even in the factories where I live. Factories hire people as full time temporaries, they still work up to 60 hours a week but don't get any benefits.

In our town Wal-Mart is the third largest employer, people who have worked there as long as i have worked at the factory I work at (I've been there 19 years and am in a Supervisors position) get paid 2 - 4 dollars an hour more than I get. Wal-Mart has insurance, 401 Ks profit sharing, stock options, &amp; discounted purchases. Next time you are at the Mom &amp; Pop store ask how many they employee, &amp; what they pay their employees (if they have any), I bet it is less than Wl-Mart pays. Also Mom &amp; Pops usually don't have any benifits. Then ask how much money they donate to the community and compare that to Wal-Mart.

Also if people didn't work at Wal-Mart they wouldn't have any income and they would still require goverment assistance (although I don't know anyone who workd at Wal-Mart that is in as bad a shape as some people hear make it sound.

Next time you are in the Mom &amp; Pops store look to see where the items they are selling are made, just as many are imported in there as in Wal-Mart. The nuts &amp; Bolt may come in packages that have an American addres, but most likely the hardware is imported to a distributor and repackaged before shipping to the store.

I susbscribe to the Fast Company magazine and I read the article on Wal-Mart. It was interesting and had some truths, but also was misleading. Also some of the examples were not Wal-Marts fault but suppliers to Wal-Mart getting to greedy and promising stuff they could not deliver.

The factory I work at has been under a lot of pressure lately because the owners want to do more outsourcing, so far we have been able to step up and become more effiecent at what we do, but suspect it won't last forever. The rich want to get richer while the working stiffs keep getting farther behind. I read a high salary for upper management in China might be $300,000 dollars, how many CEOS in the US of big companies would work for that. Hell some are embezzeling more than that.

Sorry for the rant, I'll get back to reading the car stuff and looking at the impressive work you guys do on your cars.

[RileyRacing]

[ QUOTE ]
When i joined my first UNION in 1973 they were saying BUY A FOREIGN CAR an put 10 AMERICANS out of work, sure looks like the country thinks it's a good idea.We been doing it for 30 years ,sorry but it's WAY to late to turn it around now.BUY UNION BUY AMERICAN thats what the UNIONS have been saying for the last 35 years but No one listened so here we are.VOTE BUSH SEND ALL THE JOBS OVER SEAS. BRES http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/mad.gif

[/ QUOTE ]

It's been alot longer than 30 years, dude.

Don't forget, that Shelby Cobras were "imported" cars. So were Nash Metropolitans. http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smirk.gif

And, don't buy a Dodge Caravan, Ford Crown Vic, (gack) PT Cruiser, or Chevy Malibu (maybe Impala, I can't remember). They are "imported" too.

The imports aren't the problem, really. It's the crap products that are shoved down our throats wrapped up in the "Stars and Stripes". When you spend 30,000 dollars on a vehicle, made right here, about 24 miles north of where I live, and said vehicle pukes 3 alternators in 10,000 miles, is that the representative quality of "Buy American"?

I love Chevy trucks. Always have, always will. But I never, EVER, will buy a "new" one again. And anyone who knows me will vouch for the fact that I am a dyed in the wool Chevrolet fan. But I can't stand the fact that they are peddling crap. If they had a superior product, I would buy it in a heartbeat. (ha ha, no pun intended. http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif)

I love America, but to get on the right track, we gotta get competitive products at competitive prices. It's that simple.

In our area, the "mom and pops" sell out to the chains for BIG, BIG bucks. Usually cause their store is in a prime location, so do you blame them, or are they sellouts like Jesse James?

Sorry for the rant, but I hear this stuff alot lately. Now back to regularly scheduled hotrodding!

Jay

[Hot Rod To Hell]

[ QUOTE ]
In our area, the "mom and pops" sell out to the chains for BIG, BIG bucks. Usually cause their store is in a prime location, so do you blame them, or are they sellouts like Jesse James?


[/ QUOTE ]

Seriously... My cousin had a muffler shop on a corner in ponticrack. He had about $150k into the building. Rite Aid decides they want to build a store there... So they make an offer.... How good does the offer have to be before it's ok to "sell out"??? How much money is it worth to stand up for the independent business man??? Well, He DID "sell out" to Rite Aid, and any one of you that says you wouldn't is a LIAR.


BTW: He got 650K!

[superbell]

Sorry but you guys need to go to OPRAH.

[Ryan]

This one is done.