I saw a video today about toxins, poisons even, in imported seafood. It’s in a huge percentage of all seafood in your local grocery store. Worse, less than 1% of all foreign seafood , especially fish, get tested, and Far East countries knowingly send us tainted food. They even raise some of their fish in sewage, in packed channels that allow them to charge less than local, U.S. fish farmers. We’re all about cheap, about saving money, but at what expense? I own a Toyota, but a percentage of Toyotas are built in Detroit (you can check your VIN number to determine where your car was built)…that’s where mine was built. I’m an American snob. I buy American when I can: food, products, services. Do you?
If you don’t, you should. Our country is outsourcing at an alarming rate. Eventually, we will have outsourced ourselves to death – the death of American commerce, of American farmers, of American productivity. We are doing it to ourselves. From toys made in China, jobs from cheap labor overseas, to clothes sewn in India; so much of what we buy isn’t made in America (check labels next time you’re shopping at Wal-Mart). One perfect example is that we buy gas at Citgo, whose corporate office is in Texas, but the true “owner” is the Petróleos de Venezuela. They have been outspoken against the U.S. government, resulting in 7-Eleven terminating a contract with them. At one point, the Venezuelan president even stated on his TV show, “Enough of imperialist aggression; we must tell the world: down with the U.S. empire. We have to bury imperialism this century.” And we help Chavez fulfill his dream by buying Citgo gas. As soon as he became president in 1998, he created immediate ties with Cuba and Fidel Castro, and has openly denounced the American way. So what the heck is wrong with us? We buy gas from a company that denounces our country, our way of life?
The best advice we can take to improving U.S. economy is to truly buy American. Ask your grocer where the shrimp was raised, where the fish came from, read your labels on everything. If you aren’t inspired yet, watch the video. We really can make a difference. YOU can make a difference…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p0F8x4i5GYE&feature=related
