Big Willie Says Buy American!

I always buy American when I can, if not, I buy North American, then South American, then European, then non-Communist, then as a last resort, I buy Commie-made crap. All the big-box stores have Commie-made crap all over the place. When I was buying a circular saw, I didn't expect to find anything but Commie-made in my price range, but as I was standing there looking at a Commie saw, I glanced over and on a box it said "Made in USA." It was only $10 more, so I jumped at the chance to buy an American-made tool. It is a great saw. I'm glad I found it (saw it? ha ha). Yes, it cost a little more, but most Americans have too much junk anyway. Better to buy less and higher quality than to have more junk. Now if you are Canadian or whatever, you should buy Canadian- or whatever-made. I fully support everyone buying local-made products wherever you live. I just happen to live in the middle of the United States so I buy American. My thought for the day.

Small Town Living

Why are small towns dying? Why are companies moving out of small towns and into big cities? What do the cities really have to offer? Lots of people, congestion, pollution, bad tempers, high crime, etc.

People in small towns, especially in the Midwest, are hard workers. And we are much less likely to have a terrorist strike us, though we are not immune. Bad things do happen here, people are people, but there are more moderating influences here.

BTW, this has nothing to do with race. People in small towns are surprisingly open minded about race, they tend to take each individual or individual family on its own merits.

Not that small towns are perfect, there is not as much to do, but my sister moved during high school. In a city of 350,000 she complained of being bored, same as she did when she lived in town of 10,000. If you move to a town of over 10,000, then you can avoid much of the "everyone knows everyone else's business" that many people worry about with small towns.

Another problem with small towns today is the ubiquitous Wal-Mart. Although Wal-Mart probably makes prices less in actual terms, it severely limits the selection. There are other options however, many small towns also have chain hardware stores, auto parts stores, and other places one can find things like windshield wipers, paint, rakes, and the like.

Is the absence of a mega-mall really a negative thing? In truth, many small towns actually do have a mall of sorts.

Cost of living is less, but so is the pay, however you still come out ahead. I bought an 1800 sq ft brick ranch house for $85,000. My wife's cousin lives in LA and said our house would go for $260,000 in his area. There is no way that I could get a job that would make up that kind of difference without becoming involved in the entertainment biz.

Concerts don't come around here very often, mainly bands who’s last hit was in 1988. But that's a good thing for those that want to cut back on spending. If I lived in a big city I would constantly be tempted to go see bands that may or may not be worth the money. If I go to a concert now, It takes 2-3 hours of driving, so I have to really want to see them. Or win free tickets! (Hasn’t happened yet.)

With internet, cable and satellite TV, there isn't much in the way of home comforts that are denied in small towns.

Overall, one comes out ahead in a small town, unless you feel compelled to drive to the city to do your shopping. Many people here head towards a town 45 minutes away that is about 75,000 people, around 3 times our size. We never leave town for shopping. There really isn’t anything that we need that isn’t here.


I would like to encourage business to consider the pluses of small town life, and instead of relocating to a megalopolis, promoting the pluses of getting away. Towns of 10,000-75,000 within two hours of a major city are all over the place. Pick one with a college or university and there is more likely to be a culture that many people like.

Small town living is also more green. Less driving, means less fuel to burn. Where I live is 4 blocks from the elementary school, and 10 blocks from work, so I walk or ride a bike most of the year.



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Small Town Life, Wal-Mart, Small Towns, Frugal Living

A Sort-of Wal Mart Story

Leonard Pitts, Jr., one of my favorite writers, has written a piece about the leaving of the Mom-and-Pop stores. I really like what he has to say. It's all about "soul." As the big-boxes take over, uniqueness loses out. The temptations are there, but you must resist! Buy small!

Even More on Wal-Mart!

I just ran across this editorial and thought it was pretty good. If you notice, he must have read my blog before writing his column. The freedom to hate Wal-Mart by Paul Jacob. One statement he makes is really good:

The free market offers Wal-Mart haters an easy way to hit Wal-Mart right where it hurts. These wizards should start their own companies and pay entry-level retail workers as much as they think is "enough," and of course offer a generous package of health care and other benefits to both full and part-time employees. Problem solved!

As much as I don't like Wal-Mart, I don't try to pass laws to discriminate against any one business. The way the real anti-Wal-Marters need to do it, is to convince people to shop somewhere else. Good luck.

Is Wal-Mart Evil? part 2

From my last post on this topic: I think critics of Wal-Mart assume everyone has a good job till Wal-Mart moves to town. Not true.

Much of the free-market stuff that I read assumes everyone is smart, everyone is mobil and everyone is ambitious. If they aren't all three, that's just too bad. Because the author is all three, and he doesn't feel any pity for them. But living in small towns in depressed areas has convinced me that not everyone has all these options open to them.

Is Wal-Mart Evil?

Is Wal-Mart Evil? Well, I think so, but I think most big corporations are (as I sit here on my Dell computer running Windows). Anyway, I always try to buy from the locals any time I can, but in a small town where a "super" Wal-Mart resides, there isn't a lot of competition left. But I try to get stuff at a local hardware store when I can (this cheapskate is fully aware it costs more), the only auto-parts stores left are also chains, but I go there instead of Wal-Mart for oil and windshield wipers.

The reason I bring this up is that our campus just showed a movie called Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Price. I wanted to go see it, but wasn't able to. A few commentators have commented on it, or the idea behind it, already. John Stossel with "Is Wal-Mart a Problem?", was a bit of a disappointment. It was like a politician answering the question he already knew the answer for, instead of the question that was asked. The issue isn't creation of wealth, the question is, are the workers and the public treated fairly?

The public: mostly yes. We in small towns have more selection of products to chose from at lower prices than we did before. Though still not the all-encompassing selection Wal-Mart wants you to believe it has. And this selection is in one building, so I don't have to drive to TG&Y, Woolworths, and Montgomery Wards to see who has the best price or whichever options I want. The downside is that Wal-Mart started out buying American-made products whenever it could and gained a lot of support that way. Now that Sam Walton is dead and Wal-mart is the only game in town, they get everything from China. I challenge you to find 10 things American made in 10 minutes in any Wal-Mart (other than food items).

I will say that having 10 different stores, each with a local owner, or independent manager, gives a town a different flavor than one national business with a few managers that are moved around till they hit the top spot and then live in whatever town they end up in.

The workers: In a community, does Wal-Mart create jobs, lose jobs, or just re-shuffle jobs? I'm not sure. What about pay and benefits? Well, anyone who has worked for an independent company can tell you that they don't pay so well either. And if they are too small, they can't afford to pay any insurance for their employees. I have a friend that was very happy being a machinist at a local farm and auto parts store, but the owner couldn't provide insurance. So, when the machinist got married he had to quit and work for a factory in the next town that provided insurance. Not as enjoyable, but it paid more and had benefits.

I think critics of Wal-Mart assume everyone has a good job till Wal-Mart moves to town. Not true. More on this later.