Chinese candy removed from shelves

shouldn't be shipping candies and food from china here. there is problems with the economy and everything that things should be made in America.

The time has long since passed since we can demand that everything on a store's shelves be "Made in America." The economy is truly global, and we no longer have the manufacturing capabilities we once had. For instance, there are no televisions made in the US. None. The factories where televisions were once made have been long shuttered and the equipment has been sold, recycled or is simply so obsolete that even if we found a television factory somewhere in the US that had simply locked its doors and was intact, but for employees, it would be impossible for the factory to reopen without completely retooling. And that's just one item that is found in virtually every home.

Many other consumer items just aren't made in America any longer. When was the last time you saw a pair of shoes that was made in the US? Brockton, MA used to be a wealthy shoe manufacturing town, but no shoes are made there now. The few remaining factory buildings look like crumbling hulks, and the manufacturing equipment is long gone. Or when was the last time you saw a US-made wristwatch? Waltham Watch, which made over forty million very high quality timepieces, closed over fifty years ago, driven into bankruptcy, because even then, consumers were buying items that were the cheapest, not items that were made by their neighbors.. Even American-brands of cars are made of components that are sourced all over the world.

If we suddenly had to purchase only US-made goods, there would be a howl heard from here to the moon. Most people wouldn't be overly happy when their formerly overflowing clothes closets held three or four outfits, and two pair of shoes, simply because it would be too expensive to own more. Our diets would radically change as out of season produce wouldn't appear in our supermarkets. The produce department in January would feature sales on cabbage and potatoes, not bananas and melons. Families would have to save for months to buy a refrigerator, years to buy a car. We wouldn't be employed in those "high quality manufacturing jobs" of post-WWII America: those jobs are now performed by robots and controlled by computers. Besides, today's worker probably wouldn't appreciate going from their current jobs to one on an assembly line.

For better or worse, we live in an America that brings in goods from all over the world. Our economy is centered more on services and intellectual activity: we design the products and work out all the flaws: people in other countries actually make the items. Is that the way it should be? It doesn't matter - that's the way it is, and it's not about to change anytime soon.

Good comment.