The Bluffer - Red Bluff, CA
Issue link: https://www.ifoldsflip.com/i/65294
Opinion American Made Myth Page 3 80 percent of consumer goods that are in the USA are made here, but most people don't see that. That's because most of what we produce is food, something we don't make a lot of money off of. Many of our "things" such as electronics, clothes, furniture, seem to be "Made in China" or India, or Indonesia, or Taiwan. Many question the impact, importance, or intelligence of this series of decisions. Will there still be jobs in the USA? Will we have an even worse economy? Will China be a bigger global superpower than us? We don't think of these philosophical questions when we go to Wal-Mart, or Abercrombie and Fitch, or even Sunny-Side. Our favorite brands, from iPods and Androids, to just clothes or packaged goods are made in other places. Even if you asked these questions and tried as hard as you could to avoid those products, it wouldn't work. For one, not enough people care about or realize the impact it could have on the US, or believe it will actually come about. People also can't avoid it even if they wanted to without so much trouble as to make it obsolete. We as teens will inherit this problem. People graduating high school and college face this problem now, as they look for jobs that may, or may not, be there. Manufacturing jobs, jobs in electronics and customer serviccontinue to vanish as more and more jobs are shipped overseas. Besides the problems this trade deficit poses to us, it is actually a humanitarian issue in other places as well. When we move jobs to China, or India, or other third world countries we hurt them as well. They may experience an economic boom, or won't, but it hurts individuals. The very reason we move jobs to those May 3, 2012 countries is that they are cheaper, because people there get paid less for the same work, or even for more work. People work in horrible conditions, from young ages, for long hours, and rarely see much profit from their work. Their superiors may become rich, especially compared to their countries economic and social standards, but the workers become stuck in their jobs. They don't go to school, learn, or progress, and so their children are less likely to do so as well. So, if we can't buy all American, what do we do? We can implore companies, and our government to relocate the jobs back to the US. But, in the mean time, we can try to buy what we can here. Farmers markets, American Apparel, anything "American Made". Alaina Rudnick Staff Writer T life. On June 20, 2011, a man, James Richard Verone robbed a bank in Gastonia, N.C. in order to get free health care in jail. He simply handed the teller a note that stated, "This robbery is being committed by me for one dollar. I am of sound mind but not so much sound body". If that wasn't disturbing enough, this man stated that he hoped to get back and foot surgery, stay a couple years in jail until he could start receiving social security, and then move to the beach. Although his plans seem ideal, it disgusts me that jail can appear attractive enough that a 59 year old man would want to waste a few years out of his life in there. Jail or prison life should in no way have better living conditions then people have in the 'real world'. The people living in these places are CRIMINALS and although they don't deserve inhumane living conditions, they shouldn't certainly be receiving more than law abiding citizens. So basically, while many Americans are in their homes, suffering from many different illnesses, sitting in the heat or cold because they are too tight on money to run the AC, there are criminals walking around in an air conditioned environment, receiving that medical care that will wipe out your life savings. All for free. Logically, you would think that a victim of a violent crime would receive free medical care, and the Jail system in need of reform, can be preferred over freedom here has to be a problem when people are beginning to prefer prison life to their own, free criminal would have to deal with his injuries with money from his own bank account, but that isn't the case. A criminal is given free medical care, free food, free behavior classes, and a place to stay. Again, it is all free! The payment of these meals is not coming out of the pockets of the criminals, as it should, but from the prison itself, or the state. I do not believe that it's right that people have resorted to committing crimes in order to gain free privileges. Conditions in prison should not be up to the standards of a person to make them choose prison over freedom. Free meals should not be provided. They have committed a crime and they should not have the privilege of getting their meals handed to them. They should have to pay for it like everyone else. I do not in any way believe that the way the jail system works is right. These criminals should be given the bare minimum needed to survive. They are not on vacation, they should not enjoy their stay, and they should most definitely not want to "admit themselves" into the system for free medical services. The fact that there are many being treated for expensive illnesses for free, while doing time for crimes, while there are innocent, hardworking people out there breaking bank for the same In another instance, Tammy Sue Grimes, a 20 year old with no prior criminal record from North Dakota, decided to commit car theft in order to go to jail. She said that her reasoning was that she felt that jail life was better than street life and she preferred to be able to eat three free meals a day. It was said that she had no money at the time of her arrest. treatment, is unfair and shows that the jail/prison system has some things they probably should brush up on. KC Jacobsen Staff Writer Behind the Podium A teacher's perspective J oe Pelanconi, former principal at RBHS, was known to end his graduation speeches telling students to get out of Red Bluff. It is great advice. Coincidentally (or maybe not), Joe Pelanconi was also the founder of Red Bluff High's first short-term foreign exchange with a school in Florence, Italy. Soon afterward, Nancy Hickson, Dwight Evans, and later Stacy Dausse organized an Austrian exchange, with Dreihackengasse in Graz. Cindy Haase and I came on board the Austrian exchange when Mr. Evans retired and little Alyssa Dausse was born. We have been enjoying the chance to get kids out of Red Bluff ever since. Ask any student who has participated in the exchange, and they will tell you it is a life- changing experience. It sounds cliché, but it is as close to the truth as it gets. Speaking for myself, having limited travel experience (just like many of our students) until 2009, I have now been bitten by the "travel bug," and it is a lifelong illness. To stand on a street, knowing that you are in a completely different country, is an incredible feeling. So is learning to order coffee, asking directions, and using public transportation, all without knowing much of the language. There is tremendous confidence built in these simple tasks that we take for granted. There are things students see and experience in Austria that they will never forget—that they will tell their grandkids about: Sliding down a wooden slide in salt mines and crossing into Germany underground, getting a little too close to a balloon- making clown in Vienna, walking through a monastery library with books hand-written by monks centuries ago, watching foreign dignitaries in a meeting at the UN, standing in the gas chambers in Mauthaussen concentration camp- knowing thousands of people died right where you are standing—All of these are experiences so surreal you have to remind yourself you are, in fact experiencing these things. They are life-changing. When you take part in the Austrian exchange, you invite a person from across the world to become a part of your family for two weeks. Six months later, you become a part of theirs. There are bonds that are formed that are lifelong. You will chat on Facebook, call each other when you can, send birthday and Christmas presents, and know that there is a family a world away that would open its arms to you any time you wanted to travel again. It makes the world that much smaller. The students participating in the Austrian exchange have incredible experiences. They see neat things, meet cool people, eat great food. They learn a tremendous amount about themselves. But the biggest lesson that our students learn on the Austrian exchange is that we really are all the same. They learn it from the Austrians, of course, but they also learn from the RBHS students they are traveling with. Many would not be friends otherwise. Stereotypes are smashed, friendships are made, trust is created, eyes are opened. THAT is life-changing. Becky Coker English Teacher