I am not a very passionate person. I don’t claim a particular cause or movement. I have never been the type to protest or sign petitions. While, this is not necessarily a positive character trait it is not really a bad one either. I think this aspect of my personality is why I am able to relate to so many different types of people and am able to see both sides of most arguments. I tend to be rather diplomatic and people often open up to me. While I may feel certain decisions are not right for me, I am very capable of understanding why someone else may feel those decisions are right for them.
Passionate people do have a certain energy though that I like (unless they are passionate about something stupid like racism, sexism, etc.). Passionate people make you feel excited and often challenge your way of thinking. A few weeks ago I had the privilege of being amongst a group of very passionate peeps. So passionate in fact that they left me thinking about them and getting this post up for weeks even, though I’m just getting to it. (Don’t mistake my tardiness with lack of support for their cause. It has more to do with my struggle with time management)
So what were these people so passionate about, you ask. These good old United States of America. Specifically, buying and supporting American made products whenever possible. Now of course I support American Made. I’m all for it… in theory. But I admit I do not go out of my way to look for American made products. I won’t often pass up a good price to stick with the USA made brand. And I’ll admit I drive a foreign car. And there is a good chance that my next one will be foreign too.
So I guess my meeting with these passionate people was an epic fail hunh??? Nope, and the reason why is that they have brought to my attention something I never even thought about. Sarah writes the blog Made in USA Challenge. On her blog she talks about USA made products, and often locally made products that are good quality and easy to access. She makes it seem like it’s not so hard to buy American Made. I don’t really have to go the extra mile maybe just the extra yard or two to get what I want and support our countries industrial base. Josh is just wrapping up a documentary, Made in the USA, The 30 Day Journey, which tests the feasibility of living off of only American made Products for 30 days. Is it possible? We’ll have to check out his documentary to see. Josh has traveled these United States seeing all that we have to offer and from what I heard we have some pretty awesome stuff being made right here in the USA.
So a little of their passion has worn off on me. One thing most of you don’t know about me is that I do not like to spend my money in places that don’t offer good customer service. I do not feel good wasting my spending power on businesses that don’t value the customer. After my meeting with passionate made in USA peeps Sara and Josh I am thinking, could using my spending power to support our US economy give my shopping habit a purpose other than the excitement of having new shinny things. Could making an effort to support American Made products bring a little more Joy to my shopping???
Do you ever think about where the things you purchase are made? Do you purposefully look for Made in the USA products? Do you think it would be possible or realistic to live off of only Made in the USA products?
Stay tuned for Josh’s documentary to see how he made out.
Hi Joy. I met Sarah on twitter after BBCPhilly and the fact that she is promoting "Made in the USA" peeked my interest. As you know I was born in Jamaica, but I've lived here most of my life and I am now a naturalized citizen of the United States. I chose to live here and the economic health of this country is therefore very important to me. It was so sad to read about the closing of the LAST TEXTILE mill in Connecticut in today's Hartford Courant. The sad thing is that the loss of this business will not only affect the employees, but also the surrounding business and also the tax coffers of the town in which the mill is located. It's so very important for us to support Made In the USA, but it's becoming increasingly more difficult to find products that are available here. I hope this cause will catch on and as a blogger in the style/fashion niche, I will do my part by helping to promote brands that are made in the USA.
Thank you so much for the mention and your thoughtful words about the made in America movement! Your reflections and ideas are exactly the type of feelings we are hoping to spark. We have so much power as consumers to affect change in our society. Buying American made not only strengthens our economy and helps build up our local communities, it also protects human rights, the environment and the safety of our products. So glad to have you joining in on the challenge while I join you in chasing joy!
Sarah, thanks for bringing awareness to the cause. 🙂