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Tech

Sorry Obama, It Isn't "Made in America"

Last night, if you were listening to the President accept his nomination, and were paying any attention to Twitter storm that happened simultaneously, you might have got a little sensitive to those keywords that Mr. Obama hit without fail. If you read...

Last night, if you were listening to the President accept his nomination, and were paying any attention to Twitter storm that happened simultaneously, you might have got a little sensitive to those keywords that Mr. Obama hit without fail. If you read this type of blog, am I going out on a limb to assume you might have taken part in the 52,000+ tweets per-minute that Rachel Maddow & co. of NBC wouldn’t stop reminding viewers of?

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According to Ed Schultz, Obama’s most quoted phrase in Tweets during that record-breaking Twitter session were the words "Made in America," which came up in the speech’s original context thusly:

“I've signed trade agreements that are helping our companies sell more goods to millions of new customers — goods that are stamped with three proud words: Made in America.”

So what’s the beef? It’s quite simple, "Made in America" is not what U.S. manufacturers inscribe, emboss, print, stamp, engrave or relief onto goods and products made in this country. If it is, someone probably needs an editor, or a disgruntled geographer to point this out: "Made in America," would include most places in the Western Hemisphere. "Made in America," could then be inscribed on something that was made in Canada, just as much as something that was hecho en Mexico, made in Guyana or hecho en Peru. I doubt anyone’s bid for re-election in Europe has masses shouting at the top of their lungs, "Made in Europe!"

Map of the Americas (via)

I made this point to my friend as it happened and he turned to me and said, "Who cares?"

“Democrats," I said. This is exactly the type of technicality that Democrats regularly scrutinize in their opponents.

“Made in America,” might work for a Machiavellian speechwriter, it might roll off Obama’s tongue nicely, it might fit some rule of poetic verse — but let’s face it: “Made in the U.S.” is what he should have said. Or “Made in the U.S.A.,” or “Made in U.S.A.” Sure, throwing an acronym in there doesn’t roll off the tongue quite as well. But the acronym is, as a matter of fact, what assembly-line workers are actually putting on goods in the United States. With presidential debates on the horizon and voters watching the worst campaign ads imaginable, these types of poorly-phrased soundbites need some straightening up before becoming campaign slogans.

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A Swingline stapler, Long Island City, NY, 11101, Made in U.S.A.
American Apparel is Made in LA…

And while the point I’m making draws us away from the convictions of Obama’s speech, and the real context in his crosshairs is about making things “in America,” isn’t that impractical tradition long dead? While Google is attempting the feat, let’s keep things real: For many multinational corporations, it hardly makes sense in to be making things on U.S. when it can be made for so much cheaper elsewhere, unless it’s to provide consumers with the satisfaction of buying something from the local calculator plant. Face it, no matter what feel-good phrases the president tosses out, the iPhone is “Designed in California, Assembled in China” because you don’t want to pay more for it not to be.

iPhone, Designed in California, Assembled in China