This letter to the editor appeared in today’s Chicago Tribune.

I woke up one recent morning after setting my alarm clock (made in Japan) while my coffeepot (made in China) was perking. I shaved with my electric razor (made in Hong Kong) and put on a dress shirt (made in Sri Lanka), designer jeans (made in Singapore) and tennis shoes (made in Korea).After cooking breakfast in my new electric skillet (made in India), I sat down with my calculator (made in Mexico) to see what my budget for the day was.I set my watch (made in Taiwan) to the radio (made in China), got in my car (made in Germany) and started yet another search for a good-paying American job. At the end of another fruitless and discouraging day, I decided to relax for a while, put on my sandals (made in Brazil), poured a glass of wine (made in France), turned on my TV (made in Indonesia), and then wondered why I can’t find a good-paying job in America.

Does this guy, who drives $30,000 German automobile really want a manufacturing assembly job? Does this guy who uses many consumer gadgets to make his life easier really want to pay inflated prices for those goods because industry has to pay an American $12 per hour versus the $1 an hour being paid overseas?

My point is Amercian consumers need to stop bitching about jobs being “outsourced.” If Americans wants cheap consumer goods, then those goods MUST be made overseas. Either that or American wages must decrease.

Unfortunately, most consumers are probably too ignorant to recognize the paradox of their wants.

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