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Not happy with Hershey's.

by Star69
51 replies
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I would like to encourage everyone to please not buy Hershey's Chocolate this Easter season. The Hershey's company put hundreds of American workers out of jobs last month (or was it February?) when they closed the plants in Hershey, Pennsylvania and moved the plants, and the jobs, to Mexico. So please, ignore the commercials on the telly and do them the same way they did these American workers who have helped make that company what it is today. (And Nestle's isn't much better. That is now made in Brazil!)

Thank you.
  • Profile picture of the author Steven Wagenheim
    Originally Posted by Star69 View Post

    I would like to encourage everyone to please not buy Hershey's Chocolate this Easter season. The Hershey's company put hundreds of American workers out of jobs last month (or was it February?) when they closed the plants in Hershey, Pennsylvania and moved the plants, and the jobs, to Mexico. So please, ignore the commercials on the telly and do them the same way they did these American workers who have helped make that company what it is today. (And Nestle's isn't much better. That is now made in Brazil!)

    Thank you.
    I don't eat chocolate so I could care less. But I agree, we should boycott
    all these *******s who forget where they came from and who made them
    what they are today.

    Death to Hershey's Chocolate!
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    • Profile picture of the author Tina Golden
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      • Profile picture of the author seasoned
        Originally Posted by TMG Enterprises View Post

        This will surely get me flamed but here goes anyway...

        If they stayed here and raised the price of the chocolate, would you be happier?

        Americans, in general, seem to want all the companies to stay here and keep them employed but they want the highest wages in the world, the most benefits, the fewest hours, the fewest workdays and the lowest prices.

        Oh, yeah, and please put the tax burden on the big companies and not on the workers, ok?

        Tina G
        GOD, what a ****STUPID**** question! Let me tell you a story.... There was once a company that made a product that they wanted to keep at $.05! They did it for YEARS! As the price went down, the bar got larger BUT, as the cost went up, the bar got smaller. Eventually, they figured that they had to increase the size of the bar, and they increased the price also. They have increased the price ever since. SURE, sometimes the size went down, but never as low as would have otherwise happened. Maybe you have realized that the company was HERSHEY, and the product was their hershey's bar.

        Americans do NOT get the highest wages in the world! In 1989, Danes were making about TWICE what Americans were. SURE, taxes were higher, but they also got MORE for their taxes. Their take home pay, after EVERYTHING was still a little more! And they get more vacation time!

        Fewest hours? FRANCE has us BEAT!
        Fewest Days? MOST countries have 5 day work weeks, and many have more holidays than we do! AND they have longer vacations!

        And the US workers get taxed a LOT! We EVEN get taxed on Social security and pensions!

        BTW Brazil is probably better than mexico, and I do NOT like things like food from countries like mexico!

        Oh well, I haven't had a hershey product in MONTHS, I guess I can go longer. I USED to have many every day!

        Steve
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      • Profile picture of the author Texson5
        Originally Posted by TMG Enterprises View Post

        This will surely get me flamed but here goes anyway...

        If they stayed here and raised the price of the chocolate, would you be happier?

        Americans, in general, seem to want all the companies to stay here and keep them employed but they want the highest wages in the world, the most benefits, the fewest hours, the fewest workdays and the lowest prices.

        Oh, yeah, and please put the tax burden on the big companies and not on the workers, ok?

        Tina G

        I have been reading a lot of posts about taxes and over spending and some of the comments make me shake my head in disbelief. It is as if people only see what they have been made to believe.

        For instance.

        The comment you make about 'would you be happier if they stayed here and raised the price of the chocolate?

        No, of course not. But why is it that companies can use the 'we will need to raise prices if we stay' tactic when all they really need to do is go back to being a privately held company and stop paying share holders/stock holders and cut the salaries of the CEO and other executives?

        I think to many are being duped into think that taking companies over seas is the only answer.

        I do not about you but I notice a long time ago the candy bars had gotten smaller and the price went up. And here is the kicker, they do not use real chocolate any more and haven't for about a decade. It is cheap and shotty.

        If Mr. Hersey was alive today he would fire the whole board of directors and any one else who took his company over seas.

        I have been to the Hersey factory, if you have not read his story and all that he did for that town, you should, it is a great story.

        Sorry if this post seems harsh.

        Jess
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  • Profile picture of the author Star69
    I'm not going to flame you, Tina, you make valid points. But honestly, I can say yes, I wouldn't mind paying higher prices if I knew that I was helping to keep Americans employed so they could feed their families.

    This stuff of American companies shipping their plants over the border or across the sea is anti-American in my book. This is a major part of what brought on the problems we have today. And in too many cases, it's not because of high wages and benefits to the workers, it's because of corporate greed. They only move out of the U.S. to reduce their expenses and add to the corporate coffers at a faster rate.

    Plus, they don't give decent wages and benefits to the workers they employ over the border or over the seas because there are no laws saying they have to. There are no unions, either. There is also nothing like the E.P.A. over there, so they get to pollute as much as they want while playing their sweet little Life Is Good commercials to American consumers, thinking they've got us fooled.

    They aren't fooling me. I am an American and I support American businesses anytime I can.

    If I don't, there may soon be no American businesses to support. We might as well just turn out the lights and learn to speak Mandarin or something, because the Chinese will soon own us.
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  • Profile picture of the author Star69
    I can't say you are wrong about the public apathy, that's for sure, Tina. I've mentioned it in many threads here. Americans are lazy and they are going to pay for it, too.

    I can't stand Wal Mart and don't shop there. I would rather pay a few cents more somewhere else than help that anti-American company. Poor Sam is rolling in his grave.

    I laugh when I hear in the news that China bemoans this economic collapse because they aren't shipping as much crap to the U.S. as they used to and are not making as much money now, because Americans aren't buying as much at Wal Mart as they used.

    I'd personally like to see Wal Mart go out of business so the mom and pop stores can open up again and treat their employees with the respect they deserve. (No, the people working at Wal Mart would not be out of jobs, they'd find work with the mom and pop stores that would open to pick up the slack. Besides, you know Wal Mart's not going to go out of business any time soon. There's still too many lazy-ass Americans shopping there.)

    The whole thing just makes me sick.
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  • Profile picture of the author HeySal
    Tina - Yes it's hard to afford higher prices, no doubt, but we can't all be driven like cattle because so many of our own people allow themselves to be. People better get a clue that they either start boycotting companies that outsource, or they better stop having kids, because there just plain aren't enough jobs to go around. Our economy wasn't set up for 100% employment in the first place.

    Solution is twofold.
    Yes we need to boycott the beejeebers out of ALL companies that outsource. But....
    We also need to change the tariff system to equalize pricing of products. If there is no incentive for a company to move out, they won't do so.

    It would be a lot easier if our jobs would support workers well enough that women who wanted to stay home and raise their children could do so again. Many mothers would love to raise their own kids instead of being forced to have daycare centers do it. That alone could take one heck of a strain off of our economy.......but with CEO's "needing" such absurd salaries there isn't much left over to give the workers. Corporations just suck, period.

    I think we should just rip them down and limit the size of companies. Think of how much more competition there would be, how personalized companies would be again, and how little sway smaller industries have to own politicians........real law instead of corporate "policies" ruling again. With corporations donating such large sums to research of their own products and to politicians, FDA, etc. we are actually put in danger, too. Look at what the sunscreen industry was able to pull off on us for decades. It just disgusts me to no end that corporate bucks are put ahead of life and health of the citizen.
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    • Profile picture of the author Star69
      Originally Posted by HeySal View Post

      Tina - Yes it's hard to afford higher prices, no doubt, but we can't all be driven like cattle because so many of our own people allow themselves to be. People better get a clue that they either start boycotting companies that outsource, or they better stop having kids, because there just plain aren't enough jobs to go around. Our economy wasn't set up for 100% employment in the first place.

      Solution is twofold.
      Yes we need to boycott the beejeebers out of ALL companies that outsource. But....
      We also need to change the tariff system to equalize pricing of products. If there is no incentive for a company to move out, they won't do so.

      It would be a lot easier if our jobs would support workers well enough that women who wanted to stay home and raise their children could do so again. Many mothers would love to raise their own kids instead of being forced to have daycare centers do it. That alone could take one heck of a strain off of our economy.......but with CEO's "needing" such absurd salaries there isn't much left over to give the workers. Corporations just suck, period.

      I think we should just rip them down and limit the size of companies. Think of how much more competition there would be, how personalized companies would be again, and how little sway smaller industries have to own politicians........real law instead of corporate "policies" ruling again. With corporations donating such large sums to research of their own products and to politicians, FDA, etc. we are actually put in danger, too. Look at what the sunscreen industry was able to pull off on us for decades. It just disgusts me to no end that corporate bucks are put ahead of life and health of the citizen.
      Speaking of which, as I write, workers in France are holding four executives of Caterpillar hostage. The company was going to can a bunch of them, but looks like they got the jump on them before they could.

      Might be just a matter of time before somebody ends up getting killed. The workers are mad as hell and they're not going to put up with this anymore!

      This might not be the best time to walk around wearing a suit and tie...
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      • Profile picture of the author ThomM
        If you're going to close shoop here and move your company out of the country then sell your products there and don't sell them here.

        Sure we demand a decent and some times obscene (when unions are involved) wage. But these companies are still making a profit and just want more.
        Then they whine and cry when their profits go down because the people they laid off can't afford their products anymore.
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        • Profile picture of the author Tina Golden
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          • Profile picture of the author ShayB
            Originally Posted by TMG Enterprises View Post

            I'm going to chime in again with my thoughts even though I believe they'll be unpopular but I don't agree with this totally, either. There are exceptions, of course, but a lot of people could afford to have the woman (or man, if he so chose) to stay home with the children. People choose their lifestyle, for the most part.

            Tina G
            I totally agree.

            I took an outside job for the Christmas holidays one year. Those were a very rough 6 weeks.

            Having one parent at home (mom or dad) makes things so much easier.
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            • Profile picture of the author myob
              Hershey's is not even very good chocolate anymore. I haven't bought any of that shit for years, but I do love chocolate. The best chocolate you can buy is Ghirardelli, and it's 100% American manufactured right here in California. A nice Italian immigrant boy started it in 1850 in San Francisco. They use only the best cocoa beans, and all the low quality rejects are sold to Hershey and the Mexicans. Ghirardelli Chocolate
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              • Profile picture of the author Texson5
                Originally Posted by myob View Post

                Hershey's is not even very good chocolate anymore. I haven't bought any of that shit for years, but I do love chocolate. The best chocolate you can buy is Ghirardelli, and it's 100% American manufactured right here in California. A nice Italian immigrant boy started it in 1850 in San Francisco. They use only the best cocoa beans, and all the low quality rejects are sold to Hershey and the Mexicans. Ghirardelli Chocolate


                I eat that chocolate too. But I never knew the story behind the chocolate.

                Thank you.

                Jess
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          • Profile picture of the author HeySal
            Originally Posted by TMG Enterprises View Post

            I'm going to chime in again with my thoughts even though I believe they'll be unpopular but I don't agree with this totally, either. There are exceptions, of course, but a lot of people could afford to have the woman (or man, if he so chose) to stay home with the children. People choose their lifestyle, for the most part.

            There are many ways to keep the expenses down to where one income is sufficient. Do you really need the huge house, three cars, the boat in the back and the RV with two vacations a year?

            People often get the financial part backwards. Instead of fitting their lifestyle to their income, they feel they need to make the income fit the lifestyle.

            I say this as someone who provided perfectly decent lives for three children on an income that was only over $20,000 the past few years. Granted, I didn't own a house but my children were decently clothed, well fed and had what they needed to have.

            Tina G
            I agree with that in part Tina. There are A LOT of people who could afford to live on one income - and I also think that our whole social structure would be stronger if people would concentrate on living on one income if they have kids. One parent at home to take care of the kids while the other works. Kids don't need to be able to afford every damned toy and designer shoe on the market to be happy. Which can help adjust a kid better - the newest 150 dollar fashion or the Mom or Dad that is at home when they get home from school?

            Yes people make their choices - and it is absolutely unbelievable that they choose prada over the well being of their children. Why even have em if you don't want to raise them yourself? It's not like there aren't enough around already.


            Star - yes women want to do more than serve men. Women whose husbands left them after strapping them with kids put a lot of women into poverty. Men also have been widely known to mistreat women when they have the financial control. Do you know what it is like to have to beg for every buck in your pocket? Or to be forbidden to leave the house and not have any funding to do otherwise? Or to be told how you will spend every 24 hours of the day?
            For women to want to stay home it would take getting men to understand that women are not slaves or possessions......that staying home is a division of labor, not subordinate citizenship. Perhaps if women were alotted half of money left over after bills and food, etc for their services as homemakers and child raisers (which IS work and HARD work when done right) , and retained rights to credit, etc there wouldn't be so many wanting to flee from the home. No one in their right mind wants to work themselves into a stupor....but no one in their right mind will acquiesce themselves into slavery either. No one in their right mind would tell someone WHERE their place is, either. Personal hitlers are just as bad as national ones.

            What it all boils down to is what Tina said - people make their choices.
            We have decided we want and need it all. If you have kids, your first decision should be to arrange to have one parent, either one, stay home with them if at all possible, - at least through their younger years until high school when they are learning most about their role in society. Maybe if you feel you HAVE to work, then put off having kids. Either way it would be a big help to society.
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        • Profile picture of the author KimW
          Originally Posted by Star69 View Post

          I would like to encourage everyone to please not buy Hershey's Chocolate this Easter season. The Hershey's company put hundreds of American workers out of jobs last month (or was it February?) when they closed the plants in Hershey, Pennsylvania and moved the plants, and the jobs, to Mexico. So please, ignore the commercials on the telly and do them the same way they did these American workers who have helped make that company what it is today. (And Nestle's isn't much better. That is now made in Brazil!)

          Thank you.

          Only partially true,see here:snopes.com: Hershey's Moves to Mexico

          Originally Posted by TMG Enterprises View Post

          Star, you are one of the few who would be willing to pay more (witness the success of Walmart). And the Chinese already own more of the US than Americans do...lol.

          I agree that some of the problem may lie in corporate greed but I blame more of it on the apathy of the general public.

          Tina G

          Actually again, only partially true. Like others,I refuse to step inside Walmart. And while there are a lot of apathetic Americans, there are also many that are afraid to speak or act out.

          Originally Posted by ThomM View Post

          If you're going to close shop here and move your company out of the country then sell your products there and don't sell them here.

          Sure we demand a decent and some times obscene (when unions are involved) wage. But these companies are still making a profit and just want more.
          Then they whine and cry when their profits go down because the people they laid off can't afford their products anymore.
          again,only partly true.
          I'm with ya Thom, you want me to buy your products,then pay an American to make them and/or to support them.

          But I have to disagree with you about union workers getting indecent wages. I spent 10 years working a union job and before I did I believed the BS that is spread about unions ruining things.
          Just like everything else, there are good and bad people in the unions,but when I was a single father raising 3 daughters on my own, there were many times my employer tried to get rid of me,but were unable to because of the union. (This was before the FMLA)
          Did I see corrupt union people? You betcha.
          Did I see union members that knew how to abuse the system but got protected by the union? You betcha.
          But I also saw many more that worked hard every day for their money, which was a decent salary with decent benefits ,than I saw abusers.
          The really sad thing is that if America had retained the values this country was brought up on, there would be no need for unions.
          There would be no need for outsourcing.
          We would be helping each other.
          I could go on and on, but I think I need to let my BP drop a bit. :rolleyes:
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          • Profile picture of the author ThomM
            I understand what you are saying Kim.
            Myself I have never had a good experience with a union and I belonged to a couple. I've also worked for non-union companies that where far worse then any union could think of being.
            When many of the unions where started in this country they where very much needed, the coal miner's union comes to mind.
            But many have gotten out of hand.

            I know here in NY the coveted jobs are with the state. They have 2 different unions and thanks to them our state workers enjoy real good paying jobs, great benefits, vacation, sick, and personal days up the ying-yang, and have to almost kill someone to get fired. One person I know of makes around 60,000 a year to sit in his office, look out the window and count the traffic on the Thruway as it goes by all because the State can't get rid of him because of the union and they have no use for him. Mean while in the private sector we actually have to preform and earn our wages, vacation, etc. It's great when a union protects employees that deserve it but they also protect the ones that don't deserve it so that makes them just as responsible for jobs leaving the country as the company moving the jobs.
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  • Profile picture of the author Star69
    I'll probably be accused of sexism, but I'm going to say it anyway, I think the downfall began during World War Two. It's all Rosie the Riveter's fault.

    Our men went to fight the war but we still needed someone to build the planes, tanks, etc., so the women were allowed to set the kids down, slip on their shoes and go to work for a change. Women began earning paychecks and they liked it. (Can't blame them for feeling that way.) But when the war wound down, a lot of the women refused to go back to being shoeless and pregnant all the time. They wanted to work.

    This continued through the prosperity of the fifties, back when a man could afford to buy a new home, park a new car in the driveway and still put food on the table and raise his family. Most women worked in an office as typists, secretaries and the like.

    Then the Sixties came along and everyone was into free love. Germaine Greer (I think it was her) encouraged women to take control of their sexuality. Women began reading Cosmopolitan and getting crazy ideas about their husbands. Women wanted to be able to vote (I don't see anything wrong with that.) and they wanted to keep working and have careers. They didn't want to sit in an office at a typewriter any more, they wanted to build houses and operate heavy machinery, too. Well, there were enough jobs to go around, the economy was humming right along and that didn't seem like such a bad thing at the time, so, okay.

    But today there are not enough jobs for everyone, children are raised by people they don't even know and are not supervised by their parents (assuming they have both parents at home) and become delinquents, many of whom either do drugs or sell drugs (or both) and rush hour is 24/7 because of all the people who have to drive to their jobs

    Now think of a time when women took care of the home, watched over the children and let their men be the bread winners, a time when the man actually earned a living that was a much larger percentage of the cost of living than it is today. Think of a time when rush hour was reduced to morning and late afternoons and pollution from internal combustion engines wasn't so thick it caused your eyes to burn.

    Think of a time when the economy was growing but not at such a break neck pace as it did for the past twenty years. Haste makes waste, as the old saying goes, and hence, now we have waste.

    What the hell happened? That's what happened and it all started with Rosie the Riveter. Women belong at home with the kids and the men should be the breadwinners. That's the way it was intended and when man thinks they are so smart they can change the order of things, it all goes to pot.

    Okay, lemme have it with both barrels.
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    • Profile picture of the author ShayB
      Originally Posted by Star69 View Post

      What the hell happened? That's what happened and it all started with Rosie the Riveter. Women belong at home with the kids and the men should be the breadwinners. That's the way it was intended and when man thinks they are so smart they can change the order of things, it all goes to pot.

      Okay, lemme have it with both barrels.
      I am not going to let you have it. :rolleyes:

      I actually agree with your basic premise.

      The problems come from the results of that "ideal" scenario:

      What happens when the world is dominated by men, and you have a single mom?

      What about when women could not get a loan without her husband's signature? Or a bank account?

      What about how women were viewed? I have read magazine articles and such from that era and they made me want to vomit. Women were considered useful only for procreation, sex and housekeeping. The ones who were independent had to stay single.

      While I stay home with my kids, I am glad I have other options available to me and my daughters.
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    • Profile picture of the author Texson5
      Originally Posted by Star69 View Post

      I'll probably be accused of sexism, but I'm going to say it anyway, I think the downfall began during World War Two. It's all Rosie the Riveter's fault.

      Our men went to fight the war but we still needed someone to build the planes, tanks, etc., so the women were allowed to set the kids down, slip on their shoes and go to work for a change. Women began earning paychecks and they liked it. (Can't blame them for feeling that way.) But when the war wound down, a lot of the women refused to go back to being shoeless and pregnant all the time. They wanted to work.

      This continued through the prosperity of the fifties, back when a man could afford to buy a new home, park a new car in the driveway and still put food on the table and raise his family. Most women worked in an office as typists, secretaries and the like.

      Then the Sixties came along and everyone was into free love. Germaine Greer (I think it was her) encouraged women to take control of their sexuality. Women began reading Cosmopolitan and getting crazy ideas about their husbands. Women wanted to be able to vote (I don't see anything wrong with that.) and they wanted to keep working and have careers. They didn't want to sit in an office at a typewriter any more, they wanted to build houses and operate heavy machinery, too. Well, there were enough jobs to go around, the economy was humming right along and that didn't seem like such a bad thing at the time, so, okay.

      But today there are not enough jobs for everyone, children are raised by people they don't even know and are not supervised by their parents (assuming they have both parents at home) and become delinquents, many of whom either do drugs or sell drugs (or both) and rush hour is 24/7 because of all the people who have to drive to their jobs

      Now think of a time when women took care of the home, watched over the children and let their men be the bread winners, a time when the man actually earned a living that was a much larger percentage of the cost of living than it is today. Think of a time when rush hour was reduced to morning and late afternoons and pollution from internal combustion engines wasn't so thick it caused your eyes to burn.

      Think of a time when the economy was growing but not at such a break neck pace as it did for the past twenty years. Haste makes waste, as the old saying goes, and hence, now we have waste.

      What the hell happened? That's what happened and it all started with Rosie the Riveter. Women belong at home with the kids and the men should be the breadwinners. That's the way it was intended and when man thinks they are so smart they can change the order of things, it all goes to pot.

      Okay, lemme have it with both barrels.

      That was a very refreshing post, thank you.

      Jess
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  • Profile picture of the author Star69
    " Women were considered useful only for procreation, sex and housekeeping." Shay

    Yeah? You say that like it's bad or something... (hang on! I'm just messin' with ya!)

    Yes, very true, there are exceptions to the rule, of course. And I agree it was probably quite difficult for women to get loans and such. I imagine they felt less than independent having to have their husbands approval for almost everything. I sure wouldn't like that if I were a woman. I couldn't even think how hard it must've been for single mothers back then, everyone looking down their noses at them.

    But it is what it is. Men and women have almost equal status (that's right , men have come a long way, baby! ) and I seriously doubt anyone will try to turn things around and live to tell about it, so what can we do, eh?

    Buy American (if you're an American) and you may just save your own job.
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  • Profile picture of the author valerieSONORA
    Star-it's hard to find anything made in the USA these days.

    And another thing Star have YOU ever spent all day in the house with a bunch of kids? It's really, really BORING. No wonder women wanted to go to work LOL the REAL work (not payable) is when you get home from the work that pays.

    I like the idea of forcing all men to be househusbands while the woman go earn the paycheck LMAO
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    • Profile picture of the author ThomM
      I like the idea of forcing all men to be househusbands while the woman go earn the paycheck LMAO
      Did that for 9 months once with 3 girls.
      Wife worked I took care of the house and kids.
      Did most of it through the summer so all the kids where home.
      What's a lot harder is being a single parent.
      Then you have to work all day, come home fix dinner, clean the house, and all the other stuff you would normally do during the day. For that period I think I only slept about 4 hours a day.
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    • Profile picture of the author Star69
      Originally Posted by valerieSONORA View Post

      Star-it's hard to find anything made in the USA these days.
      Uh, my son was made in the USA... (At least that's what his mom told me...)

      Originally Posted by valerieSONORA View Post

      And another thing Star have YOU ever spent all day in the house with a bunch of kids? It's really, really BORING.
      Well, yes I have, as a matter of fact. They were all under five. It's only boring if you go about it the wrong way. I found it quite entertaining for the kids to fight it out in a cage match. And duct tape works really well when you have to go to the liquor store.

      Originally Posted by valerieSONORA View Post

      I like the idea of forcing all men to be househusbands while the woman go earn the paycheck LMAO
      Dang, Valerie! I think I love you! Wanna go to Vegas and get hitched?
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  • Profile picture of the author KimW
    Actually, in retrospect I wish I had appreciated the time I had with my kids.It may have seemed boring back then,but I was just stupid.

    ThomM,
    You are of course right, there are bad elements and abusers in the unions.
    I intentionally didn't say which one before, but I worked for the United States Postal Service,and I not only belonged to the APWU ( American Postal Workers Union) but I was also a shop steward for most of those years.
    It sickened me at how badly management treated the (mostly good) employees, but it sickened me as much when I had to defend the bad employees that really didn't deserve the job.
    After 10 years, the last few of which I was a single parent, I quit my job,cashed in my retirement and and went back to college where I got my degree in computer sciences and was happier than I had been for years,up until my kidney failure was diagnosed 2 years ago.

    I have to say,most management in the Post Office is like the examples you gave.They put in their time take the paycheck and wait till the can retire.
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    • Profile picture of the author ThomM
      That's interesting Kim.
      My best friend currently works for the post office and my past wife's first husband did also.
      J.P. my friend is a hard worker who was a P.T. delivery person for 5 years before he could go full time. My wife's first husband worked at the distribution center here and was a load. Drunk or high on crack most of the time, he couldn't lose his job (he finally quit to get out of paying child support) and my friend had a hard time getting his.
      I didn't think of the post office having a union. I just figured they where screwed up naturally.
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  • Profile picture of the author MarketingGuide06
    I enjoyed eating chocolates specially Hershey's, but we can blame them for laying of some American workers to transfer to Mexico, looks what's happening in our economy.
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  • Profile picture of the author valerieSONORA
    Chocolate is high in fat and calories and sugar anyway.

    ***Must avoid chocolate, must avoid chocolate***

    That evil Thomas keeps brainwashing me to eat chocolate and his brainwashing is pissing me off!
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  • Profile picture of the author Thomas Wilkinson
    Another thing I don't see mentioned is that beginning in 1981, (you remember
    what happened that year.) our tax codes were changed to PAY companies who moved
    out of the country. President Clinton tried several times to change the law in the 90s
    but the Congress wouldn't even consider it. We still pay companies to leave.

    Tom

    EDIT: I thought it was cookie dough you were addicted to Val.
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  • Profile picture of the author valerieSONORA
    Tom-chocolate chip cookie dough!!! It has chocolate in it. Now don't remind me, Thomas has not mind controlled me recently so I haven't had that in a long time :p
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  • Profile picture of the author CPA
    Oh, really? You never outsourced articles to somebody out of the US or you just hire US writers?

    We should shut you down for that matter and don't let you do business.

    The only difference between them and the thousands of webmasters is that they actually make it big.
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    • Profile picture of the author Star69
      Originally Posted by CPA View Post

      Oh, really? You never outsourced articles to somebody out of the US or you just hire US writers?

      We should shut you down for that matter and don't let you do business.

      The only difference between them and the thousands of webmasters is that they actually make it big.

      Uh, not sure who you're replying to, but as for myself, yes, if I am going to outsource I only outsource to other Americans, since I am an American. I believe in looking out for my own.
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  • Profile picture of the author Star69
    For Valerie...with love, of course...

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  • Profile picture of the author youdiezst
    its business man, harsh but not much u can do about it.
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    • Profile picture of the author KimW
      Originally Posted by youdiezst View Post

      its business man, harsh but not much u can do about it.
      There is a lot we can do about it, but you have to have some backbone.

      As stated before, I refuse to walk into Walmart
      I could go there and get a few of my medications for $4 ,but I don't.
      I go to a locally owned pharmacy and do what I can to keep locally owned businesses open.
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      • Profile picture of the author Star69
        Originally Posted by KimW View Post

        There is a lot we can do about it, but you have to have some backbone.

        As stated before, I refuse to walk into Walmart
        I could go there and get a few of my medications for $4 ,but I don't.
        I go to a locally owned pharmacy and do what I can to keep locally owned businesses open.
        Bravo, Kim! If we don't begin supporting local businesses, before long all we will have are giant, uncaring corporations who hold the bottom line up as their god.

        That's the same as people refusing to buy products from the little Internet marketers, preferring to only buy from the gurus.

        Where would we be then?

        There is more to it than shopping somewhere just to save a couple bucks.

        The people have the power as long as they remember that. United we stand, divided we fall.
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        • Profile picture of the author Dan484
          KimW you are an exception because most of us don't go out of our way to buy American even though we would like to. We definitely wont buy American if there is the same exact product for half the cost. I try to buy American when possible, but it is tough when most of us are just squeaking by.
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          • Profile picture of the author bombdiggity
            Sorry, but I'm not going to put the blame entirely on the corporations. With all the exorbitant taxes, tariffs, and over-regulation in this country, it's no wonder that corporations want to move abroad. That's what happens when the government tries to kill off the productive members of society, whether it's intentional or not.

            But, don't mistake me as a fan of big corporations either. I don't feel sorry for them one bit, because I know that in the past, it was these very corporations who lobbied the government to increase the tariffs and the regulations, so that smaller companies couldn't compete with them. It's called protectionism, and to a lesser extent, fascism.

            In the marketplace, people vote with their dollars. I'm not going to condemn anyone for boycotting a particular company. I respect everyone's right to freely do so. However, I don't think any of this would be possible without the State doing it's thing. The real root of the problem is an over-abundance of government. The Founding Fathers never intended for there to be a central bank in the United States. I think once we get rid of it, a lot of these problems will solve themselves.
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  • Profile picture of the author Star69
    Right on, Joshua. Many government entities have rules that only benefit large corporations, many of which are not even owned by Americans.

    Dan, ever thought that the reason we are 'squeaking by' is because we haven't been supporting our own people in the past?

    I must admit that simply buying American will not solve this problem. There must be corresponding change in the way government allows businesses to do business and the way they are so heavily taxed. But that won't be happening any time soon.

    In the meantime, we can still vote with our dollars rather than just cave in completely.

    If America is to become the grand country it once was, our government should pay more attention to who owns what in this country instead of selling everything to foreigners.
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  • Profile picture of the author workingmamma
    Seems to me anymore that most things in America are not even owned by Americans and I think buying American made goods is not even the tip of the iceburg. I do like to try to buy American made goods too and I agree when we don't we are hurting America but also feel like it is a catch 20 20 because if something cost alot more then I can not afford to buy the higher priced items. Everyone felt that the new president was going to change this economy around but i am still waiting patiently for that to happen. I know it is not an over night job so maybe by 2010 we will see a huge difference.
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    • Profile picture of the author Barbara Eyre
      While I know there are other factors involved ... such as tariffs, taxes, etc that have been mentioned above ... what seems to be the main cause of companies moving overseas is that fact that the CEOs and shareholders must have ever increasing profits.

      They can't be happy holding steady year after year, while making sure their employees are taken care of. No - when shareholders or CEOs want more money, the first place they go to for cuts is the employees (health care, benefits, raises, and jobs overall).

      There is absolutely NO reason for a CEOs to make several million dollars while one of his workers makes less than $12/hr ... the person who does the majority of the work for the company.

      Don't get me wrong, one of the perks of owning your own business (or being CEO, etc) is making more money and working less. I understand that. But when is "enough is enough"? There truly needs to be a control on spiraling out-of-control greed. There can be too much of it. Greed is the foundation of why so many companies are going under/folding ... or moving overseas. It's not because the workers want more (they just want to cover the ever-rising expenses of the monthly bills) ... but because the higher-ups and shareholders want more and more, year after year.

      I better get off of my soapbox. I am in one of the moods where I can just write and write about things of this nature. But I have work to do ... off to load computer products into a new cart.
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      • Profile picture of the author Kay King
        They can't be happy holding steady year after year, while making sure their employees are taken care of. No - when shareholders or CEOs want more money, the first place they go to for cuts is the employees (health care, benefits, raises, and jobs overall).
        That's a good point - but who is to blame? The companies who have forgotten long term profitability and go for the "quarterly profit increases" consistently? The government who hasn't regulated this but rewards companies even if they take their production outside the US?

        How about us? We bought into the "US is becoming a service society" back in the 70's. Sounded good - we would be managing resources and providing service to customers rather than doing the work that made our hands dirty (manufacturing). We loved the idea of white collar jobs and being in a management position - and we didn't question whether our jobs were valuable or even sustainable. Unions demanded - and for a while got - wages that would support them in the way they wanted rather than fair pay for the type of work they were doing. Where else in the world are union workers paid 90% of their salary even when their plant is not in production? All they have to do is show up and sit around for 8 hrs daily and they are paid. It's a great deal - right up until the system collapses.

        "Service jobs" translated into telemarketing, answering phones, fixing things that were built by companies out the US. We didn't complain; we didn't ask the hard questions. We were making money - we were happy and only when there were downturns did anyone say "what are we doing here"? Did we even notice that high paying manufacturing jobs were being replaced by minimum wage "service jobs"? Did we care? The minute gas was cheaper - we forgot about conservation - the minute credit was easier we grabbed all we could to buy more stuff.

        It wasn't a pretty picture and got us where we are today - but there's is enough blame to go around and you can't unring that bell.

        "Women staying home with children" doesn't have the same connotation it did a couple generations ago. Now it seems to mean having endless time to take children from lesson to lesson or sport to sport or play date to play date. There are excellent day care centers available that provide learning and structured activities as well as valuable lessons on self control in dealing with others.

        In past generations, women at home weren't only taking care of children. They were planting gardens, harvesting and preserving food for their family, running a home without the conveniences and time savers we have today. They weren't cruising the malls or talking endlessly on cell phones - they were working all day every day but doing it at home. They often had more children than is common in families today because they had no reliable way of family planning. When you walked into those homes, you weren't greeted with rooms filled with toys or with children's "schedules" posted on the fridge.

        It's not the same - children don't require 24 hr parental presence and attention to thrive. In fact, if you want a spoiled brat, just spend every moment of every day attending to your child's needs and wants. Children model their parents. Overweight parents almost always have overweight children; parents focused on "status" create children focused on "how others see me". An organized, hard working single parent can spoil their child out of guilt - or help their children learn responsibility and the work ethic. Whether a parent works or doesn't work outside the home is not the indicator of a child's success as they grow up.

        Being a working single parent is rough. However, there is a whole class of people who are single parents and stay-at-home moms. They live on the government dole - and statistics show their children often grow up to do the same. The more privileged side of that coin are parents who are still focused on their needs and their emotional requirements rather than on the welfare and growth of their children.

        We can criticize corporate greed - or government bailouts - or working moms and greedy employers. Truth is - you determine your life. You decide how much "stuff" you need and what you are willing to do to get the money to buy it.

        pick up soapbox....exit stage right

        kay
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  • Profile picture of the author HeySal
    Joshua - glad to see someone who understands the workings of fascism.

    Yes - we need to get rid of the FED - our federal income tax doesn't even go to anything about this country. It goes straight to the Central bank, interest on a loan for which we were unknowingly made collateral (got your ss#? - er, I mean your inventory #).

    If we do not get rid of this fascist entity, we will never be able to live as humans were meant to -- our entire ethos and mental capacity is trained for earning more money and power for the controller. Screw the kids - buy big, work hard.
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  • Profile picture of the author Emily Meeks
    I like M&M's better anyway
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  • Profile picture of the author myob
    Hershey's has plants in about 50 countries. Most people really love chocolate, and no stupid misguided little boycott can stop that. Hershey has simply moved its huge manufacturing plant to other smaller facilities throughout the US and Canada to save on labor and shipping costs, not just to Mexico. They are producing more jobs in plants in the South and Midwest US. Hershey's has also recently built a plant in China to capture the sweet tooth of the huge growing Asian market ($1.23 billion) annually. And it's still the largest selling chocolate in the US with nearly half the market. Get over it, and enjoy a Hershey bar.
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    • Profile picture of the author seasoned
      Originally Posted by myob View Post

      Hershey's has plants in about 50 countries. Most people really love chocolate, and no stupid misguided little boycott can stop that. Hershey has simply moved its huge manufacturing plant to other smaller facilities throughout the US and Canada to save on labor and shipping costs, not just to Mexico. They are producing more jobs in plants in the South and Midwest US. Hershey's has also recently built a plant in China to capture the sweet tooth of the huge growing Asian market ($1.23 billion) annually. And it's still the largest selling chocolate in the US with nearly half the market. Get over it, and enjoy a Hershey bar.
      Well, there ARE some things that are picking up steam and COULD hurt their bottom line. Look at me, for example! Let's say that their profit is .25 per unit. If so, then my chance in habits BEFORE this boycott, cost them $182.5 per year! That may not sound like a lot but, over my life, would have been $8395! If that were true for every person now in the S, that would be over 60 BILLION a year! I would say that is a lot. GRANTED, their profit is PROBABLY less than $.25, and perhaps only 1/3 of the population even likes chocolate, etc... but who knows?


      Decline in US seasonal chocolate sales
      By Lorraine Heller, 02-Sep-2005
      Related topics: Financial & Industry

      Seasonal chocolate sales in the US are forecast to reach $3.3bn (€2.6bn) in 2005, marking a substantial decline over the past five years, according to a new report published by Research and Markets.

      The report , published in July, reveals a 1.4 per cent increase in seasonal chocolate sales between 1999 and 2004, which is equivalent to a 10.5 per cent decline with inflation taken into account.

      Sales of seasonal chocolate in 2004, which included verified sales for all holiday products, stood at $3.4bn (€2.7bn), representing 22.5 per cent of the total $15.1bn (€12bn) US chocolate market.

      The overall chocolate market increased 7.6 per cent in the time period, which represents a 5 per cent decline in real terms, says the report.

      Some chocolate manufacturers are sidestepping seasonal restrictions on sales by "blurring seasonal lines" to make products that can be used for more than one holiday.

      "Hershey's Kisses leverages a number of fourth-quarter holidays by selling bags of red, gold, brown and orange-wrapped chocolates. By not specifying 'holiday' on the wrapping, the product can be sold at Halloween, Thanksgiving, Fall Football, or Back to School. The same is true for M&Ms, which are sold in 'seasonal colours' that can be given for a number of holidays," says the report.

      "The market is also 'channel blurring', which makes it possible to purchase seasonal chocolate, and indeed chocolate for any occasion, through myriad channels from the highest quality chocolatier to the dollar store."
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      • Profile picture of the author myob
        Originally Posted by seasoned View Post

        Well, there ARE some things that are picking up steam and COULD hurt their bottom line. Look at me, for example! Let's say that their profit is .25 per unit. If so, then my chance in habits BEFORE this boycott, cost them $182.5 per year! That may not sound like a lot but, over my life, would have been $8395! If that were true for every person now in the S, that would be over 60 BILLION a year! I would say that is a lot. GRANTED, their profit is PROBABLY less than $.25, and perhaps only 1/3 of the population even likes chocolate, etc... but who knows?
        If you are projecting $60billion a year loss for Hershey in the US (which is actually more than 10 times their total revenue worldwide), can you really blame them if they were to shut down all US operations and move their factories to Mexico, China, and other more favorable markets? Besides, there really is no such thing as "American" chocolate. All cocoa used in the manufacture of chocolate for consumption in the US is actually imported from all around the world. By the way, the report you are referencing is nearly 4 years old; do you have anything more "current"?
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        • Profile picture of the author Kay King
          The absolute best chocolate I've ever eaten was made in France. Second best was in Belgium. Hershey's is third but affordable and available.

          Have you looked closely at grocery shelves recently? From soup to ice cream - the containers are smaller, the prices are higher. Bad economy or not, companies will preserve that bottom line one way or another.

          kay
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        • Profile picture of the author seasoned
          Originally Posted by myob View Post

          If you are projecting $60billion a year loss for Hershey in the US (which is actually more than 10 times their total revenue worldwide), can you really blame them if they were to shut down all US operations and move their factories to Mexico, China, and other more favorable markets? Besides, there really is no such thing as "American" chocolate. All cocoa used in the manufacture of chocolate for consumption in the US is actually imported from all around the world. By the way, the report you are referencing is nearly 4 years old; do you have anything more "current"?

          It was the first I saw, and I didn't want to waste my time. Yeah, that is ANOTHER reason to not buy chocolate, THANKS! When you think of where it came from, etc.... YUCK! Oh yeah, Chocolate, as I recall, ORIGINATED in America

          Chocolate (pronounced /ˈtʃɒklət/ (help·info) or /-ˈələt/) comprises a number of raw and processed foods that are produced from the seed of the tropical cacao tree. Native to lowland, tropical South America, cacao has been cultivated for at least three millennia in Central America and Mexico, with its earliest documented use around 1100 BC. The majority of the Mesoamerican peoples made chocolate beverages, including the Maya and Aztecs, who made it into a beverage known as xocolātl, a Nahuatl word meaning "bitter water". The seeds of the cacao tree have an intense bitter taste, and must be fermented to develop the flavor.
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  • Profile picture of the author Patrician
    Chocolate is actually very healthy - but the refined sugar and all the other stuff they do it it makes it useless.

    Very dark chocolate is very healthy - an antioxidant. Some companies do it with very little sugar and/or use pure cane juice (unrefined). One that you would all recognize is Mars/Dove - they have the 63% cacao chocolate with only a few calories. Most others are pretty expensive.

    Chocolate being one of the main food groups, I still say BOYCOTT ALL UNAMERICAN COMPANIES THAT RIP US OFF BY SENDING OUR JOBS TO FOREIGN COUNTRIES.

    Otherwise we should attach some sort of tariff that makes ripping America off less attractive...

    ...and they are ripping us off...
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