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Posted by mannyc [173.77.232.12] on Saturday, December 19, 2009 at 00:09:07 :
if it was, I don't need it. I'd be happy to buy a new 1967 ffpw every 10 years just to change things up. it would be great to gripe about the new 1967 power wagon's overly complicated dual boosted brakes and padded dash.... EVERY favorite item i have in my shop and in my house predates 1968 and i often think about how i could do without anything made after. imagine a world without cellphones, computers, plastic bumpers and walmart. local stores selling to local buyers. auto parts stores with tremendous books and a stock of all maint items out back. produce that came from the next town and not other side of the planet. bread from the local bakery in a PAPER BAG. pepsi in glass bottles. cans with pull tops! I just threw out dole fruit we bought for the kids. figured it was from california or florida - wrong- grown in china, packaged in vietnam- WTF? Al Gore's internet and the ability to shop the world market in your underwear, took out all of the slush that a merchant once had in his pricing model. it was that profit margin that fueled the economy and in turn paid a decent wage to distributors, salesmen and employees. that living wage allowed the dad to work and earn enough so that a wife could stay home and raise the kids if she wanted. somewhere along the way raising kids became less important than filling the house with crap that no one needed. Doubtless, the woman's movement increased a woman's options and that is a good thing. it also doubled the workforce and halved the available wage pool. everyone works harder to get less.... its always the unintended consequences that bite you in the ass. now most women HAVE to work. how liberating is that? the above rambling is in response to the below conversation about chinese knockoff braden winches. it makes me sick to think that the game is such that no american foundry can make, produce and sell american designed products at a price that justifies the effort. the lure of the cheap price entices unknowing or uncaring individuals to buy cheap. there are many more price vs quality buyers out there and those in the know must suffer. i have a japanese repro temp gauge in my command car and it drives me nuts, but i digress....
using crap parts in a real braden winch likely saves dollars but could injure the user. i'm sure the guys rebuilding winches with knock off parts don't consider the consequences, but are proud of their profits.
I'd love to see the whole thing swing back in the right direction, but i'm not holding my breath. its disconcerting, but i'm optimistic. my wife is doing a fantastic job raising our 2 young boys. the house feels like christmas and its going to snow tonight. snowmen tomorrow!
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