Book Report: “Bye America”
Posted by SCapozzola on October 20th, 2009AAM Field Coordinator Rachel Bennett Steury has forwarded information on a new book that explains the importance of Keeping it Made in America:
“Bye, America”
IBEW Local 688 President Lance Biglin in Mansfield, Ohio has taken a creative approach to help educate Americans on the importance of buying American. Biglin, together with his wife, has published a children’s book, “Bye, America” to help teach children, and in some cases their parents, why it is important to buy American made products.
In his letter introducing the book Biglin writes, “This is the story of four million American families who have seen their jobs disappear over the last eight years.”
The story follows one worker who loses his job at a vacuum cleaner factory when his factory moves to China. The father takes his children to “Walrus Mart” to show them why it is important to buy American-made products. Sadly, every product they looked at was labeled “Made in China”.
“The United States has lost 3,500,000 jobs since the year 2000. Most of these were jobs that paid Americans a fair wage for a hard day’s work. When these jobs leave our country, there is very seldom an opportunity for a better job for these displaced workers. This book gives you a chance to sit down with the next generation of Americans and explain to them the importance of supporting their fellow countrymen. We are not losing these jobs because we are unproductive; we are losing these jobs because other countries are exploiting their workers, producing unsafe goods and just plain cheating,” concludes Biglin.
The book is beautifully illustrated by the author’s wife, Kristi Biglin. To order copies of the book, which is “proudly union printed in the U.S.A.”, click here.
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October 20th, 2009 at 9:24 pm
Iam a member of The United Steelworkers Union. We gave this book away at the Dekalb Co. Free Fall Fair in Auburn, In in late Oct. It is a real good book for kids and their parents who think free trade is good. We will soon be dropping these off at DR’s & dentist offices. In Solidarity Charlie O
October 27th, 2009 at 12:26 pm
Sounds like a great book! The problem is that the Big Banks got the money, not small businesses. I had heard that for the past 12 years the SBA has been giving loans to sub-sub-subsidiaries (off-shoots) of larger corporations and not new entrepreneurs. I NEVER shop at Wal-mart and NEVER will no matter how poor I become. There was a journalist working SBA loans and uncovering the truth about small businesses a long time ago. I would rather pay $10 for a wooden, natural bristle broom made in America, than a $2 plastic broom made in China from plastics (PCBs). The owner makes a profit, pays employees, and taxes, etc. That’s what built America. We’ve been led down a dark path with NAFTA, GATT to destroy our middle-class. I wish I could find a catalog of American built/made only vendors who provide all the goods that China is now providing us, or people who want to get together with ideas and start re-making toys, furniture, clothing, etc. God bless you for writing the book.