Okay, a little fudging in the title. First, it's actually two modest requests.
First, go read, or even skim, Brainwrap's GREAT News out of Detroit post. Give it a little rec dot if you agree it is indeed GREAT news. I do.
Pretty darn cool, huh? Televisions. Made in the US of Freakin' A. I never thought I'd see something like that again.
It may seem like a small thing, but it's really pretty huge. You see, televisions are kind of a big-ticket item. And we buy a lot of them. From da wiki:
As of 2011, 48 million are sold each year, at an average price of $460 and size of 38 inches.
Worldwide large-screen television technology brand revenue share in Q3 2011
Manufacturer
SAMSUNG 22.8%
LG 13.1%
Sony 9.9%
Panasonic 8.4%
Sharp 7.6%
Other 38.2%
Yup. That's a lot of TVs. And you know which Americans buy a whole lot of TVs? You do. Every one of you.
The second fudge: I'm not really a "defense contractor" like Halliburton or General Goddamnics. I'm a sub-sub-sub-sub-sub-subcontractor, doing AV/IT installations for the government. And part of our work, on every single job, is hanging and sparking up TVs. Lots and lots and lots of new, big screen TVs for data display, teleconferencing, instruction and, I'm sure, watching football (sorry, government workers are people, too).
AV and IT upgrades are a lot of what your governments--federal, local and state--i.e. YOU--are buying these days, whether it's the military, or Agriculture, Treasury, Transportation or your local city council. You're buying a lot of big TVs, even if you never get to watch them.
So why not buy American-made TVs? Government agencies at every level like to purchase US-made goods. It's good PR. Many of them even have rules requiring them, when two items of equal value are available, to buy American.
Which brings us to my second request: could you please take a few minutes out of your work, play or TV watching and send the news about Element Electronics' new, American-made TVs to your congressoids, senatrons, state reps and city fathers and mothers, tell them there will soon be an alternative to the Sonys and Sharps and Samsungs, and alternative that will likely be no worse pieces of crap and will put their countrymen back to work?
Because nothing would make this lowly sub-sub-sub-sub-sub-subcontractor smile more than stepping back from a conference room wall to admire the hang of a nice, new flatscreen labeled "Made in USA."
Because then I'd know some other American was lucky enough to be working, too.