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government thugs
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Richard Jernigan
Posts: 3430
Joined: Jan. 20 2004
From: Austin, Texas USA
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 RE: government thugs (in reply to jshelton5040)
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Sometime in the 1970s, driving northward from Austria to Munich, my college room mate Tom's 12-year old son insisted that we eat at McDonald's in Garmisch-Partenkirchen. While there, Tom tried to calm me down with the story of the city council almost outlawing the burger joint by requiring that beer be served in glass mugs, rather than plastic cups. But eventually they caved in.
I had only been out of the Army for a few years, and the numerous American soldiers in McDonald's were making me nervous. As the boy neared the end of his meal, Tom said to him, "Come on, Stefan, let's get out of here before Richard starts a fight."
I am much calmer now, but I still don't go to McDonald's.
RNJ
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Date Aug. 10 2011 18:36:06
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BarkellWH
Posts: 3458
Joined: Jul. 12 2009
From: Washington, DC
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RE: government thugs (in reply to avimuno)
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quote:
Well... it is apparently ok for American junk to be sold outside the States... there's a MacDonald's not far from where I live, and there's also a cinema showing Hollywood movies!
It seems to me that this thread got off the rails quickly and morphed into whether or not the U.S. sells "junk" overseas. That was not the point of the original post. The original post complained that while "junk" Mexican guitars were sold in the U.S., Mexican authorities put obstacles up that prevented American guitars being sold in Mexico. This is a very real trade issue and worthy of discussion. By and large, the U.S. has an open market for foreign imports, while some countries restrict U.S. exports.
As to whether or not McDonald's represents "junk," that is up to each individual to decide for himself. But just like Mexican guitars sold in the U.S., it is perfectly legitimate for McDonald's to expand into overseas markets. If one likes McDonald's hamburgers and Mexican guitars, one is free to buy them. If one does not, one is equally free to pass on them. That is the beauty of the market.
Cheers,
Bill
_____________________________
And the end of the fight is a tombstone white,
With the name of the late deceased,
And the epitaph drear, "A fool lies here,
Who tried to hustle the East."
--Rudyard Kipling
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Date Aug. 10 2011 18:54:10
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JuanDaBomb
Posts: 189
Joined: May 18 2011
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RE: government thugs (in reply to jshelton5040)
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My experience has been that people in Mexico would rather buy American made products instead of domestically made stuff, because they know by their own experience that the quality of domestic products is quite a bit lower (and not always cheaper). But the Mexican government, in a feeble "patch-fix" attempt to protect Mexico' over-exploited and already weak economy, wants to essentially force its people to buy Mexican-made products.
When I was in Morelia, I saw basically all the major stores and fast food places one would see in the States (I was really tempted to go in and try the Burger King to see if it was any different, but meh, I have to believe Burger King sucks no matter what country you're in!). Since these stores source their supplies and labor locally, I figure they have the government's blessing to operate.
The same goes for cars. I had a friend who worked at the Nissan plant in Cuernavca, and he told me about how people would leave out bolts or clips or whatever because of the inhuman pace at which the assembly line moved (no one over there is going to tell them to slow it down for safety's sake, which I figure is just how foreign investors like it). It's no wonder many people I knew who came from Mexico always took back a car or two whenever they went returned to visit family! That policy has since changed. Now you're not allowed to register cars from the U.S. in Mexico. Once in a while, they open the border to, say, a few thousand vehicles, but only to trucks and work vehicles, presumably because people use them to work in Mexico.
Nevertheless, I don't like this policy either. It's total crap and when it comes to my money I would rather just steer clear of that whole mess. Since U.S./Mexico policy is so intertwined, it's hard to place blame on Mexican politicians alone. But as always, it's the people who end up losing out, on both sides of the border.
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Date Aug. 10 2011 22:11:35
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estebanana
Posts: 9351
Joined: Oct. 16 2009
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RE: government thugs (in reply to jshelton5040)
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That is really a shame. I would suggest blatant cheating. The mid level officials are on the take so just cheat back.
Have the guitar hand carried with a dummy label in it saying it was made in Mexico. Find an honest person or friend of a friend going to Mexico via air and have them carry it on with a phoney label. Take a photo of a Paracho made guitar label and photoshop it to say Juan Escocia, print it out and then paste it in the guitar with two sided drafting tape over your own label.
If you can't change them, fool them. Look, coyotes are "escorting" illegal humans into the US why not set up a Coyote network to import guitars? It's only fair. You would spend 200.00 dollars mailing it anyway, pay a person going on vacation to be a courier and hand deliver the instrument. Just make sure you have a contract with the courier and that it is someone you know who lives near you. A frequent business traveler will do as well. Find someone sympathetic with your political views and get to know them, they may share your frustration about the situation and be more than willing to help as a paid courier.
Say your client is in Mexico City, where presumably most of them will be, arrange a meeting point for the courier and client to meet and then the courier hands it off and the client signs off on the couriers receipt.
You might even consider the phoney label and hand delivering it yourself. Take a few days in the DF, go the museums and call it a working vacation. *Tax Write off* Hello!
John, you are an American, US citizen, you must not bitch about this kind of thing, but outsmart them at their own game. Capeesh. Working vacation tax write off......just saying.
_____________________________
https://www.stephenfaulkguitars.com
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Date Aug. 11 2011 18:31:01
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Ruphus
Posts: 3782
Joined: Nov. 18 2010
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RE: government thugs (in reply to jshelton5040)
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Wow, what a story on ragged air traffic; thanks, John!
( Until early eighties all used to flying as a luxury experience, my first rat trip was with an American airline called "Capitol Airlines" or so on the way to NY. That thing looked like a vintage school bus from inside.)
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What marketing is concerned, it´s just the common upside-down principle.
Industries are being allowed to treat consumers with all kinds of profiteering and mouse trapping, on default under the official banner of "free market economy".
But out of all when it comes to the prime of actually free trading, national industries have engaged their states to imposing customs duties to prevent free trade.
The minute it is about skinning consumers, it´s all free market; when it comes to consumer´s choice it´s fierce customs regulation.
A fundamental contradiction of the premisse and sarcastic mess around.
Ruphus
PS:
Where I am now duties on importing foreign cars amount to 120%, in order to make you buy local production, which again is vastly inferour quality products at three to four times its actual value.
Also I used to repeatedly order German boutique recording gear from the US, as it used to come still considerably less expensive than buying in Germany, which tells you about common skimming on the local market.
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Date Aug. 12 2011 12:36:51
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