There is nothing wrong with purchasing items made locally, as I have noted before. But there is something wrong with preaching to the rest of us the “Buy Local” mantra from the rear window of your foreign SUV:
My fiance spotted the above “Buy Local Mobile” over the weekend in Washington, D.C. and snapped a picture of it for me to see.
Perhaps the owner of the car is on vacation, so I will not go into the other obvious failures of this person to follow the absurd “Buy Local” ideology (an ideology that Cafe Hayek’s Russ Roberts defined as the Middle Ages). But how odd is it that this “Buy Localer” is driving a Land Rover Discovery, a vehicle that has never been produced in the United States. Clearly this person has created some personal exemptions when it comes to supporting “local” business.
I challenge this person, if they should ever see this post, and any other “Buy Localer” to try and live your life based consuming only those goods that are produced locally. Clearly this person has already indicated that he or she was unable to locate a locally produced supply of this specific type of car that they demanded. I wonder how many other goods this person uses that are not produced by a local business.
As for me and the rest of us who economize and recognize that there is no problem getting goods from those that have a comparative advantage producing them, we will continue to ignore your stupid “Buy Local” preachy bumper stickers and continue to purchase those products which we demand at a specific price from whichever supplier is willing to engage in an exchange–regardless of where the supplier is geographically headquartered.
(H/T to my fiance @ASki04)
