Growing up, before real estate, my parents had a business selling goods that they manufactured.  Consequently, I learned about the supply chain at the most basic level before I was in pre-school.  Econ 101 in college gave a good introduction to the global supply chain and the sheer immenseness of it all.

I knew that most of our production was done OCONUS for a long time.  I remember the Great H. Ross Perot talking about the "giant sucking sound" that was NAFTA moving all of our jobs out of America.  He was right.  It got far worse with countries like China using forced labor, child labor and slave labor (yes, the iPhones are made with all three of these) to build products at far cheaper rates than we could.  Remember, these manufacturing plants installed nets to catch the people who were committing suicide by jumping off the building because of long hours and horrific working conditions.

It took a global pandemic and the forward thinking of Donald Trump to start to bring manufacturing back to America for everything from cars to medicine.  I had no idea that many of our medicines were made overseas.

I do know one thing that should concern everyone.  The large transformers that are neccessary to run our power grid's main transfer points are made in China.  If we have an EMP event (like a major solar flare) we do not have the ability to produce these ourselves and it could take over SIX MONTHS to get one shipped from China under NORMAL conditions.

Yes having a plan B is important, more so now than ever.  This "one world" mentality is good in some regards, but every soverign nation should have the ability to manufacture the basics for it's citizens and it's infrastructure.

It truly is frightening what is happening and so many sheep are being led to the wolves and won't even realize it until it is too late.

Hi, Richie

Tomorrow we are going to a restaurant in Greenville, SC for Thanksgiving lunch. 

What's different this Thanksgiving?

The restaurant staff will be wearing masks, because their corporation requires it.    Fortunately we are in a State where the Government does not force the Public to wear masks.

Menu prices are going off the charts (Ruth's Chris wasn't exactly inexpensive before).   Brandon has driven costs way, way up, and the restaurant has to pass those costs on to the diners.

Society and social norms - dress code - people used to get all dressed up for a Holiday like Thanksgiving.   This restaurant always has a basic dress code, but I don't expect to see a lot of coats and ties, or dresses with high heels.  "Casual Friday" has become every day for so many, many people.

Plan B?  We're already on Plans C and D, Richie.  The Reality is that life in America is changing dramatically.  We are preparing for it!

Many will defer purchases when the prices are higher than expectations.

The genius of government at work. If they can get it wrong they can do it with expertise. We have become a country of consumers that manufacture nothing and until we wake up we will continue to pay the price. All of us but mostly the poor can blame the politicians that have screwed us since WWII.

My Kid Rock Bro Ryan Huggins - Thousand Oaks, CA just said it all! We are heading toward 3rd world country and I pray for redemption! The pendulum always swings. Who will be left standing is the question.

We are trying to get a house ready for the market and many things are in short supply so I am learning about the supply chain the hard way.  Plan B is to  be flexible and take what I can get. 

I read and learn about a lot of things but any expertise on this subject(and so many others) escapes me.  

Don't worry, be happy is how I play it. Just enjoying the good times, that's what really matters.

Government...

Not worried so much about the government, the pendulum swings back most always (there are concerns and it's good to have a "proper concern", but my time is best spent on business).

Supply chain concerns...

I'm too busy to even think about building anything at the moment, so that's delayed. As long as the supply chain of spicy boneless chicken wings is secure, I'm more than fine. Plan B: Fly to Ocho Rios, Jamaica for some spicy jerk chicken.

Don't worry, be happy is how I play it. Just enjoying the good times, that's what really matters.

https://youtu.be/L3HQMbQAWRc

The pandemic, the supply issues and the mob/hoard mentality of the uneducated are not the worst thing I've seen in this life. And, I'm prone to relying on my experience and common sense. So, I already knew what many had to learn the last 2 years - been there done that - the pandameic validated me, it didn't teach me - cause prior experiences already had. 

Continuous prayers for much better tommorows. 

I was 'learning' about how the truckers are assigned all those cargo bins the other day. Seems pretty inefficient. I think that is also playing a significant role.

Maybe the whole trucking industry needs to be scrapped or come up to FedX or Amazon standards.

Think of all the after Christmas sales when all this stuff arrives after January

We are paying for some very poor decisions made in the past few years.

Supply chain from the late 90 to today have been a highly choreographed Flaminca where all danced to the tune with perfection. It was called JIT or Just In Time inventory.
Worked well until it didn't.
The return to the same system is directly related to the Wests addiction to China manufacturing or if rehab will lead to sources more local, agile, responsible and more expensive.
I basicly boils down to the corp boards FUDICIARY duty to the stock holder.
I basicly boils down to if the USA citizen accepts defeat and embraces 'Pridefully Assembled in America."

Manufacturing jobs. Union Jobs. These are what created the middle class.
Today middle class is the working poor.
We do have a choice to make.

Not many ( if any ?) “ Made in America “ products are stuck out in those boats . Our dependency on products from China needs to cease .

The government paying people to not work has lead to a worker shortage.  The abundance of back orders is due to the pandemic and shouldn't be blamed on the ports.  It's like getting out of a highly attended event parking lot.  It eventually empties.