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skippercollector Donating Member (26 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Nov-13-11 08:54 PM
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naive questions part 1
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I've got a long series of questions that I am going to break down into three parts
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I’ve got some questions that I’ve never seen anyone ask before on a website. I decided to ask them here because they do have a liberal bent. I’ll admit they are also probably naive and idealistic. Some of my questions are inter-related to each other. So here goes:

1. There are hundreds of thousands of empty homes and businesses across the United States that have been abandoned or foreclosed on. They are rapidly deteriorating to the elements. They are no longer owned (or partially owned) by the people who lived in them or worked in them, but rather by the mortgage companies and banks. In addition to the complaints (often justified) regarding banks and the US government and their roles in creating these empty buildings, many of these same complainers seem to have the idea that the only solution for these places is for people to re-buy them and fix them up and use them. But so many of these structures are beyond repair now, or the cost to fix them up would be far more than the value of the property! Sometimes an entire street consists of empty buildings. What would be wrong with letting the property return to its original natural state? Have environmental groups considered buying the real estate themselves, tearing down the buildings, and creating green zones? Also, if some land is then made unavailable, wouldn’t that make the land used for construction higher in value?

2. I read a lot about buying “made in America,” but I am not sure what that means. I’ve gotten the impression from comments I’ve been reading over the years on the Internet that it refers only to the following products: vehicles (the biggest one), new buildings, electronics, large appliances, furniture and perhaps clothing. Does the “made in America” term refer just to the production of these items, or does it also include the textiles used to make them? Why aren’t the following items ever considered--food; books (most of the new purchases I’ve made have been printed in the US, although I don’t know the origins of the paper itself); hosiery (although I don’t know where the thread and cloth are from); or arts and crafts made by individuals to resell (although I again don’t know where the textiles originate from). What about reselling used merchandise at garage sales, flea markets, antique shows or online, when the profits go mostly to the seller and the venue?
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