Hello Fellow Orchidians;
I have owned and operated my own business for over 10 years now, and
for nearly as long, I’ve been a proud member of MJSA, the
Manufacturing Jewelers and Suppliers of America.
I know political discourse is not encouraged on this forum, but I
believe the issue is very germane to my fellow owner/operators in
the trade, so I hope this post will have value to us here on Orchid.
I have finally felt the weight of the last straw. I will not renew
my membership in MJSA. Furthermore, I will no longer recommend that
my fellow business owners subscribe. I will miss the MJSA Journal,
and I regret my need to follow my core values must be at the expense
of an organization which I know has provided considerable benefit to
Ganoksin. So I will, when it comes time to renew my membership,
donate the money to Ganoksin.
Let me explain the basis of my decision.
I have often disagreed with the policies of MJSA regarding issues
like “the Death Tax” (which I don’t believe will affect more than a
very few manufacturing jewelers, and only serves the interest of a
very few wealthy families, who certainly can bear its weight). And I
have expressed my position with regards to their support of certain
trade policies. But the latest letter in the MJSA journal by their
President demonstrates, in my opinion, MJSA’s blind support of, and
their lobbying efforts for, policies which have devastated the
American jewelry manufacturing industry. What is worse, in the letter
itself, the rationale and justification for these policies comes
across as nothing less than a slap in the face to our industry. We
are being told that if we can’t compete with unfair foreign trade, we
should simply quit and get out of the way. The President of MJSA
draws on the example of a jewelry manufacturer who’s business is now
only 20% devoted to jewelry manufacture and the rest of it’s work is
metal fabrication. What a membership enticement that is! If you can’t
compete, do something else … of course, you can still be a dues
paying member if you like.
The President of MJSA decries “we refuse to be protectionists!” But
it is not just America that is being hurt. As long as we are
complicit in trade with countries that allow child labor, cruel
working conditions, sub-human wages, environmental devastation, and
all manner of human misery, we are guilty of the same crimes. The
supposed “rising tide” hasn’t lifted all boats: it has drowned the
American economy in trade deficits and marooned the populations of
other countries in hopeless serfdom and violence. Insisting on fair
trade is not an unfair trade policy. You can frame it by calling it
protectionist. Fine. But if that’s what it is, it is not the industry
we are protecting, as if from fair competition by foreign companies
and workers. It is workers AND businessmen-and-women here AND abroad
that we wish to protect from profiteers who insist on unequal tariff
advantages, lax environmental regulations and slave labor as the
basis of their profits. Instead of calling it “protectionist” I chose
to call it Patriotic and Compassionate. Why doesn’t MJSA support
American jewelry manufacturing, as their name implies? Perhaps the
membership of their board might explain. Meanwhile, I’m using another
solution put forth by “conservative” economic modelers. I’m voting
with my feet.
David L. Huffman