American Quality

The raising of the flag on Memorial Day in our town.

This is part of my series on being better than Switzerland. One way we can do that is to consider the quality of work that we are doing. We can ask ourselves, “Does our work represent the quality standards of the United States? Are we proud of our work?” If the answer is yes, we can consider putting an American flag on it. If you’re not from the United States, you can do the same with your own country.

The United States is a nation of immigrants. Even the native americans are immigrants. When I travel around the United States and the world, I notice that certain immigrant cultures bring their culture with them to their new home. When I see this, I always wonder how they could most positively represent their culture and their background.

Does it Deserve the Nation’s Flag?

My conclusion is this: We should have very high-quality standards that we set for ourselves and what we produce. When we do do that, we should simultaneously brand our products or stores with the flag as a symbol of that quality. However, we only put the flag on something when it truly deserves it.

Deserving Versus Pride

I see so many people put their native flag or “Made in the USA” on something; however, their intent is not to positively represent. Instead, they are either trying to demonstrate which culture they feel most connected to or they are trying to take advantage of the flag to sell things, things that don’t deserve it. At this point, it’s not typically about bragging or being proud of the quality.

In some cases, especially with cultures that are more economically disadvantaged, I see a weird irony. The people are accustomed to lower quality, poorer service, and lower standards. If someone from their community were to make a high-quality product or business, people would see it as unnecessarily expensive and, in general, not connect with the service. Consumers tend to think “that’s too expensive for me,” because they come from a culture where spending less is a priority or even a positive trait.

Is it Deserving?

I have wondered how to overcome this. How do you run a quality business or service if you come from a culture or a community that, in marketing, they would call “value-oriented”? What if you come from a culture or community that puts a low price above everything else? How do you deliver quality? How do you shift the value system?

I think the answer is to combine high quality and high standards with bragging about the culture. “[Insert Country Here] Quality.” Then the consumers would want to be a part of it and support it because it’s a positive representation of who they are. I think it inspires businesses to do the same. It inspires people to want to spend more and identify that they belong to that high-quality culture.

Hold Your Fellow Citizens Accountable

In the end, I think the same is true of the United States. I think if we are going to be proud of something being American, it should not be about supporting American business, because they are disadvantaged and need help, but because the quality is superior to others. As an American, hold your fellow American business accountable. If they are going to put the “Made in the USA” mark on a product, be extra hard on them, and ask yourself whether they deserve it.

Don’t buy American-made out of pride; only buy it because it deserves to be called American-made. Criticize them if necessary, but do it tactfully, not by shaming them publicly. Send them a personal note or letter on how they could improve. Don’t broadcast it to the world or put it in a negative review. Support and encourage them.

Your Personal Life Included

If you’re going to put the flag on your personal things, like your car or house, make sure that it lives up to that standard, too. Be proud of your nation. If your car has a flag, make it clean, well-maintained, and a respectable choice of car.

Buying From Other Nations

There’s nothing wrong with buying and enjoying products from other nations. Recognizing the quality in others is itself a brand. One of the reasons we shop at a particular store is not because they made the products, but because we like the product choices that they offer. We know that if we go to a high-end department store, we are going to get high-end products, American or not. That’s okay. Brand yourself as a citizen of your country who has standards.

Money is Not an Excuse

Some people will argue, “Well, how can we compete against other countries or other stores that offer more inexpensive products? We don’t have the money to deliver quality. We are disemfranchised in some way: we’re local, we’re small, whatever.”

Buying into that argument is a disservice because it implies, on a deeper level, that we’re not capable of delivering a higher quality. The highest quality companies and even nations are often smaller, not bigger. One can always deliver a high quality in almost any situation, regardless of the economic situation. Being clean doesn’t cost money. Being nice doesn’t cost money. Being honest doesn’t cost money. Being organized doesn’t cost money.