We need to start making stuff again

Last weekend it was time to venture out and do some shopping. I hate shopping, but it must be done. Now, when I say shopping, I mean buying. I don't go store to store, looking at multitudes of stuff all day until I buy.
My idea of shopping is going to the store I think will have what I want for the price I am willing to pay and then going directly to the department that has the items that I want. Finding my size, taking them to the checkout and then paying for them. That would be the end of my shopping experience.
I believe it is a global world and the economy now reflects that. Financially speaking, that is the way it is and there is no turning back. I get that. In spite of that, where possible I try to buy Canadian. That isn't easy when it comes to many items.
I try to mainly achieve this by avoiding certain stores that get most of their products made overseas, specifically in China and India/Pakistan. That means I never shop at Walmart and hardly any of the big box stores that have American affiliation.
So, off I went, on my way to buy a pack of socks. Simple tube socks. Nothing fancy. I used to get those at Zellers, but now they are gone and have been swallowed up by Target. I can't go to Walmart either, so my choices are now limited. I thought I would try Winners, a Canadian company who is a chain, but certainly not big box.
As I entered the store and went straight to the department that had socks, this seemed easy. They had what I wanted and the price was very reasonable. Now, my last criteria was to buy Canadian. There were many brands to choose from, and wanting to buy Canadian, I chose Stanley, which is either an American or Canadian company. As I looked at the package, it was obvious what I was getting.
MADE IN PAKISTAN!
Our country and the Western world have lots of problems. It is a very complex issue and certainly cannot be described and explained away by just one issue. But, one of the main problems is that we don't make stuff anymore. I am pretty sure at one time we made socks in this country, and pretty sure we still can.
I am aware that the life goal of most people is not to work in a sock manufacturing plant. I get that. I am sure it is hard to make them here, considering that the minimum wage is around 10 bucks an hour while a Chinese or Pakistanny worker will work for pennies an hour. But, we have around 10% unemployment in this country and that is only going to get worse as time goes on. I am very sure that at any one time there are plenty of workers who could do this type of work, and we could lower the minimum wage to maybe 7 bucks an hour..or less. I would think that is better than having them go on welfare once their Unemployment benefits wear off. We also have lots of kids who don't work during the summer who could do these jobs to save up for University tuition instead of building up astronomical student loans they can't hope to pay back for years once they are out in the work force.
We need to start making stuff again in this country and other countries. If we don't we are just stabbing ourselves in the back. Sure, the rich business owners will get richer, but the gap between the rich and poor is only going to grow...just like the holes in my socks which generated the idea for this blog.