SAN MATEO, Calif. - TelAve -- "It used to be Made in America" is a poem about the loss of jobs and the consequences of the outsourcing of jobs and manufacturing to other countries.

The poem was written by Robert Barrows, President of an advertising agency called R.M. Barrows Advertising & Public Relations in San Mateo, California.

You can see the poem in a book called "Crazy Robert's Poems and Potential Song Lyrics" that you can download for a dollar on Amazon.

At the same time, you might also want to take a look at the labels on the clothes you are wearing, and the labels on various items in your home and where you work.

Look at the labels. Where were they made? Were they made in America?

NOW, BACK TO THE POEM:

Some of the verses to "It used to be Made in America" go like this:

It starts off with these lines:

"It used to be made in America
It used to be made in my town
It used to be made just down the street

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Now they've shut that factory down.

A VERSE ABOUT UNIONS GOES LIKE THIS:

It once had a union label
It said AFL-CIO
Now it's made someplace, who knows where?
And we watched all those good jobs go.

A VERSE ABOUT PROFITS GOES LIKE THIS:

The deals overseas are way too tempting
The savings are way too dear
But the real cost we pay is far greater
It's a cost we pay for in fear.

The poem "It used to be Made in America" paints a vivid picture of conflicting economic forces, and it's a poem that every businessperson, every purchasing manager, every politician, and every American should read, and it's a poem that a lot of politicians, labor leaders and journalists might want to turn to when they talk about these kinds of topics.

To help bring more attention to the need to start doing more manufacturing in America, Barrows hopes to be able to develop the poem into a series of projects and business directories that could help improve our economy.

(NOTE TO EDITORS: Media companies might also be interested in developing these kinds of directories because they could help generate very substantial revenues on an ongoing basis.

PLUS, they could also give media companies access to hundreds of thousands of potential advertisers.)

For more information, call Robert Barrows at R.M. Barrows, Inc. Advertising & Public Relations at 650-344-4405.