Did Santa shoot and eat all the reindeer and fire all the elves? – A follow up on Santa’s whereabouts

Santa Found Partying in Finland

I did a post several weeks ago about the whereabouts of Santa’s real residence with the promise of doing an investigation of his possible outsourcing of manufacturing gifts to China and other countries. It was very curious since finding his real residence was a very tedious job. It seems that he has hopped from country to country these days and has even been founding partying in Finland. It was bound to happen sooner or later he was going to find himself in hot water. It seems that even Santa has succumbed to jumping in bed with the capitalists of the world. It seems that the Grinch has stolen the true meaning of Christmas, was it Santa? Or could there be another culprit?

Did Santa Shoot all the Reindeer?

We all know that when shareholders and stockholders get a hold of a business they will begin to demand higher returns on dollars invested. So what was poor Santa to do?He’s only been responsible for Christmas for about 400 years. In the beginning he brought spirit of good cheer at Christmas, bringing peace, joy, good food and wine and revelry. Because of this I don’t think he’s ever been much of a business man. His job has mostly been delivering gifts to kids around the world and making people happy. In recent years this has all changed. So what does he do, shoot all the reindeer, sell the meat, and fire all the elves to meet demands of the capitalists of the world? Or was outsourcing the answer? Moving all the manufacturing jobs the elves did to increase profits? Let’s take a look at the world of manufacturing today to see if we can find the answer. In 2012 China’s exports to America amounted to $444.4 billion or 19% of overall US imports.

1. Electronic equipment: $113.3 billion

2. Machines, engines, pumps: $102.2 billion

3. Furniture, lighting, signs: $24.8 billion

4. Toys, games: $23.1 billion

5. Footwear: $17.9 billion

6. Knit or crochet clothing: $15.6 billion

7. Clothing (not knit or crochet): $15.3 billion

8. Plastics: $13.2 billion

9. Iron or steel products: $10.1 billion

10. Vehicles: $10 billion

Elves Losing Jobs to Outsourcing?

Wow, I wonder how many elves lost their jobs due to this outsourcing? It almost looks like a good stimulus package doesn’t it? But I digress. The next largest importer to the U.S. was a surprise, Canada’s exports to America amounted to $327.5 billion or 14% of overall US imports. This may very well be where all Santa troubles started (maybe Toronto)!

1. Oil: $105.7 billion

2. Vehicles: $57.9 billion

3. Machines, engines, pumps: $20.7 billion

4. Plastics: $10.4 billion

5. Electronic equipment: $8.3 billion

6. Paper: $6.9 billion

7. Aluminium: $6.9 billion

8. Wood: $6.6 billion

9. Aircraft, spacecraft: $5.8 billion

10. Iron and steel: $5.7 billion

Is it time for the elves to revolt?

So what does this all mean and why is it important? It may not come to any surprise that labor laws in these two countries vary greatly as do the quality of the goods themselves. The average hourly wage for Chinese manufacturing workers is about 1.36 per hour or $2828 per year compared to Canadians who make approximately 24.99 per hour or $51,987 per year. 2013 salary update is available here Now I’m not a math wiz by any measure but looking at this tell me the quality of products made in Canada should be  least 16 times higher. Each dollar spent on cheap Chinese crap clearly sends your hard earned dollars half way around the world, this money could have easily be spent on products that come from closer to home when it comes to buying imported goods. Then the question that often arises? How often do you get your Chinese product open and within a very short time finding yourself back purchasing the same product again? Is it time for the elves to revolt? Is time to reconsider where you buy your products from? Maybe!

Are Working Class Elves in Europe Happy?

It seems that the European Union imports large quantities to the US as well. The European Union has gained  about 19 percent of all U.S. goods and services imports. But here’s the kicker wages in the EU are also much higher than in China. The U.S.-EU economic relationship is already the world’s largest, accounting for one third of total goods and services trade and nearly half of global economic output. So it all stands to reason that Santa has had to taken up residence or at least shell corporation in each of these zones to keep the kids of the world happy. So how about the working class elves in Europe, what are their working conditions like? In an article from “The Atlantic” Denmark, Norway, Netherlands, and Finland all ranked as having the best working conditions in the world. Where did the U.S., Canada, and China rank in these findings? Well the U.S. came in at 23rd, Canada at 14th, and China well it didn’t make this list but it did another.

Is Santa Claus an Imposter?

So we are done with the story correct? But what about Russia you ask? Well it’s official, Santa has been kicked out of Russia. Yes, it’s true. Santa is no longer welcome in Russia. Here he is officially “Ded Moroz – Grandfather Frost”. It’s true, it all happened yesterday when a Kremlin official claimed that Santa Claus was an ‘imposter’ and an ‘illegal immigrant’.   While at  Velikiy Ustyug,the traditional home of Ded Moroz in the far north of the country, Mr. Gryzlov said: ‘No one will ever be able to take away Ded Moroz from Russia – not Santa Claus nor any other imposters. Why did all of this take place? Fear, fear of encroaching Western influences which have led to battles in the streets between Santas dressed in white beards and red coats and Ded Morozes dressed in blue.

So what is the moral to this story?

After collecting all the data and thinking it through it reminded me of another story that has been wiped away from the annuals of time.  Some of us are old enough to remember this story, some have heard about it. But what is clear is this. Sometimes it’s better to step away from the crowd so to speak. Watch the animals devour each other and then go back and reap the rewards. It’s just a little food for thought for those really want to see the big picture.

• http://www.bls.gov/ilc/china.htm#data_tables
• http://www.worldsrichestcountries.com/top_us_imports.html
• http://www.workopolis.com/content/advice/article/how-much-money-are-we-earning-the-average-canadian-wages-right-now/
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santa_Claus
• http://www.ustr.gov/countries-regions/europe-middle-east/europe/european-union
• http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2012/01/the-23-best-countries-for-work-life-balance-we-are-number-23/250830/#slide10
• http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1091967/Santa-Claus-illegal-immigrant-declares-Kremlin-official-Christmas-Cold-War.html