Alex the Humanoid

Content creator, game designer & pop culture commentator. Tired veteran. Opinions mine, not employers.

[Alex the Humanoid @AlextheHumanoid]

@char15299 @Jessecooksfood Dude, between Mariners, Seahawks, Sounders, concerts at the stadiums, other events, they are heavily used. Given the geography of the Puget Sound, our transit system and population there is no better location.

[Alex the Humanoid @AlextheHumanoid]

@Jessecooksfood His entire point is silly, as between the two stadiums and the event center there, it’s actively being used for more than 50% of the year. Given the geography of the Puget Sound, the frequency of events and our transit system there is no better spot for those two stadiums.

[derek guy @dieworkwear]

No, I don't think the average US consumer will pay 150% more for MiUSA goods. A few things:

First, consumers are practical. They will not pay more just because something was made in the US, but they may pay more if the upcharge comes with an increase in quality. There's no reason to believe that MiUSA clothing is inherently better than clothing made abroad. In fact, sometimes it's worse.

Second, you can look around you. Look at the vociferous MAGA influencers who criticize corporations for offshoring their manufacturing, while at the same time getting their merch made abroad. They could get their merch made right here in the US from fiber to finish — it literally only takes a few clicks of a button — but they won't. I know because I've offered my services to help them reshore their manufacturing, and not a single one has accepted.

Third, look at consumers. Consumers don't want to pay a lot of money for clothes because Western society has long discounted the cultural significance of clothing. Fashion is commonly considered too vain, too mercantile, and too superficial. Just look at how many people loudly posture about how much they either dislike or don't care about clothes. This is a form of virtue signaling to show that you're smarter and more substantive than other people. Thus, it's unreasonable to expect this sort of person to pay a lot of money for clothes — they take pride in not valuing them.

If you want to reinvigorate US garment manufacturing, you can't envision a future in which thousands of Americans make crappy t-shirts and jeans that eventually retail for $25 and $75, with such items sold to US consumers who are likely to be bitter about having fewer options and higher prices. This is not a sensible strategy for either employment or wage growth, as those jobs will eventually be replaced by robots anyway.

IMO, you'd be better off moving upstream into luxury goods and exporting them to the global market. Just as the average Italian doesn't wear luxury Italian suits and the average French person doesn't carry saddle-stitched bags, you don't have to count on Americans wearing Alden shoes and Rochester Tailored Clothing suits. Instead, you can access the larger global market.

This strategy protects the worker. We already live in a world where a machine can pad-stitch a suit. Whether this industrially produced garment is up to snuff to benchmade tailoring is up for debate, but no one can argue that the average consumer can tell the difference between machine and handwork. Yet, those who have the means are willing to pay for the handwork. Why? Because at that tier of clothing, handwork adds a sense of romance — human labor adds something that a machine can never replace. This higher-skilled work also comes with higher wage growth. The US doesn't have an employment problem; it has a wage growth problem.

Instead of erecting tariffs that increase the cost of European leathers, British and Italian wools, and Mongolian cashmere (inputs we need to make high-quality clothes), you can tax the rich and use the money to train Americans in crafts-based, high-end luxury sectors. Then you can export these goods to the global market. But doing so requires government spending (in training and education), lower trade barriers (so you can access other markets and get cheaper inputs), and improved relationships with other countries (such as not insulting Canadians, prompting them to boycott our goods).

The primary MiUSA customer has always been a fashion customer, not someone buying something out of patriotism. I'm reminded of an interview I did long ago with someone who owned a custom button-up shirt company. He had his shirt manufactured at the Garland factory in North Carolina, which is now unfortunately closed. He recalled standing on the factory floor and watching his shirts roll off the same assembly line as some of Thom Browne's Brooks Brothers Black Fleece shirts, which retailed for about twice his prices. His company primarily served people who said they "love" supporting US manufacturing, but behind the scenes, they were often complainers, time wasters, and people with a high return rate. Meanwhile, the fashion customer thinks nothing of spending $300 for a button-up shirt because it has a fashionable label on it. This is the kind of customer you want to pursue, not the supposed "patriots."

The strategy was always doomed from the start because the most vociferous proponents hold all three positions at once:

— wants to virtue signal about supporting US manufacturing
— is against increasing the minimum wage
— buys foreign imports because they're cheap and see thrift as a moral virtue

[Alex the Humanoid @AlextheHumanoid]

I, for one, am having a good chuckle at the Pentagons screw up opening the can of worms that now has the Christians all running around telling each other they aren’t Christian.

[Alex the Humanoid @AlextheHumanoid]

@infantrydort @gregcameback For once?!

[Duffel Blog @DuffelBlog]

NEW: GOP to require all legislators be Navy SEALs https://t.co/zKLZqySVTd

[Headquarters @HQNewsNow]

Mayor Mamdani has signed an Executive Order repealing kids' bedtimes for the NBA Finals:

"Bedtimes should not impede the ability of New York's Cutest to cheer for the Knicks and watch every second of this historic Championship series."

[Alex the Humanoid @AlextheHumanoid]

There is a part of me that wishes the admin would try this. Please, Sec. Mullin, give this a shot, shut down international flights into those cities, closer to the midterms would be great.

[Aaron Rupar @atrupar]

Markwayne Mullin: "We are currently drawing up plans to say, listen, in these sanctuary cities where the local radical left Democrats aren't allowing us to do our job and enforce federal laws, then we shouldn't be processing international flights into their cities."

[Alex the Humanoid @AlextheHumanoid]

Anyone wanna let me know when the last Cuban sponsored terrorist attack in the US was?

[Aaron Rupar @atrupar]

Marco Rubio: "Cuba not only has weapons they've acquired from Russia and China, but they also host Russian and Chinese intelligence presence in their country. So Cuba has always posed a national security threat to the US. They're a leading state sponsor of terror."

[Alex the Humanoid @AlextheHumanoid]

@WheelerRipWA What percentage of Seattleites do you believe actually give two rats asses that the Columbia Towet Club is closing?

[Alex the Humanoid @AlextheHumanoid]

Took me about 10 seconds to buy that now.

[IGN @IGN]

Amaze! Project Hail Mary is now available to watch at home after the sci-fi epic starring Ryan Gosling became the second highest-grossing movie of 2026. https://t.co/onKKLa81oz

[Tigra Rules! @WorldOfTigra]

taking down piracy sites is playing whack a mole. you're never going to win

what beats piracy, as demonstrated 15 years ago, is making legal consumption easy, cheap, and safe. Netflix and Prime was killing piracy

then they split up content and jacked up prices and it's back

[NZXT @NZXT]

New month means new PC giveaway!

Join the NZXT x @IntelGaming Club, earn Pucci Points to potentially win some free goodies!

"MAY" the odds be ever in your favor: https://t.co/HHOxVHt0c8

[Duffel Blog @DuffelBlog]

ICYMI: War with Iran distracts from coming war against lizard people https://t.co/EwNOv8BnfK

[Maj. (Ret.) Richard Ojeda @Ojeda4America]

General Caine is right about ONE thing: the 82nd Airborne is one of the finest military units in the world.

I know, because I served in the 82nd Airborne Division and I’m damn PROUD to have served this country as a Paratrooper.

But the 82nd airborne should never be deployed into combat to fight an ego war for a corrupt president and his war mongering foot soldiers.

[Alex the Humanoid @AlextheHumanoid]

@VoteBaumgartner The example is how the GOP lost the WA-3 in 2022 because the GOP is stuck right now between a rock & a hard place, MAGA insanity does not play in swing WA districts that the GOP can win, but not taking part in MAGA crazy means you can’t get to the general. Stuck until that change

[Alex the Humanoid @AlextheHumanoid]

@mikenelson586 Can I be critical that he never commanded an infantry company? That was always the thing I side eyed the most.

[Alex the Humanoid @AlextheHumanoid]

@gregg_james278 @Schwalm5132 I never saw a competent infantry officer not given a shot at company command.

[Alex the Humanoid @AlextheHumanoid]

@MelbaofNM Risk tolerance goes way down with children and a crap social safety net