Posted on 08/21/2007 5:31:03 AM PDT by shortstop
When Chinese products gather dust on the shelves and Chinese food rots on the docks, the "screw everyone" decison will be to stop importing from China.
I used to hear this same mantra about Japanese products. I don’t really care about the lead per se, most people over the age of 30 grew up with lead paint and we’re all still here aren’t we. This crap is simply the result of the U.S. ratcheting up the pressure on the Chinese to devalue their currency. Chinese are refusing U.S. beef. It’ll all blow over folks, try to control your overzealous nationalism ok.
Ok, my flame suit is on now, lol
Can anyone 30 years ago have imagined that such a sentence would ever be written in earnest? Even the most fervent Maoist in 1977 would probably never have written such a statement. Yet today such a statement is considered unexceptionable.
The ONLY Presidential candidate who has made the unfair and dangerous trade with China a vital centrepiece of his campaign is Duncan Hunter.
Not entirely correct... but it is close to the truth. The value we place on the lives of (already born) people is far higher than the value the Chinese tend to place on it. This shouldn't be too surprising, though. Their nation is almost exactly the same size as ours, and yet they have four times the population with less arable land (mountains cover more than a third of their territory). Until recently, a large percentage of the population lived hand-to-mouth. There's a reason that every part of every animal is used in cooking (eg, cow stomach is very commonly found in most restaurants). The loss of a few mouths competing for food had some benefits to it over there. Here, there are typically fewer advantages to losing neighbors.
Another point to make: the Chinese have not had a sustained period of peace and prosperity for generations. That is yet another reason why they are revelling in their current economic boom... but many are waiting for the next major upheaval, and are trying to maximize their profits and advantages now so they will better be able to weather the next storm. (As Tiannenmen Square showed in 1989, big things can begin to happen at any time. There a riots daily in the rural areas, even now.) Combine a moderately lower regard for individual life, a desperation to prepare for a probable revolution, inexperience with capitalism, a nasty habit of system-wide corruption, and a history of incredibly poor quality control, and you cannot really be TOO surprised to find anti-freeze being used as a toothpaste additive. I'm not saying it should be overlooked or accepted... only that it shouldn't be a major shock coming from that cauldron.
BTW... Usually, when I get into discussions about "the Chinese" (or "the Americans" or "the French", etc), I have to remind people that there's a huge distinction between the people and the government in any philosophical situation... but it's not as important a distinction in this case, sadly.
“This is why I buy nothing from Harbor freight. If I need tools I purchase made in America brands. It costs a bit more, but I feel in the long run its worth it to not “bust my knuckles” when a piece of junk Chinese wrench rounds off on a nut and slips.”
I haven’t bought from Harbor Freightg in probably 12-15 years because of that. Almost 30 years ago, Harbor Freight sold Japanese made tools, then it went to Indian made then to Chinese. The drop in quality is astounding.
Actually, they are just being resold on ebay. What I'm concerned about however, is stuff not properly labeled, containing ANY ingredients coming from China. That makes it impossible to avoid potentially lethal stuff.
Wrong. Unfair and dangerous trade with China was a central part of Bill Clinton's Presidential campaign all the way back in 1996!
Oh.... You mean against unfair and dangerous trade... Nevermind!
Another crap leader of another crap empire once said we would sell them the rope with which they would hang us. I’d rather buy mexican than chinese.
I bet if stuff was less expensive, less people would buy from China...
And let’s deal with these bastards on a macro level too, shall we...
Dragon Hunter
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/1882543/posts
You’re absolutely correct.
The thing that the average consumer doesn’t understand is that the quality of Chinese steel is crap. Utter and complete crap, and when you need a tool to hold up, you could be rudely surprised, injured or killed.
Here’s a little indication about the difference between ChiCom steel and US steel: on several of our farm machines, we use roller chains - from size 50 up to size 80 chain.
I had a US-made chain snap recently (I overloaded the machine, something had to give). Bought some bulk roller chain at True Value — of course, it was made in China.
The Chinese chain lasted all of five hours. Almost all the rollers came off the chain - the steel is simply too soft to be on a roller chain.
Sorry, but in a capitalistic society, it’s the corporations duty to produce their products for the cheapest cost possible regardless of the “price” of doing such. It’s only the stockholders that matter, right? Why produce something in the US for $0.10 a piece that you eventually sell for $5 to wholesalers whenyou can get it from China for $0.05?
That is what we always hear from the non-thinking capitalists. It’s finally come back to roast as their kids are playing with lead lined toys and brushing their teeth with anti-freeze toothpaste and wearing poisoned clothes. Perhaps they should have thought about the obvious repercussions of abandoning their fellow US Citizens for the almighty dollar.
But what do I know?
I agree with this one-hundred percent. We have a carton and one-half of Talipia fillets in our freezer which are going to the dump because they have "China" on reverse side of the box. We've eaten it before and it's delicious but it's just too big a risk. We're replacing it with Louisiana Catfish.
Can’t trust the American flag. Those “Support Our Troops” car magnets you used to see everywhere with the flag and yellow ribbon? Made in china. I wanted one but couldn’t have it because of my own personal boycott. I went into Garden Ridge the other day — everything made in china. Walked out empty handed. Same thing at Ross. Wal-mart often provides an American alternative at least.
Even children cloths are drench in formaldehyde from China
they say to prevent meld dew
It was on the News report in New Zealand and the US is checking now.
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