[hedgetrimmer]

Nobody forces Americans to use slave labor!

No one forced the Mattel toy executives to hire a factory in China that uses slave labor and produces poison toys. But due to "free trade" the company could do business there, and with slave labor to boot. Most Americans were unaware that Mattel was no longer a US company and bought the poison toys. Do you think if the administration and congress were honest they would restrict imports from slave labor countries like they used to do. Most Americans had NO IDEA that "free trade" would lead us to the destruction of our ethics and domestic economy, how could they? But here it is, we have more slaves in the US than since the civil war, the labor department has only let on to 140,000 but there are many more now. We also have slave made goods in our supposedly 'American' corporation retail stores. Why is that?

We just shouldn't expect someone in Europe or South America or somewhere else to buy our products at outrageous prices when they can get them from workers willing to be paid less.

You clearly have an antipathy toward America and what it means. Americans shouldn't have to march around the globe and do anything. If a so-called American company wants to sell their products abroad, fine. You are telling us that for them to do so, you have to kill the American domestic economy, which is destroying America and American independence. In your mind, when did the global economy become more important than American independence? Or did you never believe in American independence?

[Gondring]

We also have slave made goods in our supposedly 'American' corporation retail stores. Why is that?

Because there are buyers, both here and abroad.

Sorry to burst your bubble, Emperor Hongwu, but we're not the only people on the planet. Closing your eyes tight doesn't make reality go away.

You can ban all imports of inexpensive goods, and ensure that a big chunk of our wealth is pulled from economic development, etc., and put into higher priced toys, but that will just make us less competitive than others who don't do such things.

Do I like that? Nope. Neither do I like the fact that I can't fly unaided....but not liking something doesn't change the reality of it.

How about this...how about you boycott the stores and things will change, right? Oh...they won't?!? Well, then, why would America's boycott of these places change anything? Until it's a ban from all potential purchasers, the slave labor will continue.

And why stop at toys? What about parts for things we assemble? Wouldn't it be great if we had to raise the price on all of them, making any American product overpriced relative to other world competitors? Why, we could sit in our own little sandbox here, trading things back and forth at fake wages while the world passes us by. Oh joy.