The reason for this:
Factories did not see an attention to quality as something that would improve their business prospects, but merely as a barrier to increased profitability. Working to achieve higher levels of quality did not make me a friend of the factory, but a pariah.
In this, as in much else, the Chinese are great testers of limits."
And just as we are funding the War on Terror on BOTH ENDS every time we fill up at the gas pumps...we borrow money from the Chicoms so that we can continue to buy their products...how dumb are we?
How do you say “SUCKERS” in Chinese?
I would rather buy cheap Chinese junk than expensive union made junk..
Great post.
The California DOT has found this out the hard way. A lot of the iron and steel work for the new San Francisco Bay Bridge is being made in China, and CALTRANS has had one hell of a time monitoring quality of welds for this job.
“a love of excuse and pretense, the elevation of appearance over substance, admiration for unprincipled cleverness, shame a much stronger sanction than guilt”
Sounds like liberals.
ping
I think I will go get Midler’s book. But the short blurb above does not surprise me. Read Tuchman’s “Stilwell and the American Experience in China.” What Midler deals with in international business today is exactly what Stilwell went through in dealing with the Kuomintang. This short blurb does not mention something Tuchman spent some time discussing: The Chinese are racists. They have always detested “the foreigner.” Chaing Kai Shek insisted on opening all the windows after meeting with Stilwell to “rid the room of the odor of the foreigner.” One of their favorite phrases is “we can always fool the foreigner.” I doubt any of this has changed.
Face it; the Chinese detest us, and when dealing with foreign companies they are double-dealing lying sacks of poop unwilling to honor any contract they sign. Anyone who does business with them is a fool, begging to get ripped off.
Great post Kelly.
“a love of excuse and pretense, the elevation of appearance over substance, admiration for unprincipled cleverness, shame a much stronger sanction than guilt.”
Ok, which came first. did these traits come from china to the US or the other way around.
Because when it comes to making excuses and having style over substnce, I find it difficult to believe, anyone has it over the US.
“attention mao-mart customer”
the coolest wal-mart i have ever seen was in china. 3 stories with escalators made for shopping carts, it was so neat, but the produce department stank something awful.
He used to say, "The definition of a Chinese merchant was one who could buy from a Scotsman, sell to a jew, and make a profit."
Chinese merchants have been cheating each other for so long that it is hardly a challenge to cheat westerners.
Garde la Foi, mes amis! Nous nous sommes les sauveurs de la République! Maintenant et Toujours!
(Keep the Faith, my friends! We are the saviors of the Republic! Now and Forever!)
LonePalm, le Républicain du verre cassé (The Broken Glass Republican)
Interesting article, thanks.
bttt
Not junk.
Chunk.
Now at M.A.O. Schwartz! Read Toy Crealance Sale! Lock Bottom Plices!
We never knowingly buy anything made in China. If you can’t find it made in USA new, go to ebay and buy it made in USA 50 years ago, it’s still better than new from China.
Or in your internet search engine, enter “made in USA.” There are sites that will tell you where to find American products.
I think I’ll shop at WalMart if I darn well want to.
dollar stores sell a lot of toothpaste and stuff from China... I think I will stick to ice trays and shower curtains
"The Puritans declared the sanctity of all honorable work. In so doing, they rejected a centuries-old division of callings into sacred and secular This Puritan rejection of the dichotomy between sacred and secular work has far-reaching implications. It judges every honorable job to be of intrinsic value, and integrates every vocation with a Christians spiritual life. It makes every job consequential by regarding it as the arena for glorifying and obeying God and for expressing love (through service) to a neighbor."
Puritan Work Ethic: the Dignity of Lifes Labors,
Christianity Today, October 1979, p. 15