Companies you believe you are familiar with have decided that all they need to own is a brand name, and they have their products made in China. Your government has decided that as long as shareholders in those companies make money, this is A-OK. This is true whether you live in N. America, W. Europe, or just about anywhere else. Uncle Sam can’t have a warplane made anymore without Chinese circuits and Taiwanese chips. The freaking internet you are surfing is driven by Sun and Cisco products, and they don’t make those products. Where did your computer come from?
Fucking boycott China if you think you can. I’m here to tell you that you aren’t, and that you can’t… with one exception: cars are made in Japan. So you have that going for you.
Film synopsis: This examination of cultural and economic globalization follows the life-cycle of Mardi Gras beads from a small factory in Fuzhou, China, to Mardi Gras in New Orleans, and to art galleries in New York City.
Please watch it and your questions would be answered. I didn’t make make the film!
Here.And Here. Another one.
These are fresh reports found with a quick search, and are from reputible sources… and this kind of thing goes on constantly with China.
This is from the U.S. Department of State’s 2007 Trafficking in Humans Report (That I provided a link to but I’m sure you didn’t read):
It goes on in more detail about incidents and historical precedents and efforts in change. I’m not just talking out of my ass. The Trafficking in Persons Report provides the basic snap shot from which we determine our policies towards another country regarding this topic. The GTIP Report uses a Tier system to rank countries around the world. This Tier system only has three rungs, and China is a Tier Two (Watch List) country which means that if their current trend doesn’t improve they can easily slip into the ranks of countries that, for a lack of a better term, use “slave labor” to fortify their work force. Although I have to admit… China is working on it, at a slow, slow, slow pace.
Most times the factories that practice horrid working conditions aren’t auto manufacturers or electronics makers. It’s the makers of things that most of us don’t think about like: Mardi Gras beads, bricks, pens, costume jewelery, etc.
I may not be able to flat out boycott Chinese items but when I can, I do.
And, every dollar I deny China, as long as they pull the crap that they pull, is a small voice of dissent. There are many who feel this same way, and more are joining in this sentiment everyday.
And as far as the pennies per day thing goes… When people start using titles like “forced labor” and “slave labor” I don’t think accurate pay records are available.
Sorry, but I base my position on personal experience and not a movie, not even a documentary. I can see how it would be easy to portray a massive manufacturing campus in mainland China, replete with dormitories and armed security, as some sort of work camp. Maybe some small fraction that I haven’t yet encountered actually are, but not the majority. Not by a long shot.
The objections to Chinese manufacturing could include unfair trade policies, manipulation of currency, and predatory pricing. However, no matter how foreign or bizarre it may seem to you, manufacturing campuses of this nature are not in and of themselves a problem. Life there is no picnic by western standards, but in a Chinese context, those people are fed, clothed, sheltered, and learn marketable skills to a much greater extent than would have been possible in the rural areas which they voluntarily left looking just for such opportunities.
I’d like to see them paid more. They should be paid more. But that won’t realisitcally correct itself until there isn’t enough labor to go around. That ain’t happening soon.
Dusty, no one, not even the Chinese government denies there are abuses. However, you’re taking isolated reported headlines and calling this the norm…and it is simply not the case.
We’re talking 1.3 billion people, and you know a search can find abusive migrant labor headlines in the US, etc. Not that that justifies jack.
Sheesh, you could go back 20 years ago to the commune days, and the majority of the population did live in pretty much all controlled lives in poverty that was pervasive. That condition has gotten immensurably better for the majority. There are still IIRC 100 million people in China according to the Chinese government that live in abject poverty.
Your pennies per day ascertation does not apply to the vast majority of factories in China. You might as well take the US prison wage rate (do a search, I find 20-40 cents per hour), and say American workers make only a few dollars per day. It would be just as accurate.
Well you have inspired me to try. It is a bit difficult. I tried to buy a kitchen strainer yesterday- all made in China. Even the garlic was Chinese produce (maybe because of the season). I beat that- I bought purple garlic. From Mexico.
The cherries I bought were from California. You think in Australia we could produce every food product we ever need.
You probably could, but you wouldn’t be eating cherries in mid-winter. I don’t know what to tell you about the strainer - could you use something else?
I try to buy American Made whenever possible. Failing that, I will then try to find Euro and Canadian Made products first before going Chinese.
[Disjointed Ramble Alert]
I do my best to be green and be a conscientious shopper. 90% of my clothing is from Salvation Army/Goodwill/garage sales. The smudge of supporting near sweat shop labor, slave like conditions, insane pricing and emaciated models on coke does not fall on my soul. The fact that I am screwing some twisted designer out of an ounce of coke because I refuse to buy his/her product fills me with delight.
The thing here is not so much to Boycott China. We must always have an Evil Empire ™ to fight. It is the Rule or something. They have 20 bajillion people to support and will always be able to undercut anyone’s bid on something. Always.
**What the focal point should be is ** *Supporting Your Local Businesses first *( Anything within 20 miles) then * State Businesses * ( And any other state whose boundary touches your home place) and then Nationally. I extend this to Canada as well. I loves me some canucks.
Keep your money where you live.
Send a message to your local businesses that you will support them and you will refrain from buying foreign made products. If they stop buying the foreign stuff, the message just might be sent to China and DC.
We have a local dairy where the milk is about $3.50ish a gallon, but the cows are well cared for, hormone and antibiotic free, and you can visit them when you are getting a big heap of ice cream. They even have drive up service for a quick milk run. THAT, my friends, IS PRICELESS! I pick their milk over the cheaper milk available at the local IGA every time, even when the Other Milk is on sale.
Does that extra money hurt me? Not nearly as much if this family owned dairy went out of business and their lands were sold to build McMansionville allowing another round of yuppie infestation (and their constant consumerism non-presence) to manifest itself into our small town culture.
China will always be a problem and will sort itself out in the end through a revolution or imploding. This may or may not happen in our life time. Boycotting their products and signing petitions will send a message to Our Goverment and Their Goverment that This Kinda Thing We Will Not Stand For.
Our first concern should be to support independant and local businesses run by people who care and love what they do. Not the soulless corporations who rape and pillage the countrysides and send Small Town and Medium Town America into a downward Death Spiral
[end disjointed ramble.]
Slightly OT question: How did China get the summer olympics with such internal problems?
Shirley, you’re a woman after my own heart. As far as the extra expense goes, I think it all evens out. The extra money I spend on milk is offset by the amount of money I save by going to the farmers’ market and buying in-season produce. The extra money I spend on the more expensive toiletry items is offset by the money I save by making my own cleaning products. I try to do what you do…local, then state, then US made, then, if I really, really need or want something, I’ll go for imported (or try to do without, but I think my son would become despondent without his Matchbox cars). I certainly don’t have a boycott of China going, but I try to either find an alternative or do without. When that’s impossible, China (or any other faraway place) it is.