China threat

2007-11-14T04:23:00.000-08:00

Its bad enough that former President Clinton virtually gave away National defense technology to China with his notorious "coffees" fund raisers, but now the trade with China has allowed our economic infrastructure to be in the hands of a Communist country.
The fact that a Chinese worker can sustain his life on pennies a day in wages is fantastic and probably much better than they could do by working fields. The industrial pollution that comes with it is a cycle that we went through in our country and we have passed on this legacy of toxic work conditions, water pollution, lead poisoning, and death to the fine people of China.
Then the issue of pure greed and corruption comes to play. Our buyers can go to China and have any product made. An entire factory can be built and in production for under $10,000 US, and products can be made for pennies. Every single item made in China has cost the US in jobs and productivity. Or at best, converted a work force into wholesalers and retailers who produce nothing but paperwork and order blanks.
Tool and die are becoming a lost art, foundries are gone, assembly production is gone and made in America logos are collectibles.
The US buying public sees none of the savings that are the supposed reasoning behind buying in China. A shirt or toy that retails for $20 might have cost the manufacturer $2 to make when we had a US factory do the labor and assembly. That same toy or shirt now only costs .20 to make in China but the exponential markup never reaches the US retail. The savings is just kept by the manufacturer. The shirt or toy can sell for $2 if the same markup structure were true. Instead, the manufacturer just pockets the extra difference and the retail price remains the same. In the process, we have eliminated the American worker.
The absolute worst of this is not yet been realized. That is, if China decides to close its doors. We would now be left without an economy. Our ability to retool and start up production again, would be impossible in the short run, and expensive in the long run.
Our ability right now to obtain staple goods is at the mercy of the Chinese structure. More and more, each product made by a US investor is unprotected and intellectual property, patents, and production methods keep going long after the initial product has been bought.
Example: lets say you made a TV in China, sell it at Walmart for $100. The Chinese manufacturer will keep on making those and sell it directly to other countries as there is no provision for exclusivity. The Glut of those TVs eventually diminish the worth of the US manufacturer who now cannot export or sell that product due to his own competition. Worse yet, the China firms can sell that same TV to anyone.
Lets address the Chinese worker, depicted on documentaries as a giggly little girl working at a table with a tiny paint brush painting details on a doll or a dish. Then, there is the other industry where workers are exposed to toxic chemicals, air pollutants, and dangerous machinery. The Chinese worker has Cancer causing elements, Carpal Tunnel from repetitive movements, eye site problems, and all of the sweatshop conditions that the US had during our Industrial revolution days. Smokestack pollution, chemical runoff from factory waste, and more.
Corruption is rampant, the greedy American importers are hated and are every stereotypical ugly American business merchant you have ever seen depicted.

Powerful China

2007-05-30T05:45:00.000-07:00

The silk kimono, the kempt hair, the polite and proper demeanor hide an ominius and dangerous China. The greed of the American manufacturers and importers funnel money to Chinese factories who emulate the technology and rubber stamp our products and techniques elsewhere. While we shut down our factories in the U.S. and shift our workforce to outsource, we kill the work ethic and pride we (the United States) were once noted for.

Frog on my Banana

China threat

Powerful China