I try not to buy anything from China

[musiclawyer]

Anyone else? I mean I just heard there is a recall on Thomas the Tank Engine toys because of lead paint. Guess where manufactured? The Pet food thing, the child labor. The list goes on. I mean, what a fucked up place. I try to look at all labels. I'm sure I miss some. But I sure as hell try to stay clear of it. I wish all Americans would wake up about this.

[cobalt1999]

1. me too.

It's getting harder and harder though. It's sad that Americans are willingly "selling themselves down the river".

[NewWaveChick1981]

2. Same here.

This is a real eye-opener if you haven't heard it yet: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=10409726 I heard this story on NPR when it first aired, and it's sickening. The Chinese government and manufacturers care nothing about the welfare of the Chinese people or people in any country they export to.

My husband nearly got sick when he read this article. :(

[Deja Q]

4. Why should their government? They have 1.5 billion people AND have tried numerous other methods to

control population growth.

The trouble is, in a 'global' economy, 1.5 billion people no matter. Ramp that value up to a potential 6.5 billion.

[NewWaveChick1981]

11. Controlling population growth and caring about the people are two entirely different things.

But you're right about where the trouble lies.

The problem with Chinese goods is that, more than any other country, products are routinely adulterated and mislabeled. Melamine has been added to wheat gluten to fool tests for protein content, giving falsely higher readings, which is what happened in the pet food industry. Puffer fish have been routinely mislabeled as monkfish for export because they're easier and cheaper to catch---never mind that puffer fish is poisonous. Tea leaves for export are often cured by running them over with diesel trucks, thereby spraying leaded gasoline residue on them. William Hubbard, the ex-FDA official interviewed for that NPR piece, cited these examples during the radio interview I heard on NPR.

[Deja Q]

16. True, but what if China wanted to decide that stopping caring for its people would in turn

stop population growth? (aka an ulterior, covert psychological manipulation?)

That's all conjecture, of course, but when nobody of official presence says anything, all people can do is conjecture and infer.

[Crazy Dave]

3. The PC your using now....

....probably has about 80% Chinese components. I was told by a Sony rep. one time that even they don't manufacture hardly anything in Japan anymore as it's cheaper in China.

[Deja Q]

5. Taiwan isn't owned by China... yet.

And I look for Taiwan-stamped parts. They've been higher quality than their Chinese counterparts.

And as Microsoft can't even buy its way into an antivirus product, if China took over Taiwan, how they govern their conquered country would only mean a drop in quality.

I'm glad I got that extended warranty for my new TV... :crazy:

[Crazy Dave]

8. It cracks me up when people say...

"I buy American computers made by Dell Or HP"

I think my Dell was made in Indonesia.

[Deja Q]

15. The Dells I work with all say 'Made in China'

Do people not know we are working in a globalized world?

[AlCzervik]

9. they do make the parts in China at one place and final chassis assembly is done

at another company in China, there are many of them. Almost everything electronics is made from chinese made parts, for the american and European market.

[Crazy Dave]

12. No doubt

And there's probably less than a dozen PC component manufacturers world-wide with probably half of them that use thirteen year olds chained to a work table.

But nobody is crazy enough to give up their PC. That would keep them from writing their "pro-human rights" blogs.

[Dyedinthewoolliberal]

6. But's it's getting to the point

where EVERYTHING (sorry for yelling :) ) is made in China. It's getting ridiculous........

[Shakespeare]

7. Well, we import candy with lead in it from Mexico....

..and there are similar issues with nearly every country we import products from.

It's not just China (if you want to be truly "awake" you'll realize that).

I also think it's hideously wrong to vilify an entire country like that--China is breathtakingly beautiful, and its people are wonderful.

[Crazy Dave]

10. And....

...just like Mexico. They only give Americans what they want. If there wasn't a demand for it, they wouldn't make it or sell it.

[Shakespeare]

14. Exactly.

I have no problem going out of my way to make every effort to buy American, but to be in denial about the inescapable global economy we're in is at best ignorant, and at worst borders on the xenophobic.

[LaurenG]

21. I don't think Americans or specifically DUer's

are xenophobic toward the Chinese. My concern is the food quality products they are selling us. When I think about the pet food, toothpaste and wheat products imported from China that people are consuming I am concerned.

I would rather eat my bread on a plate not eat a plate in my bread. :silly: It certainly makes me wonder what we eat without realizing it. With that said we may have the same problem with our own products, and we just don't know it.

[Deja Q]

17. Agreed. Thank you for the edification.

Now let's count how long until the US is "made competitive" again...

[LaurenG]

13. One more reason...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=115x101052

[asteroid2003QQ47]

18. Buy Chinese!

Buying Chinese screws a local, usually Republican, small businessman.
That's reason enough for me.

[NMDemDist2]

19. did you forget your 'sarcasm' smilie on that post?

if you didn't, that's pretty screwed up IMO

[NewJeffCT]

20. and how often

are products labeled as "Made in America" when they are really made somewhere else? Sometimes products that are made overseas are then packaged here and labeled as Made in America.

It's difficult to find anything under $50 that is made in America.

And, it's not just recent events that have led to this corruption & sleaze in China - the common people there have been exploited by the powers-that-be for thousands of years, be they dynastic emperors or communist leaders. I mean, it was long suspected that the fleet of Mongol ships that were intended to be used to invade Japan in the late 1200s were done in by the poor quality (sabotage?) workmanship of Chinese slaves. The entire fleet sank!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mongol_invasions_of_Japan

[Crazy Dave]

26. I saw a news report once

Might have been 60 Minutes but it was a long time ago. It was about all of Wal-Marts "Made In America" clothes they were selling. The clothes were all made overseas and shipped here where the tag that says, "Made In America" was sewed on and that qualified it to be classified as such. If any part of the production process is stateside, even if it's only about 0.001% it can be called and sold as "Made In America".

The same scam is going on with a lot of "Green Products". If the plant has two separate trash cans in their break room for trash and recyclables it can tell the whole world they're a "Green Factory".

[BlueIris]

22. I've been trying not to buy anything from China since 1995.

Which is actually quite difficult. Now that there are stores in our area that stock some basic necessities like umbrellas not made in China, (made through fair trade instead) t's a tad easier. But it's not cheap. And I went without umbrellas for three years.

[philosophie_en_rose]

23. I buy things made in China, but not mass-produced crap.

:shrug:

[dembotoz]

24. we should be more aware

I always mean to buy domestic products.
Some times i fall short.
And thats too bad.
If we do not support our own workers there ain't no reason to expect anyone else to

[mzteris]

25. good luck with that.

They make damn near everything now.

[Zoigal]

27. Definitely NO FOOD items

vitamins, toothpaste, OTC medications, etc either.

For what it matters, i buy nothing from China until we have a fair trade agreement and much more oversight
on how and by whom their products are made.

[cloudbase]

28. Not just their cheap stuff.

Check out their cars:

http://www.autoblog.com/category/china/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F06LjugtIUo

[TK421]

29. Here is the perfect song for you!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VmevO2V2JxA