Chinese made products in massive recalls-why didn't anyone listen?

[Castleman]

In 1995, I had had enough of cheaply made stuff. A supposedly quality VCR came apart some three months after I bought it. I looked it over, and sure enough, MADE IN CHINA. How does one avoid this issue? It took me months, but I found a GO-Video VCR that was American made. It's still going strong, not that I watch a whole lot of VHS these days, but still. My very first concern about Chinese made product was quality. I looked around at the stuff that was being imported, and it was pure 100% shit. Poorly made, poorly assembled, crap components, etc. Nothing too impressive. But cheap!!! I could see a lot of people being happy with low quality merchandise, as long as it was low price. Maybe it's my Yankee heritage, but we like to see stuff LAST. Buy good quality now, and it will last you longer later. My mother's bedroom set is a good argument, built in Vermont in 1956 by a local hardworking furniture shop, it's lasted 51 YEARS! Still looks new! I'll wager any amount of money you care to on some cheap-ass IKEA bed lasting less than half of that time.
I also grew concerned about human rights abuses in Chinese factories. I grew even more concerned about Americans losing their jobs due to this cheap-ass crap being brought into the country. I saw the bit about the American factory losing their WalMart contract because the Chinese factory could save them 4 cents a sweater. It pissed me off to no end.
So I fought, I fought damn hard to only buy USA made. I paid more in almost every case, but I told all the self centered jackasses that buying cheap stuff from China would come back to bite 'em in the ass. "How do you know what they're putting into any of that stuff??" "Well, it's cheap"
Congrats assholes, it also kills your pets, gives your kids cancer, sets them on fire, etc, etc.
Now we're seeing MASSIVE recalls of the stuff because it is LETHAL. Their lack of concern for OUR safety and cutting corners has KILLED.
And the "American" companies who happily bring this shit into this country by the boatload are every single bit as guilty.
Guess what?
So are you, Mr. & Mrs. Consumer.
"I don't care about quality, give me it as cheap as possible!!"
YOU contributed to this wonderful mess!
Not I.
My shoes?
Red Wing. Made in Minnesota.
(the current pair on my feet is 5 years old and get abused daily in a restaurant, can your Nikes hold up to that?)
My jeans?
Wrangler. Made in North Carolina (for now)
My t-shirt?
American Apparel. Made in Los Angeles.
My wallet?
Handmade at a craft show by a guy and his wife from Vermont.
My TV?
Olevia. Assembled in the USA
My furniture?
Ethan Allen. USA made.
Folks, there are things it simply impossible to get made in this country anymore.
Small electronics, and that sort of thing, and a global economy isn't the end of the world.
You DO have choices though for a lot of things. Look into 'em. Make the RIGHT choice.
Spend a little more for quality. Get a better, safer product.
Keep your fellow Americans working.
You never know, get a good solid demand for American made products and Mr. Executive will have no choice but to meet the wishes of his customers.
They'll fire up some of the factories they've abandoned and put more of your friends and families back to work.
Myself and other people warned you about buying cheap-ass garbage a long time ago, and now you've seen what it REALLY gets you.
BUY AMERICAN! IT'S THE RIGHT THING TO DO!!!

[bluerum]

1. Americans can make crap too. See op. eom

[Gregorian]

2. It's not that simple. Materials may come from China for a USA made product.

Oh yeah, I bought my last Levi 501's four years ago, just before they went Chinese.


I have always felt (although I may be changing slowly) that buying USA was like waving the flag around. I don't wave the flag. I'm not even proud of the fucking rag. I could be, under the right circumstances. Ones which I most likely won't ever live to see. I guess I might be able to explain why I feel this way. I, not unlike Vonnegut, don't see borders. I see a planet, not countries. The Germans (substitute any other nationality) are all jumping up and down and saying to buy German made goods. And it really makes no sense to me. Yes, I'm an American. I just happen to have been born here. And that's about as far as I take it. I don't have allegiance to any single place. I guess that means there's a cell with my name on it at Guantanamo. And probably a bunch of people in the American labor force who would like to kick my head in.

[Webster Green]

3. I'm so sick of all the cheap crap from China..

Some of it is so cheap and useless, that you could truthfully say that it is an imitation product, rather than an actual product. Those fancy looking large sets of Chinese high-speed drill bits, cleverly colored to imitate the real titanium-coated ones, are almost useless. You might get through soft metal one time, but that's it. After that you can maybe burn through wood a few times, and then you may as well throw it away. A Chinese cordless drill may work for awhile if you get lucky, but could just as easily burn up the first time you use it.

I've been boycotting their shit for years, but it ain't easy!

[sandnsea]

4. Basically, it's landfill

That's the biggest problem I have with it, after the health hazards and human exploitation of course. We're creating our own toxicity. Losing our manufacturing middle class economic base, so we can poison our air and water and allow a foreign country to create the greenhouse manufacturing gasses that we used to.

How fucking stupid are we.

[blues90]

5. I agree with all the posters here .

I wonder if we did have american made products what the result would be with this de-regulation . This is not to say jobs gone to China or the cheap products are something to be desired , they're not .

As far as destroying the globe anywhere things are made does ruin the environment for everyone .

I see even Makita is now building alot of their power tools in China , they look the same but don't sound the same so the insides may be of cheap bearings and castings .

Really without american pride put into an american product we still will end up with disposable junk . If these jobs pay little then why would anyone have pride in their work , it's then just a job and nothing more .

I don't see the youth going into blue collar jobs , they want more out of life . However after years of no jobs who knows what the end result would be .

I worked for ford dealerships , even in the 80's I saw many parts and even wire harnessess made in China which was a surprize , so the end product is not american made .

I try my best to keep what I have working and then if it fails I do without , what's the point of supporting China and corps who choose to outsource production when you are killing yourself in the process ?

[Deja Q]

6. Assembled != made

Olevia is better than Vizio, but the Mexico-assembled Sony beats the crap out of both of them.

Oh, the Dell Optiplex series is now being assembled in America too. Of Chinese-made parts; bad capacitors and all.

I will buy quality. Because it's hard to earn money and it should not be wasted on cheap, breakable junk.

[DarkTirade]

7. My brother married a vietnamese girl a few years ago

and she found it endlessly amusing that so many things here have that 'made in china' stamp. Here she was, coming from a country right near china... and yet over here, across an entire ocean, we have more things made in china than she did there.