What Did You Buy From China Today?

[Perseid]

In the past week, month, and year, it seems everything in this house came from China.

Just askin'

[WorseBeforeBetter]

1. Didn't make any purchases today...

other than gnocchi from a local Italian restaurant. Chef from Italy, hostess from Cuba, and cooks from Mexico. And it was yumm-y.

[alittlelark]

2. 0 $$$ from this abode today

I have bought less than 20 items made in China in the last year. My kids would flay me if they got clothing made in China, and they gave G'ma back presents last Christmas because they were made in China.

We try. We REALLY try.

[nadinbrzezinski]

3. We try, but in the near future I will not have a choice

electronics are from China

[Perseid]

4. I thank Jeevbus that my car was made in Japan

how sad is that?

[nadinbrzezinski]

5. Sad indeed

today the maytag man no longer has a job

The last maytag factories have closed

So if you see an old man asking for help...

And it sickens me

[spag68]

9. Japanese car, probably made in Ohio

[Rosemary2205]

15. or Kentucky.

My "American" car was made in Mexico with less American parts than my brother's "Japanese car" made in Georgetown KY.

[Rosemary2205]

6. China would be better off backwards and poor???

Blue collars in the US are suffering in the short term but IMHO the "problem" isn't the loss of manufacturing jobs - it's the lack of opportunity for displaced workers to retrain for decent paying jobs inside the US.

Sending manufacturing jobs to China is fine by me so long as the little people in the US can still afford a half decent place to live, basic healthcare, education and not have to live their "golden years" in severe poverty.

[nadinbrzezinski]

8. that ain't the plan though

the plan is for you and me to loose our standard of living

Externalize costs, maximize profits

Problem with this, which some folks don't get, is that at some point this middle class will be gone and... will not be able to afford the junk

[Perseid]

10. triple stars for your reply right there

truth will hurt, if it hasn't already.

[Rosemary2205]

14. Globalism is here to stay.

Those factory jobs aren't coming back. Ever. It's time to adjust and fight for the little guy based on the current and future realities. IMHO - of course - just MHO.

The way I see it is the middle class is splitting in half right down the middle. Some, the worker/investor part of the middle class is much better off under the global economy. Those who do not invest and only work paycheck to paycheck are worse off and continue to decline.

I make less money a year than some of my friends, sometimes much less. I live so far below my means that I save money every month. Many of my much "wealthier" friends are eyeball deep in debt and getting farther and farther behind. A lot of our difficulties financially in this country has to do with eyeballs bigger than our wallet, so to speak. Our middle class expects 2 cars, 2-4 toilets in their homes, "double sinks" and granite, - we have stylists not barbers, we whiten our teeth, slap on fake nails and hair, ipod, blackberry, 200 channels of hi def, blah blah blah. If we would ask from life what our parents or grandparents did, spent smaller and saved higher, the middle class would look so much differently.

IMHO -- just MHO.

[nadinbrzezinski]

16. Apples and oranges

but the reason people spend like they do is that this economy NEEDs, no rather DEPENDS on consumption. No consumtion no economy

It is far more complex than that, but it boils down to that.

Right now I am trying to run a very small business... and since my merchandise is luxury... guess what? I can see how bad things are

Why?

Lemme see... silly book... or milk.

I don't blame my customers for choosing the milk

And that is where we are very fast moving to...

Ford got it, as much of an Asshole as he was... your employees cannot buy, you don't stay in bussiness

And no, those jobs ain;t comming back... but neither are the paying salaries that will allow people to live decent lives

By the way, not my opinion, but based in history... in times of decreasing expectations you got revolutions

;-)

I could point to the books, but it won't matter

[nonconformist]

17. Uh, the "little people" can't much afford a home, healthcare and education anymore

That's the problem.

[Rosemary2205]

19. It does depend on where you live.

I AM a little people. I am disabled and I make under 28 a year before taxes. My husband is disabled and does not work. He is not getting disability, though we are trying as he will NEVER be able to work again. My home is small and not in the fanciest part of town - in fact the folks around Atlanta think I live in the armpit of suburbia. But my neighborhood is safe and clean, my home is good sturdy house. My vehicle is old but it gets me and my wheelchair to work. I am not saving A LOT of course, but I am saving.

6 years ago we were both making in the mid 30's, though our combined never got over 70 before taxes. We saved A LOT in those days because we lived like this then too. All that is gone now because of 5 years neither of us working. I had to start from scratch because physically I can't do what I did before.

People who lose their factory jobs can and should be retrained. If a newly disabled black woman in her mid 50's can be retrained, most anyone can.

IMHO a lifetime of educational opportunities is what we should be fighting for, not factory jobs.

Sincerely, just MHO - colored by my own experience.

[SoCalDem]

20. Actually, yes..here's why.

Subsistence farme people get lured to cities where they will handle cadmium, lead, and a ton of other dangerous chemicals... These are YOUNG people mostly. If the few women per men there marry and procreate, their offspring will likely have some serious birth defects.. IF they can even have children after being exposed to all the nasty air, water & work conditions.

The men have to be having reproductive issues as well..

Many of these poor farm people end up being little more than slaves ,. who will contract a fatal condition from their exposures, and many will die before they are 40...leaving behind (if they even have kids) children who may be handicapped..

Life in the country may just be safer and better in the long run..even if they were poor

[ginnyinWI]

7. my daughter and I went shopping at the Salvation Army

What a hoot--she got a huge pile of clothes and each of us got a wool coat. She has excellent taste and a knack for finding the good stuff. I don't know where it all originated, but this saved buying new clothing from China or some other Asian country.

We had lunch at a local cafe--hopefully mostly American-origin food. Then we bought some cat food made in the U.S.A.

[napi21]

11. Today, I didn't buy ANYTHING! In the past months or year, I

couldn't possibly answer your question. I try not to buy anything labled China, but sometimes there's no lable, and sometimes, there is no choice. Clothes for instance. Try to find some clothes that are not made in China, Bangladesh, or somewhere like that. Yes, I know there are jeans made in the US, but most of what I wear are sweats, or in the summer, pullon pants and a tee. I've even shopped at upper end department stores during their sales, and all their stuff is made in some foreign country most people can't find on the map!

FWIW, I just checked the Steeler sweatshirt I'm currently wearing, and it says made in the USA! Unfortunately, the sweatpants I have on were made in Malaysia. I DO TRY, but with some items, it's really difficult!

[durrrty libby]

12. What did you buy? Me ...nothing

[RB TexLa]

13. I bought more China Southern Airlines stock this week

[earth mom]

18. I'm guilty but may have some salvation....

New purchases: a couple of pairs of each: shoes, jeans, sweatshirts. I also bought a hard to find wooden broom (they are all plastic it seems now), 3 compact fluorescent bulbs, a PS2 game, fabric & art supplies and a couple of plastic tubs to store the art supplies in.

Sorry USA! Sorry Earth! :hide:


However, I really prefer shopping thrift stores & garage sales & rarely hit the mall.

So, I hope I made up for some of my sins here:

Recycled purchases: levi jeans, 2 t shirts, 3 yds tie dye fabric, a vintage wood folding screen, 2 vintage items off ebay, and 4 books.


I also bought a new, Made in the USA (!!!) folding clothes drying rack. O8)

[nadinbrzezinski]

21. I wonder if I should go to goodwill to see if I can find the I-POD

I don't need it new you know

[earth mom]

25. I want an Ipod too...I've seen them at Pawn shops, where I often buy used video games for my kid.

Maybe you can find one used and in good condition if you look around? :hi:

[Beerboy]

22. I went out of my way and spent extra to ensure I didn't buy from China...

I have to do my first brake job on my '04 Dodge. I could've went w/ the cheapest parts, but as it's a significant job requiring lots of money, I had to know where the parts are made. The rotor (disc) is made in Canada, as is the caliper. But the cheapest (inexpensive-low quality) brake pads to be mounted on the high-quality Canadian parts are made in China, @ $33/pair.
Get the more expensive ceramic pads that last 3 times longer between brake jobs.
There's a reason why the garbage made in China is as cheap as it is, the average slave assembling it @ gunpoint isn't sure he'll be around next week.

[losthills]

23. You don't have to buy from China.

But you will. Because they are always the cheapesat.

And money means more than the destruction of your country....

[Beerboy]

24. This is only anecdotal, but you're wrong.

Most people buying auto parts, especially any of the safety systems, aren't going to buy poisoned crap made in China's 'workers' paradise'.
Canada isn't my country, but I trust their workmanship to a job well done because of pride in workmanship, Canada has a legal system/rule-of-law, and the U.S.A. is their neighbor.
Speaking for myself, I always go out of my way to ID where what I want to buy is made, and if I see 'made in China' or 'made in PRC', I can go without until I can find the superior original it was copied from.
Speak for yourself on the buy from China crap.

[orleans]

26. i'm so pissed off at china and the crap they are pulling

i'll pick up an item at a store and the first thing i look for is where it is made rather than the price. if it's china i put it back (and wipe my hand on my jeans--you never know what kind of shit chemical is all over all their crap!)

unless it's packaged food that is unmarked (only telling me where it is distributated) i don't buy from china anymore. i figure i don't really NEED whatever it is anyway--it just isn't worth it.

[Beerboy]

27. Keep doing that, it's what I do. I refuse to buy

from China's big concentration camp. It may be cheaper money-wise, but the old axiom holds... you get what you pay for.
I'm not buying automotive parts made in China, even if they start offering mummified fingers or ears.
Fuck China.

[133724]

28. THIS.....

[Evoman]

29. In the past week? Nothing.

In the past month? Some "chinese" soup. That's about it.

In the past year? Shoes, some small number of clothing items, and batteries?

I don't buy very much.