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Post by takilasunrise on Aug 21, 2007 9:15:32 GMT -5
Has anyone started to question why there have been so many recalls of merchandise made in China? Toys with paint that contain lead, mattresses sprayed with toxic insecticide, cell phone batteries, unsafe tires, farmed seafood, pet food contaminated with melamine, toothpaste containing diethylene glycol, canned vegetables and children's pajamas, just to name some of the most recent. Personally, it scares me. And I have no idea what would fix this. Maybe American companies need to start having their merchandise produced IN America, but of course, as a consumer, we will have to pay higher prices because they will have to pay American labor costs. And yes, American companies screw up, too. I guess the only answer is to "beef up" the inspections of all products that enter the US. It's pretty scary to think you can feed your pet poisoned food or give your child a toxic toy to play with and not know about it until AFTER they've discovered it instead of catching it before it is distributed. The US will take years and years and spend tons of money to approve drugs or medical procedures before they allow access to Americans, but they will let merchandise from other countries fly through our borders without doing thorough inspections. Something is not right here......................  |
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Post by hermatite on Aug 21, 2007 10:41:19 GMT -5
I think we're safe unless the Chinese start mass producing poems for Ladyb's contest.
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Post by Lady B on Aug 21, 2007 11:22:16 GMT -5
Bob and I were talking about these issues last night, as well as all of the recent disasters that have happened in China...bridges collapsing, over 100 miners dying, a jet bursting into flames in just the last week. China made a decision when it lobbied to host the Olympic games. It can no longer enjoy its "hands off-isolationist" policies. The days of no peekie/no see-ie are gone and all the dirty laundry is hanging out to dry.
Communist rule allowed many advances in China but it also strangled many standards. Industry in China is struggling to catch up to Western standards. It is about 110 years behind.
Has the US government been unaware of the imbalances in standards of production between what is demanded/required here in the US vs. what is acceptable in the countries with whom we do bu$ine$$? Absolutely NOT. But as the communications world expands and information is easily sent out from places like China, the "common people" here in the US are now becoming rapidly aware that imported products can come at a cost we do not want to pay.
We are in a no-win situation in many ways. We do not want illegal aliens working here in the US (even though 95% of these illegals do the work that the legals disdain and which work does keep costs down) and yet, if we interact with other countries where production costs are low enough that we can "afford" said products, we do not want the lower standards that are the norm in the making of those products.
This is not just a scary situation. This is also a very sad situation. The population of the US is estimated at 301,139,947 as of July 2007. The population of China, 1,321,851,888. That is 1 billion more people living in a country that has far lower standards of living for the common people than here in the US. No, those Chinese are not buying the toys, or feeding the food to their pets; or drinking the colas in the aluminum cans. They are the people working in substandard industrial sites that use lead in the paint (are the workers protected?); that don't screen for pesticide chemicals in dog food kibble (are the workers safe?); that lose workers daily when vats of molten aluminum spill because equipment is overworked.
So where should we turn for products in high demand here in the US but too expensive to produce in the US? I hear the Government is planning to spend a couple billion on trying to reach Mars or Jupiter or some such far-away place. Maybe we can set up some industrial exchanges there. At least we wouldn't have any trouble identifying who are the aliens then.
Lady B
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WyckedWyre
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since April 2007
Posts: 1,391
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Post by WyckedWyre on Aug 21, 2007 13:16:55 GMT -5
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Post by larrywyland3 on Aug 21, 2007 13:48:28 GMT -5
China is a mess. Only about 8% are in the communist party. The rest are the poor peasant class. The cities are so polluted that you can not see the stars at night and sometimes not even the moon. What scares me is all food products that say distributed by and there is no way of knowing where it was made. The Chinese have no quality standards. Our government inspects and test a very low percentage of products we consume. If it isn't made in the states I don't eat it. This is definitely you get what you pay for. I used to think that buying overseas products would help bring those people's standard of living up and eventually we would all be relatively the same. Now I know that they will be forever exploited as they are not a free people. There is Canada, Europe, Greece, Australia, the US and a few other countries that are free. I try and keep my money locate or at least going to free people.
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Rockygibraltar
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since February 2006
Posts: 1,404
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Post by Rockygibraltar on Aug 21, 2007 22:34:00 GMT -5
Buying toxic junk from China supports human and ecological disaster. Avoid it if you can.
Something that is important to know about China is that they are on the same industrial level as the US and all the other countries world wide. They use the same machines and technology. Business wise there are a few core differences. The largest companies in China have the pocket book of their entire nation. When they purchase raw materials they buy all of it, world wide. They pay pennies on the dollar compared to even the largest manufacturers in the US. Another is that regardless of what they say publicly there is no polution regulation. They have no toxic waste disposal costs. And of course they have the never ending line of disposible human power. Something to note, the average sized manufacturers in china that pla by the same rules as us can't compete with us on any level. It's been tried over and over again.
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Post by Lady B on Aug 21, 2007 22:47:05 GMT -5
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Post by sandsman1 on Aug 21, 2007 23:02:04 GMT -5
all i gotta say is we ( the united states) should be makin all of that stuff here for ourselves and it will be like it should be (MADE WITH PRIDE MADE IN THE US.) not made in chine , japan korea and so on -- it just goes to show you none of them care what they send here just send us money who cares if your kids and pets and everyone is dying from it
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stefan
Cave Dweller 
Member since January 2005
Posts: 14,113
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Post by stefan on Aug 22, 2007 9:36:54 GMT -5
What I find disturbing (apart from the sunstandart products) is the way these company officials are dealt with- THey either commit suicide (how hobrrible must things REALLY be that they would kill themselves over it) or are exicuted- China is a very very very strange animal indeed!
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Post by Tonyterner on Aug 22, 2007 13:38:41 GMT -5
Who cares where the product comes from just as long as some VP gets his big bonus check for getting the cost of an item down near nil. Lets get our priorities straight, what matters more captains of industry making even more money or the health and welfare of our citizens? Of course thats a "no brainer" for us capitalists. ;D ;D ;D
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