We'll make our own history, thank you very much.

Colinism said:
I disagree, I think if it were given the amount of press time that something like this should be given people would want change.

Colinism said:
Actually, now that I am awake, I should not post right after I wake up I was thinking about this and I think a more accurate statement would be to say that Businesses don't care and want a source of cheap goods, I know tons of people who wonder why we get all this dangerous crap and don't make it ourselves thus creating jobs and or don't import from someplace that we can keep better tabs on the in place quality controls.

coyotemike said:

Insurance and salaries. No US company wants to pay the full time benefits and wages needed to employ enough people to make all the crap we buy. Same reasons why nearly all phone Helpdesk centers are in India and why illegal immigrants are neccessary to the U.S. economy. Plus, many people are unwilling to pay the increased price those U.S. made products would carry, to make up for salaries and benefits. So, until the people are willing to pay a bit more, or are willing to go without, China is going to remain our leading trading partner, and we'll keep our eyes closed to their human rights violations.

Colinism said:

Considering the amount of useless crap people buy I'd rather they paid more.

coyotemike said:

Just consider the list of things people would have to either pay more for or give up to make the change:

Nearly all entertainment electronics
Nearly all children's toys
About 99% of Walmart goods (other than food)
Most cheap clothes
Nike
Reebok
Most shoes in general
Sheets
Cookware
Pretty much anything made out of plastic
Computers

The list can go on and on. We can try to avoid things made in China (words ironically typed on a laptop made in China), but we are so surrounded that we can't escape.

Colinism said:

And how many of those things if they were actually well made would be worth paying more for? The problem is not that people would have to pay more, but that they would actually have to you know think about their purchases and not pretend to live a life of affluence all the while buying cheap crap and building up debt.

coyotemike said:

I would, and have, paid more for higher quality goods made locally. Or I've done without. But it is easy for me to do that, as I don't have children who need things like diapers and bottles and toys, all on a strict budget.

Colinism said:
The way to solve that is to give people full time jobs and pay them better, not import cheap garbage and lay people off.

Colinism said:
I know, It's like that Magic that passes for science.

Seriously tho, were hitting the end of what we can possibly do without you know actually re industrializing and working to restore the economy. There is no excuse for a country this size with this many people to be dependent on importing goods. It's criminal.

Colinism said:
I know, It's like that Magic that passes for science.

Seriously tho, were hitting the end of what we can possibly do without you know actually re industrializing and working to restore the economy. There is no excuse for a country this size with this many people to be dependent on importing goods. It's criminal.

Chainlink said:

It's called Capitalism. And contrary to all our whining about China and their abuses, we encourage it.

Glass House. Really.

coyotemike said:

It's idiocy, the number and type of plants that keep closing.

Coleman, the company famous for camping gear, lanterns, etc, just closed a plant here that makes generators.

Last year there was such a run on generators that the plant couldn't keep up. After Katrina, they sold off all they had to the governement and to charities that sent them south. The plant was running full steam, 3 shifts, 24 hours a day. I'm not even sure if they closed on Sundays. 200 people lost their jobs. Chances are, a Coleman plant will be opening somewhere else in the world soon, and we'll be importing the same number of generators. And that is just one example of the greed of companies.

Instead of throwing tax breaks at huge, multinational, multi-billion dollar companies, wouldn't it make more sense to give tax breaks to medium and small businesses and manufacturers? The gov't would make more in taxes, because these places could pay their workers a higher income, plus those people could spend more.

Stupid, stupid shit.

Colinism said:

Tarifs my friend Tarifs.

coyotemike said:

You mean make it cheaper to manufacture things here than in China? Blasphemy!!!!

Colinism said:
Or at least trade policies that make sense. The point of free markets and trading is that the best products should flow, not that we allow cheap products to flood our markets with crap pulling the better quality people out of business and sacraficing our economy.

What I would like to know is where do these people think were gonna keep getting money to buy stuff as the prices keep going up and wages stagnate?

coyotemike said:

That is the ideal, but the reality is companies finding the cheapest way to put out something people will buy, regardless of quality.

They don't care. This isn't about maintaining a sustainable market, it is about getting as much as possible before the well runs dry.

Colinism said:

And when it does they will ultimately be left with nothing. If we can't buy what they have they can't sell and their money will run out eventually.

Colinism said:
I know, I mean here in the U.S. I am not willing to simply wait until those markets mature and we suddenly find out it's once again cheaper to make the stuff here.

Which yes eventually will happen, but do you want to wait that long and have that much suffering?

A contaminated blood thinner from China has been found in drug supplies in 11 countries, and federal officials said Monday they had discovered a clear link between the contaminant and severe reactions now associated with 81 deaths in the United States.

The F.D.A. has identified 12 Chinese companies that have supplied contaminated heparin to 11 countries %u2014 Australia, Canada, China, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, New Zealand and the United States. Deborah Autor, director of compliance at the F.D.A.'s drug center, said the agency did not know the original source of all the contamination or the points in the supply chain at which it was added.

The F.D.A. has announced plans to open inspection offices in three Chinese cities, but the agency has yet to get permission from the Chinese government. Mr. Chen said any inspection agreement should be reciprocal. "Will the U.S. government accept the Chinese F.D.A. to set up in the United States?" he said. source