I dunno how much this will really fix anything.. it gives them the public appearance that they are doing SOMETHING.. but.
Maybe not in every circumstance, but I feel like a Chinese "government official" is just a back up plan.. they have a scapegoat in place to take the blame when something goes really wrong..
Same thing happened with the big benzene spill a couple of years ago. Some "official" fell on the sword for it.
The government has a cheaper solution than building some kind of infrastructure to deal with toxic releases, and driving business away with harsher standards. Just lop off some poor lackey's head and claim that the government itself was not responsible.
I will do my best to NEVER buy anything originating there.
Good luck with that.
I'm thinking that a complete boycott (by you, or any one American consumer) may not be easily accomplished. If it's possible at all, it would come with huge cost, I would guess.
If you find ways to do so that can be passed on to others, please let us know. I'm sure there's plenty of us who would like to join you.
1. Don't just replace it, get it repaired. Even at half the cost of replacement.. even if you have to miss a couple soaps while waiting..
2. Things overtly made in china.. don't buy. Buy stuff manufactered in Singapore, Indonesia, Mexico, anywhere but China. I had to buy a calculator for a particular class, but I just didn't have any choice. The damn thing was made in China.. I would have bought used if there was one.. with the global supply chain thingy, five minutes after you buy the $39.95 chinese VCR or DVD, they have another one planned to be rolling off the line.
3. Read the labels..
4. Buy locally produced goods and produce if and when you can..
Things like cars, I don't think there is a whole lot of options.. so many parts.. some made in U.S., some Mexico, some Canada, some China..
you'd have to perform major surgery to de-China-ize a vehicle..
I think individuals have a little more power than they really think. Sometimes you can't save the world.. but you can kick the bully in the shins..
I agree with those who say that this doesn't actually solve any problems. The contaminations in food will still be there, and the system in place in China to test the food to ensure safety is still broken.
But on the other hand, as an imperfect, vengeful human being, I can't help but think of how great it would be if we had this sort of thing to deal with government incompetence in this country.
I don't think the system in place in China is broken as such.. just it never worked to begin with..
True.
But what's the excuse here in this country where we do have a system and people who are supposed to monitor these goods when they come over the border?
It's not just food and health/beauty products - it's in toys, auto parts (aftermarket), and appliances - all have had issues this year in some fashion.
It's no excuse, I agree. It's just the new economics..
economics with no morality, no conscious. I think it is in the secular relm what twi became in the religious relm.
Anyone or anything is up for sacrifice to protect the corporations bottom line..
Personally, I think China has a plan. How better to destroy us, than to give "us" exactly what we want..
freedom to pollute and plunder, no or unenforced regulations... corporations are moving en masse over there.
Yeah.. it's cheap labor, no regulations to deal with, at least now. Wait for the real cost.
I really think it is a trap. Wait twenty, thirty years.. see how some world court slaps these industrialists silly. Can you imagine the cost of cleaning that mess up? What about restitution for what this crap is doing to the health of the Chinese people?
The third generation of one chemical corporation here is now paying for the "sins" of the first generation.
The company I work for has started to invest heavily in China. (A new R&D center in Shanghai, some world-scale production facilities.) The point is to provide our goods cheaply to the billion or so Chinese consumers. All I can think of is "What if China decides to nationalize all of our facilities?" We let Argentina, and now Venezuela, do it. How would we stop the Chinese? And, last time I looked, China had a communist dictatorship that doesn't really like us much.
hmm.. what if they indeed do nationalize "our" intersts..
happened in Cuba too, did it not?
At the moment, I feel some compassion for the guy who bore the brunt of this stupid debacle..
they sacrificed yet another soul to this insanity..
Seems exteme to us here in the USA, but I believe the culture there sees this as justice and not as an extreme. Perhaps someone like George Aar could shed more light on this.
I agree with the posters who feel we should invest more in the USA and less in these other countries who keep Wal-Mart's shelves stocked.
China carried out their sentance on him. They really aren't much for appeals. Their motto is 'Don't do the crime if you can't do the time' in thgis case forever
maybe that's the price someone pays to be in a government position. Participate in some kind of hellish "lottery", where someone dies or worse once in a while for a failed system.. live a few years in luxury, and pray nothing goes wrong..
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Ham
I dunno how much this will really fix anything.. it gives them the public appearance that they are doing SOMETHING.. but.
Maybe not in every circumstance, but I feel like a Chinese "government official" is just a back up plan.. they have a scapegoat in place to take the blame when something goes really wrong..
Same thing happened with the big benzene spill a couple of years ago. Some "official" fell on the sword for it.
The government has a cheaper solution than building some kind of infrastructure to deal with toxic releases, and driving business away with harsher standards. Just lop off some poor lackey's head and claim that the government itself was not responsible.
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Ham
Two year old news, but things are pretty much the same today..
The Real cost of cheap goods..
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Ham
makes me wonder how much of the exported agriculture was irrigated with water from the Songhua River. Or a river just as polluted..
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Rocky
Good luck with that.
I'm thinking that a complete boycott (by you, or any one American consumer) may not be easily accomplished. If it's possible at all, it would come with huge cost, I would guess.
If you find ways to do so that can be passed on to others, please let us know. I'm sure there's plenty of us who would like to join you.
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Ham
hmm. Well, how about: don't shop at Wally Mart.
There are all kinds of options though..
1. Don't just replace it, get it repaired. Even at half the cost of replacement.. even if you have to miss a couple soaps while waiting..
2. Things overtly made in china.. don't buy. Buy stuff manufactered in Singapore, Indonesia, Mexico, anywhere but China. I had to buy a calculator for a particular class, but I just didn't have any choice. The damn thing was made in China.. I would have bought used if there was one.. with the global supply chain thingy, five minutes after you buy the $39.95 chinese VCR or DVD, they have another one planned to be rolling off the line.
3. Read the labels..
4. Buy locally produced goods and produce if and when you can..
Things like cars, I don't think there is a whole lot of options.. so many parts.. some made in U.S., some Mexico, some Canada, some China..
you'd have to perform major surgery to de-China-ize a vehicle..
I think individuals have a little more power than they really think. Sometimes you can't save the world.. but you can kick the bully in the shins..
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Mister P-Mosh
I agree with those who say that this doesn't actually solve any problems. The contaminations in food will still be there, and the system in place in China to test the food to ensure safety is still broken.
But on the other hand, as an imperfect, vengeful human being, I can't help but think of how great it would be if we had this sort of thing to deal with government incompetence in this country.
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Ham
I don't think the system in place in China is broken as such.. just it never worked to begin with..
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ChasUFarley
True.
But what's the excuse here in this country where we do have a system and people who are supposed to monitor these goods when they come over the border?
It's not just food and health/beauty products - it's in toys, auto parts (aftermarket), and appliances - all have had issues this year in some fashion.
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Ham
It's no excuse, I agree. It's just the new economics..
economics with no morality, no conscious. I think it is in the secular relm what twi became in the religious relm.
Anyone or anything is up for sacrifice to protect the corporations bottom line..
Personally, I think China has a plan. How better to destroy us, than to give "us" exactly what we want..
freedom to pollute and plunder, no or unenforced regulations... corporations are moving en masse over there.
Yeah.. it's cheap labor, no regulations to deal with, at least now. Wait for the real cost.
I really think it is a trap. Wait twenty, thirty years.. see how some world court slaps these industrialists silly. Can you imagine the cost of cleaning that mess up? What about restitution for what this crap is doing to the health of the Chinese people?
The third generation of one chemical corporation here is now paying for the "sins" of the first generation.
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GeorgeStGeorge
The company I work for has started to invest heavily in China. (A new R&D center in Shanghai, some world-scale production facilities.) The point is to provide our goods cheaply to the billion or so Chinese consumers. All I can think of is "What if China decides to nationalize all of our facilities?" We let Argentina, and now Venezuela, do it. How would we stop the Chinese? And, last time I looked, China had a communist dictatorship that doesn't really like us much.
George
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Eagle
We seem to have lost the principle of investing in ourselves - the good ole' USA. We will reap the whirlwind.
Speaking of reaping the whirlwind, for some freaking coincidence this is post 911 for me.
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Ham
hmm.. what if they indeed do nationalize "our" intersts..
happened in Cuba too, did it not?
At the moment, I feel some compassion for the guy who bore the brunt of this stupid debacle..
they sacrificed yet another soul to this insanity..
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Ham
I wonder if it was worth it..
sheesh..
I don't know about anybody else..
I just said a prayer for his soul..
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Ham
I wish I could be funny about this.. some little diversion..
damn.
There are two things in life that really get to me.. this is one of them..
friggin .. I don't have a word for them..
sorry..
good night friends..
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ChasUFarley
Seems exteme to us here in the USA, but I believe the culture there sees this as justice and not as an extreme. Perhaps someone like George Aar could shed more light on this.
I agree with the posters who feel we should invest more in the USA and less in these other countries who keep Wal-Mart's shelves stocked.
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Out There
China carried out their sentance on him. They really aren't much for appeals. Their motto is 'Don't do the crime if you can't do the time' in thgis case forever
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Ham
Yep..
maybe that's the price someone pays to be in a government position. Participate in some kind of hellish "lottery", where someone dies or worse once in a while for a failed system.. live a few years in luxury, and pray nothing goes wrong..
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