Re: Need a guitar

Norman Draper <normandraper@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in
news:d0800da8-f805-4601-8a25-d366f19cedc5@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx:

On Feb 3, 10:54 pm, "BobN" <nob...@xxxxxxxx> wrote:
Yes, I know about the ubquity of Chinese products. It is an effort to
avoi
d
them, but, to me, one worth making. Other Asian countries (I'm pretty
sure
I
can avoid anything made in Burma or N. Korea) are OK. I'm just
boycotting China, to the greatest extent practically possible.
Reasons are equal part
s
quality, human rights, and trading with an enemy.

Several thoughts.....

I think most countries on the planet have human rights issues that
should be addressed in a major way, including the good old US of
A.... A major reason we have a bounty of affordable food on our
tables is because the folks involved in the initial stages of of food
production (you know, like picking the stuff) are paid a wage that we
would never tolerate, even if we were in the field, picking right
along with the laborers. Is that a human rights issue? I'll let you
drew your own conclusion.

If you go into your closest and drawers, a significant portion of the
garments you have and wear on any given day have been made under
conditions that are unimaginable, in too many instances those
conditions are virtually slave labor. Most are made by women who.... I
won't go into it here, but their circumstances are absolutely
unimaginable.

China is right in there with the worst of them, but China is hardly
alone. But if you think you are avoiding their products (or those of
the other most egregious violators), you (and I) aren't. We are
indirectly financially benefiting from "third world" products every
day, in ways that we can't imagine. I won't mention specific
countries, but don't think for a second they are only located in Asia.

By consciously not buying products from China, do you think we really
make a dent in what we are unwittingly purchasing? Here's a partial
list of major groups of products we import from China:

Agriculture & Food
Apparel & Accessories
Arts & Crafts
Auto Parts & Accessories
Bags, Cases & Boxes
Chemicals
Computer Products
Construction & Decoration
Consumer Electronics
Electrical & Electronics
Furniture & Furnishing
Health & Medicine
Light Industry & Daily Use
Lights & Lighting
Machinery
Metallurgy, Mineral & Energy
Office Supplies
Security & Protection
Service
Sporting Goods & Recreation
Textile
Tools & Hardware
Toys
Transportation

It will take the major actions on the part of the public to make the
government take the necessary steps to put a halt to all this. I
can't imagine that happening, certainly not in my lifetime.

By the way, I am very much in favor of individual action. I don't
litter; I don't... blah blah blah..... I truly do want a better world;
I just recognize that the powers in play here may be overwhelming.

The bottom line is, after all, the bottom line.


Norman (Man, Am I Depressed) Draper


Norm, we went through the same thing with Japan, Taiwan and Korea. The
same thing that happened to them is happening to China.

The Communist Gov't is on the way out, it's just going to take a couple
of decades or so for it to happen. It won't be the USA that causes the
change, it will be the 75% of the population that is not reaping the
benefits the city dwellers are gettting from the form of capitalism
currently allowed in China. Factory workers will eventually start
demanding wages that match those in the West. It's the AFL-CIO's
wetdream.

The only thing that kept the Chinese Gov't in power in 1989 is that the
Army stayed loyal. I'm not so sure it would play out the same way today.
I have faith in my fellow man's need for an equal piece of the pie. You
don't grow your economy by nuking your customers.

Steve Hawkins
.

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