Peter Wieck
2017-03-10 14:53:41 UTC
There is an undercurrent here on the overall desirability of "things Chinese". This is a subject on which I have strong feelings for very, very specific reasons. So, a little background.
My wife and I have been to China. Yes, it was part of a carefully managed and conducted tour, but it lasted ten full days in-country and covered large and small cities. We went into several neighborhoods, including a public school, private house in a Houtong in Bejing and similar. So, for the record, most Chinese have the same goals as most of us - make a living, make a better world for their kids, have some fun. However, it is much harder for them than for u to do this. NEVER forget that.
Now, things Chinese that I avoid like the plague they are:
a) Tools: My tools are US/Euro. Full stop. Better made, better steel, longer lasting in every way imaginable. This includes knives, hammers, pliers and so forth. So I pay 4 X the first cost. My pair of Channellock linesman's pliers, now 47 years old is, truly, as good as new despite very hard use.
b) Electronics: My audio stuff is US/Euro with the exception of Japanese CD changers - there are few Euro changers, and the Sony devices have been extremely reliable for many years of my sorts of use. The 200-disc device drives my transmitters, the 5-disc changers are at each other stereo. Our televisions are Japan.
d) Clothing to the extent possible. It is still possible to purchase non-Chinese clothing for many uses. Where we can, we do.
e) Toys & Games: Yes, Virginia, it is entirely possible to purchase desirable (to kids) toys not-from-China. In our case, it is mostly Germany and the US.
f) Books: all too many books these days are now printed in China. Not in our house.
g) Paper goods: As above.
h) Vacuum tubes: Whereas there appear to be some decent tubes now made in China, those few I have experienced have universally wound up slagging themselves.
This has nothing to do with xenophobia, or anti-Chinese sentiments. This has everything to do with skills and industries that *MUST* be supported within the US so that this country remains competitive in the real world. A company I worked for 43 years ago, still extant, still family owned, will pay *any* skilled machinist a $60,000 wage to walk in the door. If that individual proves out, that salary is only the beginning. Yes, there is a skills shortage, and yes that shortage is driving business off-shore to find *any* skilled sources whether the business wants to or not.
There are NO LCD screens of any size or type made in North America. Although they were invented and developed in Pittsburgh, PA, not even the capacity exists in the US - so that F35 Advanced Fighter has a Korean or Chinese LCD display. The 787 Dreamliner - the same.
That is one tiny example. There are thousands. And more are threatened each day. The example I use is the $0.99 pair of underwear. Had it remained on the shelf and the $1.99 pair purchased instead - the world would be different. But, no, they flew off the shelf. So, now my neighbor cannot pay his mortgage as he, his wife, and his oldest child were laid off from their jobs at the spinning mill. So, his house goes into receivership. There is nobody to take his place, so the entire neighborhood declines. That $0.99 pair of underwear is all-of-a-sudden very expensive. But we would rather threaten our neighbors' jobs than make a choice to support them.
And the result is that the spinning, weaving, cutting and sewing mills are pretty much all gone, along with the machinery, skills and knowledge involved. Meaning that retooling, redevelopment and retraining would take years should a need arise, and be a massively expensive undertaking. That is what happens when an entire industry dies.
You pays you money, you takes you chances.
My wife and I have been to China. Yes, it was part of a carefully managed and conducted tour, but it lasted ten full days in-country and covered large and small cities. We went into several neighborhoods, including a public school, private house in a Houtong in Bejing and similar. So, for the record, most Chinese have the same goals as most of us - make a living, make a better world for their kids, have some fun. However, it is much harder for them than for u to do this. NEVER forget that.
Now, things Chinese that I avoid like the plague they are:
a) Tools: My tools are US/Euro. Full stop. Better made, better steel, longer lasting in every way imaginable. This includes knives, hammers, pliers and so forth. So I pay 4 X the first cost. My pair of Channellock linesman's pliers, now 47 years old is, truly, as good as new despite very hard use.
b) Electronics: My audio stuff is US/Euro with the exception of Japanese CD changers - there are few Euro changers, and the Sony devices have been extremely reliable for many years of my sorts of use. The 200-disc device drives my transmitters, the 5-disc changers are at each other stereo. Our televisions are Japan.
d) Clothing to the extent possible. It is still possible to purchase non-Chinese clothing for many uses. Where we can, we do.
e) Toys & Games: Yes, Virginia, it is entirely possible to purchase desirable (to kids) toys not-from-China. In our case, it is mostly Germany and the US.
f) Books: all too many books these days are now printed in China. Not in our house.
g) Paper goods: As above.
h) Vacuum tubes: Whereas there appear to be some decent tubes now made in China, those few I have experienced have universally wound up slagging themselves.
This has nothing to do with xenophobia, or anti-Chinese sentiments. This has everything to do with skills and industries that *MUST* be supported within the US so that this country remains competitive in the real world. A company I worked for 43 years ago, still extant, still family owned, will pay *any* skilled machinist a $60,000 wage to walk in the door. If that individual proves out, that salary is only the beginning. Yes, there is a skills shortage, and yes that shortage is driving business off-shore to find *any* skilled sources whether the business wants to or not.
There are NO LCD screens of any size or type made in North America. Although they were invented and developed in Pittsburgh, PA, not even the capacity exists in the US - so that F35 Advanced Fighter has a Korean or Chinese LCD display. The 787 Dreamliner - the same.
That is one tiny example. There are thousands. And more are threatened each day. The example I use is the $0.99 pair of underwear. Had it remained on the shelf and the $1.99 pair purchased instead - the world would be different. But, no, they flew off the shelf. So, now my neighbor cannot pay his mortgage as he, his wife, and his oldest child were laid off from their jobs at the spinning mill. So, his house goes into receivership. There is nobody to take his place, so the entire neighborhood declines. That $0.99 pair of underwear is all-of-a-sudden very expensive. But we would rather threaten our neighbors' jobs than make a choice to support them.
And the result is that the spinning, weaving, cutting and sewing mills are pretty much all gone, along with the machinery, skills and knowledge involved. Meaning that retooling, redevelopment and retraining would take years should a need arise, and be a massively expensive undertaking. That is what happens when an entire industry dies.
You pays you money, you takes you chances.
