What that "Made In China" label really means

[FirefightnRick]

http://m.nationalreview.com/article/394565/chinas-slaves-josh-gelernter

....The camps are called laogai, a contraction of láodòng gǎizào, which means reform through labor. They were conceived under Mao; unlike Stalins gulags, they never closed though the CCP has tried to abolish the name laogai. In the Nineties, it redesignated the camps prisons. The conditions, though, dont seem to have changed.

Our picture of life in the laogai is murky, but heres what has been reported: The prisoners are given uniforms and shoes. They have to purchase their own socks, underwear, and jackets. There are no showers, no baths, and no beds. Prisoners sleep on the floor, in spaces less than a foot wide. They work 15-hour days, followed by two hours of evening indoctrination; at night theyre not allowed to move from their sleeping-spots till 5:30 rolls around, when theyre woken for another day of hard labor. Fleas, bedbugs, and parasites are ubiquitous. The prisoners starve on meager supplies of bread, gruel, and vegetable soup. Once every two weeks they get a meal of pork broth....

Rick

[CMJ]

I always try and buy made in the USA when I can, an try not to buy from China otherwise. Not that some of the other countries we import from are necessarily a whole lot better, but it makes me feel less bad.

Edited December 14, 2014 by CMJ

[Coffee and TV]

I don't understand what you have against job creators Rick?

[oldguystudent]

See, thing is, I'm with you, Rick, except that it just isn't reality to expect any large manufacturer to abide by any conscience for its employees anymore.

If a company is publicly traded, its first, foremost, and sole duty is to maximize profits for its shareholders. If it fails at attaining the demanded return on investment, then it has a fiduciary duty to its investors to pay out its excess cash in the form of dividends, which the investors will then take to other ventures who can bring the demanded return.

Then, the book, "The World is Flat" by Thomas Friedman still holds true in that "Re-education camps" or no, there are droves of people lining up in India and China who will do work for a fraction of the price of their American counterparts, and they aren't going to complain about the conditions.

Surely you'll be able to find some upstanding American exception to this rule, like Smith and Wesson or Zippo, but I'd argue those will invariably be niche products with a captive market and no external pressure to reduce costs in exchange for quality.

Otherwise, as long as people flock to Walmart for Levis made in China, and both manufacturer and retailer can report expected rates of return to their investors, it would be economically unethical to show concern for the working conditions in China. (or the food stamp dependent retail employees in the US)

[FirefightnRick]

I don't understand

I find that easy to believe.

Rick

[Coffee and TV]

I find that easy to believe.

Rick

Easy to believe you wouldn't understand my sarcasm, either.

[FirefightnRick]

Easy to believe you wouldn't understand my sarcasm, either.

Nor you understand mine.

Rick