<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Huck BB62:
I don't agree at all with this being some work ethic thing. Go tell the good folks in Shreveport or Indiana that on a lunch break at the Hummer factory, if you dare.
The Chinese are completely unethical, as you point out. They are not bound by environmental compliance. They are not bound by OSHA rules. They are not bound by law suit induced nonsense. They are not bound by copyright lawas (well, they are, but again, they completely ignore them) Their quality control standards are, as you point out, nowhere to be seen. (I'll believe the Chinese following ISO standards and instituting Six Sigma programs and the like when I see it).
Korea partnering with China? Maybe the backwards, produce nothing idiots in NORTH Korea, I hardly think you'll see the day of a large scale South Korea (where the manufacturing is taking place)/ China co-op.
COST is just the tip of the iceberg.
It's just like this nonsense that white kids suck at school compared to the Asians. Hardly.
Do people WISH the US to be inferior? They're not. The people aren't.
We're up to one trillion dollars in trade deficit with China. Pretty soon, the Chinese will call the marker and own large tracts of the US and the war will be on.
China's whuppin' our tails because we're letting them. They sell us stuff for insanely low prices and we buy it. It's cheap because the reasons stated above. The playing field isn't level and our elected representatives obey the corporate lobbyists (been watching the headlines?) and anyone who says differently is labeled as a protectionist idiot. The lawmakers allowing this insanity claim that by an unfettered market, we'll sell more stuff. Hogwash.
Here's the problem. We have the money, but not for long. We BUY the stuff, but not for long. When that pendulum swings, it's gonna get ugly. This is not sustainable.
The container ships are leaving empty and coming back packed full. Visit Alameda and Long Beach California and watch. Here's a picture I took under the Golden Gate Bridge of one leaving empty.
Again, if I hear one more time how the Chinese are doing it better as a work force, I'm gonna scream. It couldn't be further from the truth. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
Well, start screaming. Have you ever been to China? How about Korea? Anywhere else in Asia? If not, YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHAT YOU ARE TALKING ABOUT. I buy American as much as I can (including spending more for an American made product if it's not too expensive). But we're lazy by comparison. You go to a factory in China and they are working their a$$es off, go into a factory in the US and some are working hard and others are standing around. Not as bad as Europe, but we don't have the work ethic we used to have, stop whining.
Speaking from experience, and working for a company that outsourced some of our work to India, and other work to China, I can say I'll take a worker busting their butt to live the life they see on TV over the worker who feels they are entitled to something they haven't earned yet (see present-day unions for examples). Cost plays a huge factor, and we can't compete, but it's pride, work ethic, and productivity that matters over the long haul.
And Korean companies use Chinese manufacturers all the time (not just North Korea). Koreans hate Japanese, not the Chinese - there's a long history between the two countries. You think it's just North Korea? Stop watching CNN and do some research - in addition to massive investments in Central America, China is also investing in Korea and a number of other countries (in SE Asia and Africa). Why? Because they know if they can get over their own cultural issues related to piracy, get some talented design(not just manufacturing) talent, they can take over the world. India is in a better position - more population, better educated, etc - but their costs are higher. If China adopts India's model of guaranteed higher eduction, we're screwed. We'd win any military war, but we're in sorry shape if we continue with this whole 'China sucks' whining and don't do anything about it (like suck it up, take a pay cut, stop buying cheapa$$ chinese goods, and spend less time worrying about our generation and start thinking about the next).