Anti 'Made in China' Household - Is it Possible?

[Rick Law]

There are graduates that are just not cut out to do the job, so they end up outside of their fields, and they complain but they just did enough to get by and they don't show motivation.

Cash registers requiring graduation is probably high school graduation.

Good competent people have no trouble finding good paying jobs on their field in the US...

re: Cash registers requiring graduation is probably high school graduation.
My info is outdated.  You are right.  The case I cited was not found.  But different search criteria found another story with owner of the McDonald's update saying that was not the case.
http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/mcdonalds-want-ad-demands-bachelors-degree-two-years-experience-for-cashier/article/2526145

re:Good competent people have no trouble finding good paying jobs on their field in the US...
With over half not-employed or under-employed, if you are right here, it would mean we have more than 1/2 of the college grads being not good and being less than competent.
From USA Today, 2012, 4 years into this "new normal" - Half of new graduates are jobless or underemployed
http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/nation/story/2012-04-22/college-grads-jobless/54473426/1

This thread started out as a slightly distasteful quest to avoid all things made in China.

I'm glad I'm not the only one who feels that way. Imagine being told someone doesn't want anything made by your entire country of over a billion people, regardless of quality.

I took that more as "tongue in cheek" perhaps to kick off a discussion on Chinese products.

How could the OP be serious anyway - it is like "can I have a house without wood inside?"  Of course you can - just how much it would cost to replace every chair and table with steel or plastic, eliminate any wood-pencils, eliminate every sheet of paper, etc., etc., etc., etc.... 

So in similar light I considered the original premise too silly to consider as serious.

If the OP was serious to any significant extend, he got issues... enough issues he probably need a straitjackets and be placed in a rubber room - chances are, the straitjackets he would be using would probably be made in China.

[Rick Law]

I took that more as "tongue in cheek" perhaps to kick off a discussion on Chinese products.

...
Maybe I'm over sensitive because my fiancée is Chinese and I know a lot of Chinese people, so I see them like any other group of individual human beings, rather than as a homogeneous blob
...

Can't let that (ie: discrimination) bother you...  There will always be people with inadequate common sense.

There are times when it really hurts, I know.  But don't give those guys the satisfaction.

Dr. Ben Carson came to mind since we also talked about education and now about discrimination...

To quote Dr. Carson: "When I operate on a brain, I open it up and see the brain - that is the person.  Not what is on the outside but what is in there."  (<<<  paraphrased from my recollection from an interview on TV -- may not be an exact quote)

Dr. Ben Carson was the head of Pediatric Neurosurgery at Johns Hopkins Hospital (now retired).  He was the surgeon who figure out a technique, and then successfully performed the first cranial conjoined twin separation.  Dr. Carson is an American who is Black, grew up in Detroit, single mother...  He probably faced more discrimination than you or I can imagine.

Dr. Carson really cares about education and kids.  I know from direct experience some years back.  He also founded a scholarship fund call Carson Scholars Fund given away millions to help kid's education.  He is one who overcame much disadvantages and pushed himself to overcome and then achieve.  He credited his successes to education.  Beyond common achievements, he did the until then an impossible task of separating cranial conjoined twin.

Inspirational story - "Gifted Hands"  If you can find it (it is on Netflix), I recommend it.

(If you think I admire the guy or something, you are right!  I admired him the first moment I stumbled across the Gifted Hands movie many years ago.)

Rick

[coppice]

Maybe I'm over sensitive because my fiancée is Chinese and I know a lot of Chinese people, so I see them like any other group of individual human beings, rather than as a homogeneous blob that craps out sub standard products for the shelves of my local electrical store and eBay. In fact it's mostly western companies that demand cheap crap from China, and they are only too happy to oblige when Tesco decides they need a 99p flat screen TV for their "basics" range. Maybe the language barrier gets in the way a little, but there is plenty of really good, really high end stuff made in China.

When I was young western people had exactly the same attitude about the Japanese that they do today about the Chinese. This worked massively in favour of the Japanese. By the end of the 70s people were still laughing about these backward people, paid a pittance to assemble junk. Their TV was a Sony, their stereo a Pioneer, their car a Nissan, all bought because they were super reliable at a reasonable price, yet they still looked down at the Japanese. Then their own industries (and hence jobs) started to look shaky, the media kept telling them about the high educational standards in Japan, and how a line worker at Toyota made more money than one at a European car maker. Then they started to wake up. The same thing happened later with Korea, and to some extent Taiwan. Now they laugh at China. If I were Chinese I'd be hoping they keep on laughing as long as possible. It stops the west from trying to compete too hard.

[miguelvp]

I think the prejudice and bigotry was far worse in the US than Europe too, mainly due to the amount of propaganda put out during the war.

70 years ago things where a bit different than today, maybe you have not keep up with things.

And as for prejudice and bigotry in Europe, tell that to the Gypsies, or North Africans, or Islamic. You are a bit diluted IMHO.

[Tandy]

I can understand why you might support buying locally when you see friends and family in your country loosing their jobs you might feel it is your duty to support them by buying locally produced goods. But I can't see why you would single out an entire country to boycott just because they are the worlds largest manufacturing economy.

Western business has always sought the cheapest place to manufacture products. Here in the UK for example we would get our coal from wales where the disadvantaged people were initially grateful for the opportunity of work and many welsh people moved into mining towns. However the welsh people then quite rightly wanted a better life for their children and demanded a fairer wage. The problem being that there will always be someone in the world who is worse off who is willing to be exploited because to them any income is better than none. So who's fault is it that the mines closed in wales? Is it the underpaid workers demanding a better life? Is it the workers on other countries who are so desperate to earn money to live that they will work for much less then the welsh miners? Many will say that it is the fault of the businesses that run the coal mines, but is it, their job is to try and get the best price selling coal while producing it for the lowest cost to make a profit but they can't just charge whatever they like as there is competition. So ultimately are we all responsible for it by seeking out the lowest price for goods?

It is a difficult question that there is no single answer for, Japan used to be the manufacturing capital of the world for electronic goods but not any more, Japan like everyone else buys most of their electronic goods from China. China is currently the place where everything is made but this will change, China is a country with a rich history that fell on economic hard times and as a result people were willing to work for next to nothing to survive. This is no longer the case, China is regaining its place in the world and the people of China are better educated and want better lives for their families. The cost of transport is growing due to environmental concerns and increases in fuel. Many western countries economies are suffering and people are realising that perhaps they will have to work for less than they once did. The result is that it is becoming more economically feasible for some industry to return to western countries, however many of the skills are lost and there is a great resistance from people to accept a manual labour job. So the in all likelihood instead of re-establishing industry in western countries as the cost of producing in China increases it will just move to another poor country where people will work for less.

[Rick Law]

By the end of the 70s people were still laughing about these backward people, paid a pittance to assemble junk. Their TV was a Sony, their stereo a Pioneer, their car a Nissan, all bought because they were super reliable at a reasonable price, yet they still looked down at the Japanese.

...
I think the prejudice and bigotry was far worse in the US than Europe too, mainly due to the amount of propaganda put out during the war.

re: prejudice and bigotry was far worse in the US than Europe

I understand anecdotes are personal experiences thus may not be reflective of the general population.  None the less, anecdotal evidence I have experienced (or heard) disagreed with you rather strongly.

Even as recent as less than a decade ago, I worked a few weeks every year in Europe.  I drew the exact oppose conclusion that you did.  I found the USA to be more minority friendly than Europe.

I could discern readily that many North-Western Europeans doesn't accept South-Eastern Europeans as equals.  At times, I can see the "mood change" in restaurants (customers) when less than well-dressed South-eastern European come in.  Business attire or good business casual seem to reduce that non-acceptance rather well, so this could well be "class-ism" (classicism?) and not "racism".  However, the bar of "how well dress you must be" appears different for different race.  Outside the tourist spots, I would be very reluctant to walk around in Europe wearing cut-off jeans.

That said, some "hill billy areas" in the USA may be different.  There are pockets of rural areas in the USA that are very visitor unfriendly.  Anyone not local are viewed with suspicion and non-acceptance regardless of race.  But it being "regardless of race" precluded it from being viewed as racism.

[dannyf]

It depends.

I think Europe is far worse when it comes to Jews, people with religion, or conservatives. Europe is far more progressive and tolerant as long as you share the progressive view.

The US is a lot more race-conscious (affirmative action, entitlement, etc.) and gender conscious (social issues).

[Tandy]

this could well be "class-ism" (classicism?) and not "racism".

I think you have noticed an important distinction there, in my experience as a British national I would say that the way someone conducts themselves is more important than their race. I think class has always been a significant factor in British society.

[miguelvp]

In Chicago at least you can find people from everywhere coexisting, I hear people talking in Russian, Polish, Vietnamese, Korean, Chinese, Japanese, Portuguese, Spanish, Italian, German, etc.. just by walking the isles of Costco.

The funny thing is that in Japan there is no diversification and they look down to other races around their area and let's not start how they look down to women. And how do they feel about the Chinese?.

As for Europe, well there are still rivalries even inside countries, the Germans always looked down to the Spanish workers that emigrated there many decades ago. The French same thing with the Swiss, they even jokingly call them Le petite suisse like in the name of the cheese. Italians don't mix well with Sicilians, etc,etc,etc.. And don't even try to explain the futbol fanaticism, it's out of control and pushes the hatred more so.

The US even if not perfect, is way ahead in diversity than any other place in the planet.

[coppice]

In Chicago at least you can find people from everywhere coexisting, I hear people talking in Russian, Polish, Vietnamese, Korean, Chinese, Japanese, Portuguese, Spanish, Italian, German, etc.. just by walking the isles of Costco.

The same is true of parts of the UK, especially London.

There are only minorities in London. No one ethnic group constitutes more than 50% of the population now.

[dannyf]

The Japanese do not look down on other races at all, as a general rule.

This is why there is no bigotry in the progressive Europe: if you don't acknowledge an issue, that issue doesn't exist.

Got to love those progressively ignorant progressives.

[coppice]

The Japanese do not look down on other races at all, as a general rule.

This is why there is no bigotry in the progressive Europe: if you don't acknowledge an issue, that issue doesn't exist.

Got to love those progressively ignorant progressives.

I'm rather amused by the lack of self awareness needed to post that. 

[miguelvp]

There are border, independence and trade disputes, sure. It spills over into childish name calling sometimes. It's not on quite the same scale as what happens in the US though, e.g. with Mexicans.

I'm half Mexican from my dad side and I don't feel discriminated at all.As for childish name callings usually people don't get killed by that.

http://soccerlens.com/football-violence-worst-football-riots/23093/

There is even a wikipedia dedicated to it:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Football_hooliganism

Of course the more remarkable ones are the ones in the UK:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Football_hooliganism_in_the_United_Kingdom

[miguelvp]

football hooliganism is region based, where a town will hate the neighboring town and their inhabitants, because they just talk wrong or do things differently, or whatever.

Football brings all that suppressed hate and bigotry it doesn't have to be different races, it can be the same race and neighboring towns.

As for Japan/China

In Japan, negative perceptions
have increased nine points, reaching 73 per cent and hitting a record high since 2005.
Having only three per cent positive views, Japan also has the lowest positive opinion of
China of all surveyed countries.

Page 37-38
http://www.globescan.com/images/images/pressreleases/bbc2014_country_ratings/2014_country_rating_poll_bbc_globescan.pdf

There is no appreciation among Japanese of the influence China had on their culture. Then again, Chinese don't like the Japanese that much either..

But negative views of
Japan have grown particularly stark among its two close East Asian neighbours. In China,
over the last year, negative ratings have gone up 16 points to an astonishing 90 per cent,
and positive ratings have dropped from 17 to 5 per cent only. In South Korea, negative views
have risen 12 points to almost four in five (79%). In South Korea and China, the negative
sentiment is at its highest since 2006.

page 22 of that same study.

What I'm saying is that before stating that the US this or the US that, clean up your own backyard 1st.

The Freedom Information Act world wide comes because we did it first, otherwise you wouldn't have yours.

[dannyf]

An interesting book to read about education is the book "the smartest kids in the world". High controversial but incredibly insightful, to me.

[dannyf]

On the definition of "made", there is a lawsuit going on right now concerning if federally approved "handmade vodka" means it is made by hand and what "handmade" means,

Like many "Made-in-USA" cars are made in Canada and Mexico and "Made-in-Japan" cars are made in the USA.