For those worried about the rise of China in the world...

[grasswire]

I thought about this today while standing in a big box home store and contemplating all the goods I've been very disappointed in over the last ten years or so.

What we see in the tidal wave of manufactured items coming out of China is such a bunch of shlock -- so VERY POORLY designed and manufactured -- that why would anyone ever thing the Chinese military items would be any better made?

Seriously.

If they can't make a toaster oven that makes my toast in less than 12 minutes (apparently not), why would I think they can make weapons?

If they can't make an inflatable air bed without that design flaw that has made me return three of them, why would anyone think they can make anything?

If they can't make things that fit together, run smoothly and properly, and don't fall apart.........well I guess you're beginning to catch my drift.

Comments?

[EmilyKent]

1. They're in space, and doing fine.

And you're still buying their goods.

[Arctic Dave]

2. Corporations intentionally make things that fall apart.

The Chinese are only doing the service the Boardrooms tell them.

[doc03]

3. We said the same thing about Japan in the 70's and they

ended up showing us how to make a quality car. Ten years ago the Koreans made the KIA, the biggest piece of crap on the market, now today the KIA and the Hyundai are among the best cars.

[iamjoy]

4. The Military is Irrelevant

All China would have to do to ruin us is call in our debts. A bloodless coup.

Or rather, they'd call in our debts, our government would have to cut services and raise taxes. If you think the teabaggers are mad now...

And our great military might isn't really helping us in Afghanistan, either.

Maybe we're moving into a future of wars fought with economic strategy rather than military prowess.

[Chan790]

12. Actually, they can't.

The relationship between the Chinese and the Americans is symbiotic...they devalued their currency early in the nineties and basically paid back their creditors with funny money, then rebuilt their GDP with their huge manufacturing base. They're dependent upon US consumer prosperity to float their economy as nearly nobody will accept Yuan from them as a result, they pay their bills in US Dollars which is part of why they pegged their currency to the dollar. (Other countries still have more faith in our currency than theirs.)

If they called in our debts and sank our economy, we'd quickly lose superpower status but we'd also return the "favor" by flooring the dollar on them. Bottom line, China calls in US debt, we pay them back in crap currency while devaluing their own as well and 300M+ Chinese people starve to death in the streets, maybe more.

Economic warfare.

[tridim]

5. If we ever get the chance, maybe America should compete on quality.

We'll never be able to compete on price.

Make it a national goal.

[eleny]

6. I suppose that what they make for their serious interests is a better quality than what they send us

[defendandprotect]

7. People used to laugh at what Japan manufactured and sent to USA ...

they learned quite quickly --

There is crap being produced everywhere right now --

wish I still had many of my old household items --

Threw away a Rubbermaid garbage can they no longer make and have one now

that drives me nuts with lid falling off!

Toaster ovens these days have plastic knobs that fall off and some of the

overs explode!!

Old couches that were so far superior to the crap they make now --

and WHY is all the furniture almost sitting on the floor now? Saving money

by lowering the height of furniture???

Simple knives that used to be sold in our grocery stores -- serrated -- did a

great job. Can't find them anymore.

And why can I barely hear anything without immense static on my car radio in my

own town -- ? Plays OK on Garden State Parkway, but anything near towns-- STATIC!!

Sheets????

Pillowcases ... now cost as much as a sheet!

Irons now weigh a ton -- if you drop one you're in danger of it crashing thru the floor!

and how about those voting machines!!!

:evilgrin:

[Kurt_and_Hunter]

8. The stuff you were looking at was made to sell for cheap

It was not made to be top quality.

[CountAllVotes]

9. buying as much non-China stuff as possible

It is all JUNK and ends up being returned because it is junk or defective and not usable. Clothing from there is ridiculously sized and that too ends up being returned. It is difficult to find things not made in China but that said, I just found a nice 100% cotton robe made in Turkey for $20.00.

When I needed a new waffle iron I ended up buying a used one on eBay for $9.95. It works just fine and makes good waffles. The one from China was a piece of junk that did nothing but blow off a bunch of steam and ruin the paint job in the kitchen. I'd say the same about all of their junk in general. :evilgrin:

:dem: :kick: & recommend.

[eShirl]

10. When I was a little kid, "Made in Japan" meant junk. By the time I was in my 20s,

people were no longer laughing.

[KamaAina]

11. And China is ten times larger than Japan.

Hmmm...

[DavidDvorkin]

13. America followed the same path in the 19th Century

And kept improving the quality as time went by. Japan did. China will, too.