It is just about impossible to find clothing not made in Asia, Central America (including Mexico), and the Middle East. Of course most comes from China. And as we have learned eighty percent of all toys are made in China. Chances are your computer desk/table is made in China. In the six months since the initial dog food recall, Washington has done nothing to fix the problem. And the problem is getting bigger. Millions of toys have been recalled. Toothpaste with anti-freeze ingredients, deadly tires, poisoned fish, the Chinese inspectors taking bribes to look the other way. Of course the Chinese play it off as one guy (Zheng Xiaoyu, whom they executed), but there is no way it is just one guy.
The United States is also very slow to recall these products. Nicaragua recalled Chinese toothpaste in October/November of 2006 (Link). Australia recalled Barbie products in May of 2007 (Link), while they were not recalled in the United States until three months later.
Why is the United States so slow? The probable answer is big business. Billions of dollars have been lost due to the Chinese recalls. You can contact your congressional representatives in the House and Senate, but I fear they will do little to actually fix the situation. (Though you should still do it.) They will hold committee meetings and release a report that says, "Shame on China," but don't expect import/export laws to change. I fear our representatives care more of what their campaign funding lobbyists say than constituents. We need to take to heart where our products come from. I'm not saying buy only American. But make an effort to protect yourself and your family and not buy Chinese made products that are consumed or that kids may come into contact with. Buying a Chinese welcome mat for your front door is probably okay. Buying Chinese fish... well, that's stupid. The only way to ensure policies are changed is to affect the financial statements of these companies.
So we have to be proactive. Our passive attitude of "Someone else will fix it," or "It's not that bad," has to end. No one is fixing it, and it is that bad. The Chinese military hacked the Pentagon computers (Link), British government computers (Link), and German government computers (Link). Hello, is anyone there? We've waited a long time to take action. It's not going to get easier. It's time to make a stand.
The United States is also very slow to recall these products. Nicaragua recalled Chinese toothpaste in October/November of 2006 (Link). Australia recalled Barbie products in May of 2007 (Link), while they were not recalled in the United States until three months later.
Why is the United States so slow? The probable answer is big business. Billions of dollars have been lost due to the Chinese recalls. You can contact your congressional representatives in the House and Senate, but I fear they will do little to actually fix the situation. (Though you should still do it.) They will hold committee meetings and release a report that says, "Shame on China," but don't expect import/export laws to change. I fear our representatives care more of what their campaign funding lobbyists say than constituents. We need to take to heart where our products come from. I'm not saying buy only American. But make an effort to protect yourself and your family and not buy Chinese made products that are consumed or that kids may come into contact with. Buying a Chinese welcome mat for your front door is probably okay. Buying Chinese fish... well, that's stupid. The only way to ensure policies are changed is to affect the financial statements of these companies.
So we have to be proactive. Our passive attitude of "Someone else will fix it," or "It's not that bad," has to end. No one is fixing it, and it is that bad. The Chinese military hacked the Pentagon computers (Link), British government computers (Link), and German government computers (Link). Hello, is anyone there? We've waited a long time to take action. It's not going to get easier. It's time to make a stand.
1 comment:
Keep up the good work.
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