Nothing anecdotal about it. I live in Madison Wi., and it was covered by all the papers, but more than that I've known people that have worked there, this isn't that big a town. Btw, if you ever saw what it takes to make a hot dog you'd never touch one again. Also, the distinction I was making was not in wages, but in perception of what is fair under each person's circumstances.
Ahh, then perhaps I did misinterpret. But then it becomes more a measure of what a society is willing to tolerate within it's own boundaries. And for the record I'm intimately familiar with hot dogs, hence why I don't indulge. But I digress...
How do you know this? What makes you think they are anxious to cover it in the papers? In other words, you have never worked in a factory, or for a newspaper corporation either, apparently, and because the corporate sponsored newspapers don't, ahem, WON"T cover stories about the people who pay their bills through advertising they don't exist, right? And you say I'm wearing rose-colored glasses, correct?
Not correct, funnily enough. I amend my previous comment about glasses, of any colour. Tinfoil hats suddenly seem the more appropriate fashion accessory.
Perhaps this is true, but even so, I would hardly call his company typical, would you? More rose-colored glassware here?
Sure I would! Aside from manufacturing yoyos, how are they much different from most other production companies in the US? A company of ten making yoyos, or a company of ten-thousand making walrus polishing kits, is still a production company. Why does one have to be different, or run differently, from the other?
That is where you are wrong, my friend. The Chinese did not choose not to have our standards, like as if they are evil warlords as you portray. They are simply at a lower stage of development, no different from the days when WE had sweatshops, created knock-offs, and had substandard products, around the turn of the 20th century. These things took time, sweat, and bloodshed to develop in the United States, to win the things you are taking for granted, including the 5 day work week, manufacturing standards and not ending with the right to strike and form unions. People DIED for these rights, or did you not read about that either? They didn't spring up overnight. Japan was once the same way, but now they aren't anymore. China will get there too, one day.
Having spent a good amount of my life in Asia, I'll freely admit that I'm often overly critical of China. Her government, policies, and beliefs. I recall a time when I was younger when I didn't have to, or even care, to worry about it. It was sufficient for me and mine to sit in Hong Kong, under UK control, and eyeball the mainland from a safe distance. Obviously, things have changed a lot since 1997. And so have many of my opinions. I'm not saying the way I feel is right, but filtering what I say against any personal bias I may have doesn't make what they do any less wrong. I hope I've explained this well enough. It's kinda hard for me to put into words.
For the record, "evil warlords" was never said, or even implied, in anything I've written. And having not always been in America, I take nothing here for granted. Not a thing.
The world being what it is, the pains of the US Industrial Revolution, and the times that followed, were great, and I won't refute a word of what you've said about it. People DID die for the right we have now.
But I can't help but feel you're suggesting, even in the modern age, that because a country
hasn't gone thought such suffering, they
should. This is folly. Can you not look at your global neighbors and learn from their past, especially whilst in the middle of the Information Age? If the answer is no, then you have nothing but an evil intent behind your unwillingness to learn and change.
Mao Zedong comes immediately to mind, right along with the "Great Firewall of China."
Would it be so hard to adopt the business practices and standards of countries who've gone though the pains we've mentioned here? Pay a living wage, maintain a safe work environment, use safe equipment? Ahh, but then the goods wouldn't be so cheap to sell, would they?
Don't kid yourself - we are all supporting our own sense of entitlement and vanity here. There are not very many places in the world where people are willing to justify paying $150 for a small lump of aluminum that goes round and round on a piece of string...
And now, on with the show!
You feel that people speak passionately only from a position of entitlement and vanity? Interesting.
For the record, I'd rather spend $150 on my spinning piece of aluminum bought from a good, reputable company, then $30 on similar aluminum made in a place where poisonings and deaths occur far too frequently for anyone's comfort.
And, because I haven't said it yet, welcome to YoYoExpert!
