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| China-Japan-Koreas |
| Boycott China – Stop Funding A Communist Dictatorship |
| 2020-04-15 |
| [ANDMagazine] Put simply, at some point it becomes both the right and the duty of a free people to stand up and take matters into their own hands. Ever since Bill Clinton began to steer us down the road toward open and free economic relations with Communist China, we, the people of the United States have been fed lies. We have been told that we will benefit economically from these ties and that the Chinese people, who live in a totalitarian dictatorship, will inevitably benefit as well. Liberalization will come with a growing Chinese economy. Not only will China be more prosperous, but it will also be freer. None of this was ever true. The people of the United States have not become more prosperous. A select few among us have profited massively and are rich beyond measure. For many, many others this new economic reality means part-time jobs without benefits and shopping for dinner at the Dollar Store. Since 2001, when China joined the World Trade Organization (WTO), in excess of 60,000 factories have closed in the United States. More than 2.4 million manufacturing jobs have been lost. A nation, which once shipped manufactured goods worldwide now longer makes the most basic things. You will struggle to find a surviving American manufacturer for even such iconic American items as blue jeans, baseballs, and bicycles. Not a single company manufactures televisions in the United States anymore. Meanwhile, in China, while the laborers in sweatshops churning out iPads and smartphones may have a little more money to spend when they are allowed to travel home to see their families once a year, they have — if anything — less freedom than they did decades ago. Trade with the West has not made the Chinese Communist Party softer. It has not led to liberalization. On the contrary, it has given the Communist regime new strength and armed it with the technology to create a surveillance state the likes of which the world has never seen. From cradle to grave, Chinese citizens are monitored, cataloged and when necessary disciplined by the Party. All of the above has been clear for many years, but now the dysfunction of our self-destructive relationship with Communist China has gone to new levels. Now the oppressive, Orwellian nightmare has reached out and touched every person in the United States via the instrument of the coronavirus. The origins of the virus, called by many the "CCP Virus," remain unclear. Beijing continues to push the narrative that the pandemic is a naturally occurring event and that it began in a seafood market in Wuhan. There are very strong indications that the pathogen in question escaped from the Chinese BSL-4 laboratory in Wuhan where it was being studied for unknown purposes. What is clear beyond any question at this point, however, is that the Chinese Communist Party acted with full knowledge of the danger posed to world health to suppress news of the outbreak and even arrested Chinese medical professionals who spoke out in an attempt to warn the rest of the planet and give us all time to prepare. Estimates are that 95% of the people who will die in this pandemic could have been saved if Beijing had told the truth and sounded the alarm. Can we do that all at once? Unlikely, given how far down the road we have gone. But, every single one of us can, today, stand up, identify an item we routinely purchase from a Chinese manufacturer and refuse to buy it anymore. We can when possible substitute an American manufacturer. We can in other cases at a minimum give our business to another company that operates in a free nation. Or perhaps, in some cases, we can simply realize that we don’t need to buy the item at all. Individually, we can make a small impact. Collectively, over time, we can send a powerful signal, both to Beijing and to our representatives in Washington. Time for another Tea Party. What are you throwing overboard? |
| Posted by:Abu Uluque |
| #3 This ain't new. Back in the 90's a friend was showing off his new "made-in-the-USA" Harley...'til I pointed out the "made in Japan" embossing on the front forks. |
| Posted by: Mercutio 2020-04-15 14:34 |
| #2 When you buy stuff online, they never tell you where it's made. Makes me not want to buy stuff online. |
| Posted by: Abu Uluque 2020-04-15 12:18 |
| #1 Been trying - ain't that easy. I just bought a compact fridge and specifically discarded choices that were made in China. I settled on a Canadian company, Danby. Fridge arrived and sure enough on the serial number plate - Made in China. |
| Posted by: Mercutio 2020-04-15 08:49 |