In just the past couple of weeks I have either participated
in or overheard conversations where the Chinese are invoked as a source of
anti-American scheming. People seem to believe the Chinese have conspired to
destroy American manufacturing and enslave us to their cheap goods.
This is completely false. In the 1970's, the US sought to
establish the relationship with China in order to exploit the Sino-Soviet
split. The US sought to bring China into its sphere through the encouragement
of economic openness and expansion. In the late 1970's when China turned its
back on communism, and with the deregulation that began in earnest under
Reagan, US corporations began to seek relationships with China. These
relationships would flourish in the 1990's.
US manufacturing and corporations sought to increase profits
through outsourced manufacturing, and eventually outsourced labour. This helped
to destroy the unions in America by either outright eliminating the jobs or
providing opportunities to corrupt the union leadership and force them into
anti-worker alliances with management. This was the fulfillment of a long-term
goal on the part of American business. The factories that didn't go overseas
moved to the anti-Union southern states and after the passage of NAFTA, many
moved to Mexico. But even many of these North American examples were not as
profitable as they could be, if they moved to China. Consequently many did just
that or at the very least moved portions of their manufacturing process to
Asia.
The reason we are flooded with cheap Chinese goods is not the
fault of the Chinese. It is the result of US corporate greed and the capitalist
system.
I heard a lady complaining about appliances. We all know that
the appliances of yesteryear used to last twenty and sometimes thirty years.
Today, we're pretty happy to get ten. We all know about planned obsolescence
and the increased pricing in parts and servicing that make repairs all too
often as something less than cost efficient. I think at this point virtually
everyone understands something of how this works.
She complained about the quality of Whirlpool, Maytag, GE and
Frigidaire but then somehow blamed the Chinese for their decline in quality. In
her mind they've undermined and forced these companies into compliance. The
Chinese to her way of thinking more or less control these companies and their
markets. The opposite is true. They companies have used the Chinese to destroy
both internal and external opposition and increase profits.
These companies who used to be trustworthy names have sold
out their reputations, products and workers for greed. They are the ones who
utilize the Chinese. They could make better products. They could even get the
Chinese to make the better products for them. But instead they want everything
made as cheap as possible. They don't want things to break immediately but they
don't want them to last very long either. These companies try to ride the line
between producing absolute junk and something that is essentially junk, - but
will last just long enough to outlive its returnability.
They also love to sell warranty plans that are quite
lucrative for them and yet often less the profitable for third-party repairmen.
This has facilitated the destruction of the service/repair industry. It's
getting increasingly difficult for independent repairmen to make a living. The
computerization of appliances has also contributed to this. The government will
occasionally push for technology to be utilized in the name of being 'green'
and efficient. While sometimes that may reflect the interests and influence of
the environmental lobby, don't be fooled. All too often the corporations are
happy to push for these programmes. It forces out competition and frequently
creates conditions qualifying these companies for research and development
subsidies as well as tax credits -which are but another form of subsidy.
The Chinese are of course greedy and the subcontracting
factory owners are quite keen to exploit their own workers. All fallen men are
subjected to avarice in one form or another, but US greed is coupled with
deception and hypocrisy. These industries and the corporations that sit atop
them are little more than scams. They are quite literally criminal enterprises.
They are not doing unto others as they would have done to them. They are not
looking out for anyone's interest but themselves. They are immoral ventures and
enterprises.
While products today do not last as long, many of these
products are in fact less expensive for the consumer than they used to be. I'm
speaking in terms of shelf-price and inflation. Televisions, and now obsolete VCR's
and mobile phones used to be significantly more costly than the more high-tech
versions of today. Computers and appliances used to cost more. The cheap labour
and parts have enabled these things to be produced at lower cost and yet still
maintain profitability.
Of course we're not getting the same quality product and all
too often in the end we spend more money. In the long run it might have been
better to buy something that was twice the cost and lasted twenty years then to
have purchased the same item three times in twenty year. It's a big scam but it also gives the illusion
of an increased standard of living.
Poorer people can afford more junk. I remember when average
working people had less 'things' in their home. Things were expensive, you had
less but the things you had were better quality and lasted longer.
Libertarians celebrate this system as having raised the
standard of living for both Americans and Chinese. But this is not true. It's
an illusion in our society. People have more cheap junk but they're actually
poorer and less secure than ever. As I
frequently tell people, 'I can't afford to shop at Wal-mart'. This puzzles
them. Isn't Wal-mart the cheap place? Not really. In the end it often ends up
costing more. We realized long ago we're better served by doing with less but
when we do buy something, pay more and get something that's better. In the end
Wal-mart was costing us a lot more money because the majority of purchases
proved defective.
The problem is, the Wal-mart way has eliminated so much in
the way of competition, variety and options. It's getting harder to find
alternatives especially when you live in a rural area. We literally have to
either shop online or drive long distances to reach an urban area. And then,
we're not shopping at the strip mall sprawl zones, we're likely heading into
the old and dilapidated parts of the city. It's there that we still find
something of the old economy, family business and variety... and ultimately
better quality and service.
There's a price to be paid for this system. The societies
that are on the supply end of Globalisation deal with different consequences.
Social upheaval is pronounced. Corruption is endemic, and planned obsolescence
means tremendous waste. As our products continue to develop in the high-tech
direction, there are more resource requirements. Obscure minerals and chemicals
are needed and this means a scramble for the resources. Political struggles and
wars are being fueled and generated from this.
Cheap production means dangerous and inefficient industrial
practices. Outsourced manufacturing allows US corporations to escape regulatory
regimes and environmental responsibility. The people in China and elsewhere
suffer from the results of this. Western corporations can act with impunity and
conduct themselves in ways that would only be described as criminal within our
own societies and legal systems. The 1984 Bhopal Disaster is the most extreme
example of this, but it's occurring on a low grade scale all over the
developing world.
What a propaganda coup to convince the public that it those
dastardly Chinese who are responsible for all this. Nativism and racism are
always convenient redoubts and effective tools to manipulate the ignorant
masses. The corporate world knows this and does all it can to promote it.
And yet how many Americans would be willing to do something
about it? Their 401k's and portfolios are heavily invested in these
corporations. They're frustrated on a personal level in trying to get a washing
machine to work for more than a few years and yet at the same time they are profiting
off the system that has produced the cheap washing machine. As usual it's the
poor in both societies that end up getting the worst end of the deal.
And they blame the Chinese.
The truth is stranger than fiction.
