Pedronicus wrote:I was watching a programme a couple of weeks ago about the Chinese in Tibet. Each village had a leader who reported back to the government.
The village I saw had some evil looking woman as the state recognised village leader.
She had say over everthing that happened.
Only trouble was - she didn't have the first clue about construction, but she was telling some Tibetian builders that the cement / concrete they were knocking up needed more water. These guys weren't going to argue with this witch, and they duely added more water.
The programme returned to the building they were building a couple of weeks later, and the wall they had made was crumbling and couldn't take any load.
Sky News wrote:Authorities have vowed to punish anyone responsible for shoddy construction as the earthquake death toll soars to more than 22,069 people. The government expects the final toll to exceed 50,000.
Sky China correspondent Peter Sharp, in Mianyang, said: "There is huge anger and the government wants someone to be made accountable.
"Look at the statistics, there were more than 200,000 buildings brought down by the earthquake and among them were nearly 7,000 schools, many recently built.
"In one town, most buildings escaped unscathed but the newest buildings came down, it was the school and it cost the lives of 300 children.
"The builders and rip-off developers are putting up the buildings in masses and cutting costs on safety.
"The government says they will put the strictest penalties on these people and in China that means the death sentence.
"Someone will be facing the death penalty in the next few months - they will find people to blame for this."
I bet the wrong people get killed.
I really wish more people would understand that chinese products are sub standard. Toys have lead paint in because somewhere down the prodution line some greedy fucker, decides that this cheap paint will increase the margins.
Please try to avoid buying items made in China.
The Chinese are no more to blame than any other supplier.
In the US, here is what happens. Walmart secures a contract for a company to supply them come products. This is a HUGE deal, I suspect even those not from the US are aware of how large Walmart is. Anyway, at first, the product is made reasonably well, for a decent price. Many times (not always), it is made in the US, at this stage.
Then, once the product has become popular, Walmart comes back to that company and say "Okay, you have made it for x dollars, now we want you to cut that price by y ... As a supplier, you either meet Walmart's new price or you lose the HUGE contract.
Later, they come back again, and AGAIN say "lower the price". Usually, they will even have "suggestions" of how to do it. The pressue is intense to meet Walmart's demands. In the US, right now, you have very little choice, but to do so. Further, once Walmart sells a product for that price, everyone else is pushed to meet that price or lose sales. Lowe's is the same story, but for appliances and building materials.
Right now there are adds running for Lowes (Walmart no longer has to run these ads) saying "if they beat our price, we will meet it and give you an additional 10%". What they don't say is that Lowe's products are NOT actually the same. The product number is different. So, if you go to get a part at Sears for a product you bought at Lowe's ... you have to let them know that you have a Lowe's product or you will get the wrong part. They will say that their products are the "same". Initially, that might even be true. After a while, though you start to notice a "strange" pattern. Products that you buy at Lowe's or Walmart don't seem to last as long as others... But that usually just makes people look askance at the brand, not the store.
I try NOT to buy at Walmart. But, here is the thing. Many things are just not readily available here. The other day, my son needed a belt. I had a choice of either driving 30 miles to buy one at Sears or some other store ... or go to Walmart. I went to Walmart. Further, even had I driven those 30 miles, my choices would still be limited to other chains. There is a Goodwill, with used items, a couple of specialty shops with prices too high for our moderate income.
The story is the same around the country. I KNOW the impact Walmart has. I WILL pay more at my local grocery store because I want that store to stay open. But, I know many others who don't see that as an option. If they can buy 3 mangoes at Walmart for $ 0. 99 each, versus $1.50 each ... they go to Walmart. I will just buy something else. My kids, therefore, rarely get Mangoes .. but we live in PA.
Anyway, to blame "the Chinese" or "Chinese products" only is putting the blame in the wrong place. The blame goes to each and every one of us who buys cheaply without considering HOW that product came to be cheap. If it is cheap becuase they are able to hire someone in Nepal for $1 and hour... and that person can live well on that $1 and hour .. . then maybe that is OK. Maybe not, but maybe. HOWEVER, if, as is so often the case, that product is cheaper because the people making it are working in poor conditions for poor wages, because "pesky" environmental regulations meant to protect our clean air and water are being ignored ... then, we have no one but ourselves to blame when we find clean water and air scarce.
