05-25-2021, 11:59 AM
(05-25-2021, 11:47 AM)Wes Mantooth Wrote: Well written post.
Do you feel a two pronged approach with both tarrifs and public pressure could help slowly move production?
The public pressure I'm speaking of would be the result of increased discussion leading ultimately to education, and a spotlight being placed on ills of buying "Chinese"?
As I'm writing this I releazing that shifting the mindset of the average consumer is perhaps too much to ask. But there are enough talking points that exist in the debate that I think it would be helpful if we spent more time educating people on them. Namely the treatment of workers, human rights violations, and pollution.
We spend so much time already discussing issues that go hand in hand with these. Ironic isnt even the word to describe the people that are wearing Nikes talking about social issues and the environment.
I'm sure what I'm suggesting is a pipe dream. People want products the cheapest they can get them, and unforunately we have a materialistic society that consumes entirely way too much bs. But it sure would be great if people took a little bit of time thinking about what it is exactly they need, and where their dollars are going.
Just speaking for myself, I'd gladly pay a little more to buy more from Korea, or India, or Vietnam, or Thailand, or Myramar, or Africa, or wherever. It doesn't have to be American. I just don't want it coming from there.
PS I am aware that I'm probably writing this post on a laptop that is largely sources from China. The irony isn't lost on me.
Public pressure is honestly not something that I believe will work here because you are essentially taxing the consumer by asking them to bypass the cheaper product simply because it is Chinese. With people already struggling with our own country's wage inequalities, asking them to sacrifice cheaper options while corporations will not sacrifice profits at the same time, and instead continue to pass on the increases to the customer, you would be fighting a losing battle. It is all interconnected, if the country addressed better some of the issues at home in terms of wages, I think you could really go this route but I am not sure that is something we will get done in the near future as steam has seemed to fall off there.
Also, as Bels mentions, because of China's reach simply moving production won't stop you from enriching the country via proxy companies but also as I mentioned the unavoidable need for their raw materials. To put that in scope, China produces 80% of the silicon required to make solar panels. Without China, the entire solar panel industry collapses because there is just not enough of the raw material needed to actually make it a viable option. All roads, in the end, lead back to China for a lot of the technology we use and it will always be that way until another source can be found, which is why I brought up Africa and China's proactive move to cut off its resources from the western world.
Some of it was China being ahead of everyone else in their long-term vision, part of it was winning the resource lottery similar to the gulf countries and oil. In both examples, it is hard for us to really break our reliance on either global supplier for now.
