Chinese Suicide Sweatshop makes your ipad

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  • CosmoCosmo Posts: 12,225
    Godfather. wrote:
    polaris_x wrote:
    definitely ... however, consumers demand cheap products and corporations want huge profits ...

    America can have that back like it was after WWII but the GOV. will have to do something to have these company's keep their business here and that would create new business and new job's.

    Godfather.
    ...
    Get these jobs back? How? The only way to get them back is to undercut what the Chinese workers are getting. What can the governemt do to make companies conform to this? How is the government going to mandate that?
    Companies was in the business to make money... they have no loyalty anymore. It is all about profits and stock price.
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  • Godfather.Godfather. Posts: 12,504
    Cosmo wrote:
    Godfather. wrote:
    polaris_x wrote:
    definitely ... however, consumers demand cheap products and corporations want huge profits ...

    America can have that back like it was after WWII but the GOV. will have to do something to have these company's keep their business here and that would create new business and new job's.

    Godfather.
    ...
    Get these jobs back? How? The only way to get them back is to undercut what the Chinese workers are getting. What can the governemt do to make companies conform to this? How is the government going to mandate that?
    Companies was in the business to make money... they have no loyalty anymore. It is all about profits and stock price.

    higher tariff's....lots higher and limit over seas imports to a 1/4 of what they are now,everything from t.v's to cars, I don't know business as well you all might but something needs to be done..have any ideas ?

    Godfather.
  • KevinmanKevinman Atlanta, GA USA Posts: 1,917
    When did I get an Ipad?
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  • redrockredrock Posts: 18,341
    Godfather. wrote:
    higher tariff's....lots higher and limit over seas imports to a 1/4 of what they are now,everything from t.v's to cars, I don't know business as well you all might but something needs to be done..have any ideas ?

    Godfather.

    We can't be insular anymore and protectionism is now irrelevant. We are in a global economy and we need to learn to work with this. There is no going back to 'how it was'.
  • Godfather.Godfather. Posts: 12,504
    redrock wrote:
    Godfather. wrote:
    higher tariff's....lots higher and limit over seas imports to a 1/4 of what they are now,everything from t.v's to cars, I don't know business as well you all might but something needs to be done..have any ideas ?

    Godfather.

    We can't be insular anymore and protectionism is now irrelevant. We are in a global economy and we need to learn to work with this. There is no going back to 'how it was'.

    I don't like this global community thing it's like putting all your eggs in one basket.

    Godfather.
  • Jason PJason P Posts: 19,158
    Higher wages and government regulations have forced most of the electronics industry overseas. I think this happened in the 80’s so no one should be very shocked. Are there production facilities in the U.S. that could manufacturer the iPad or any other electronic device (included what I’m typing on) to satisfy demand and compete against Asian-made products? No.

    I believe you will see more companies in different industries follow suit as the EPA gains strength over the next several years. I’m all for saving the environment but when a business has to decide about spending millions to upgrade an existing facility or build a new one in Mexico or China with cheaper operating costs the decision will be simple for them. As Michael Corleone once said, “It’s not personal. It’s strictly business.”
    Be Excellent To Each Other
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  • stuckinlinestuckinline Posts: 3,381
    Jason P wrote:
    Higher wages and government regulations have forced most of the electronics industry overseas. I think this happened in the 80’s so no one should be very shocked. Are there production facilities in the U.S. that could manufacturer the iPad or any other electronic device (included what I’m typing on) to satisfy demand and compete against Asian-made products? No.

    I believe you will see more companies in different industries follow suit as the EPA gains strength over the next several years. I’m all for saving the environment but when a business has to decide about spending millions to upgrade an existing facility or build a new one in Mexico or China with cheaper operating costs the decision will be simple for them. As Michael Corleone once said, “It’s not personal. It’s strictly business.”
    ok, it may be cheaper to build a new facility, but what about all the energy is takes to ship the products to the usa?
  • Godfather.Godfather. Posts: 12,504
    Jason P wrote:
    Higher wages and government regulations have forced most of the electronics industry overseas. I think this happened in the 80’s so no one should be very shocked. Are there production facilities in the U.S. that could manufacturer the iPad or any other electronic device (included what I’m typing on) to satisfy demand and compete against Asian-made products? No.

    I believe you will see more companies in different industries follow suit as the EPA gains strength over the next several years. I’m all for saving the environment but when a business has to decide about spending millions to upgrade an existing facility or build a new one in Mexico or China with cheaper operating costs the decision will be simple for them. As Michael Corleone once said, “It’s not personal. It’s strictly business.”
    ok, it may be cheaper to build a new facility, but what about all the energy is takes to ship the products to the usa?

    I can tell you from working and doing business with over seas manufactures that the cost of shipping and customs inspection etc. is all figured into the price and it's still cheeper....sucks !!!

    Godfather.
  • stuckinlinestuckinline Posts: 3,381
    Godfather. wrote:
    Jason P wrote:
    Higher wages and government regulations have forced most of the electronics industry overseas. I think this happened in the 80’s so no one should be very shocked. Are there production facilities in the U.S. that could manufacturer the iPad or any other electronic device (included what I’m typing on) to satisfy demand and compete against Asian-made products? No.

    I believe you will see more companies in different industries follow suit as the EPA gains strength over the next several years. I’m all for saving the environment but when a business has to decide about spending millions to upgrade an existing facility or build a new one in Mexico or China with cheaper operating costs the decision will be simple for them. As Michael Corleone once said, “It’s not personal. It’s strictly business.”
    ok, it may be cheaper to build a new facility, but what about all the energy is takes to ship the products to the usa?

    I can tell you from working and doing business with over seas manufactures that the cost of shipping and customs inspection etc. is all figured into the price and it's still cheeper....sucks !!!

    Godfather.

    while the cost of shipping is figured into the price, from an environmental standpoint, i feel it a waste of resources to ship products from china, when the usa is fully capable of manufacturing the products here.
  • Jason PJason P Posts: 19,158
    ok, it may be cheaper to build a new facility, but what about all the energy is takes to ship the products to the usa?
    That is a drawback to consider, but for most electronics all of the internal components are manufactured overseas in the first place. For iPads, they can probably fit a good number of them on a cargo jet. I'm guessing that cargo ships are avoided due to holdups in customs but I could be wrong. It takes 4-8 weeks for a ship to make the trip and then have the cargo clear customs. That is a long time with the short lifespan of new technology.

    Then figure in the difference in operating costs. When just considering the labor, the differences between east and west can be drastic. For a basic cost comparison, lets say two identical plants employ 250 workers at 40 hrs / week. If factory A has a labor rate of $50 / hr, the total annual operation cost will be $26M. If factory B has a labor rate of $10 / hr, the total annual operating cost will be $5.2M. Over a ten year period, factory B will save the company over $200M. Then factor in all the savings from cutting corners, ignoring safety, etc and it probably adds up to a staggering amount.

    Some smaller start-up companies are assembling their components in the U.S. but all of those components are still produced overseas. I agree that the conditions and pay scales for those assembling items in Asia is very bad. But they have the labor, technology, and manufacturing capacity, all at a cheaper cost.
    Be Excellent To Each Other
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  • CosmoCosmo Posts: 12,225
    ok, it may be cheaper to build a new facility, but what about all the energy is takes to ship the products to the usa?
    ...
    It's chump change to them.
    The greatest savings is in labor. If you don't have to pay greater salaries, provide medical and dental coverage, insurance, pensions, etc... all the things American workers take for granted... the costs of distribution is nominal.
    Allen Fieldhouse, home of the 2008 NCAA men's Basketball Champions! Go Jayhawks!
    Hail, Hail!!!
  • Godfather.Godfather. Posts: 12,504
    [stuckinline]while the cost of shipping is figured into the price, from an environmental standpoint, i feel it a waste of resources to ship products from china, when the usa is fully capable of manufacturing the products here.

    I agree 100%

    Godfather.
  • FlaggFlagg Posts: 5,856
    Godfather. wrote:
    Blackredyellow I do not agree on either examples (oil/business) we the consumer will always save a buck when we are able, what choice do we have in most cases other than autos, for the most part we buy what is available,
    we have big business to blame for that not us the consumer.

    Godfather.

    But if we (as consumers) only purchased american-made goods, then businesses would be forced to produce goods here.

    You said that we will always save a buck when we are able, business are the same way.

    Have you actually tried that? I bet it would be pretty difficult to live your life only buying American made products. Not impossible, but you would have to do without a lot of things.

    I am typing on a computer made in China while listening to music on an iPhone made in China while wearing clothes made in Vietnam, Bangladesh and Mexico.

    I know I saw a news story where someone tried to go a whole year only buying American made products and it was pretty tough to do. I wish I could find that story.
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  • know1know1 Posts: 6,794
    Jeanwah wrote:
    It should be the corporations responsibility to keep our economy healthy. But there are no regulations for that. That is why corps will ALWAYS outsource. They are directly killing the American economy by thinking only of their own bottom line, and going oversees to find the cheapest workers. ETA: AND it doesn't help that American consumers want everything cheap, cheap, cheap!

    Why is the responsibility to keep the AMERICAN economy strong? What about the Chinese economy? What would all those workers do if they closed that plant and moved the jobs to America?

    People are people. Americans are no better than anyone else, and business/jobs should go where they want to.
    The only people we should try to get even with...
    ...are those who've helped us.

    Right 'round the corner could be bigger than ourselves.
  • FlaggFlagg Posts: 5,856
    And then you have to decide where to draw the line. For example, if I buy a new Maytag washing machine made in America, what about all the components? Where did they come from?

    Autos are even trickier since most Japanese cars are actually built here and a good deal of American cars are built in Mexico. Both with parts from all over the place.

    In 2008, I bought a Honda Accord. Built in Ohio. Did I support America or Japan? I don't even know.

    And you can't force corporations to keep the jobs here. Especially if you allow foreign companies to sell their stuff here. If you force an American company to make an alarm clock here and they have to sell it for $20 to make a profit, and a French company makes one with Chinese labor and can ship it here and sell it for $10 and still make a profit, which clock are most Americans going to buy?

    And you can't slap a bunch of tariffs on it to even the price out because that French company will just stop selling that clock here and the French government will then decide to retaliate and either tariff US imports or stop them altogether.

    The above is a huge generalization and an example but that about sums it up I think.
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  • know1know1 Posts: 6,794
    redrock wrote:
    Godfather. wrote:
    higher tariff's....lots higher and limit over seas imports to a 1/4 of what they are now,everything from t.v's to cars, I don't know business as well you all might but something needs to be done..have any ideas ?

    Godfather.

    We can't be insular anymore and protectionism is now irrelevant. We are in a global economy and we need to learn to work with this. There is no going back to 'how it was'.

    Amen!
    The only people we should try to get even with...
    ...are those who've helped us.

    Right 'round the corner could be bigger than ourselves.
  • stuckinlinestuckinline Posts: 3,381
    to those of you defending the chinese rights to jobs .....how do you defend this:
    (from jeanwah's original post)



    Down narrow, prison-like corridors, they sleep in cramped rooms in triple-decked bunk beds to save space, with simple bamboo mats for mattresses.

    Despite summer temperatures hitting 35 degrees, with 90 per cent humidity, there is no air-conditioning. Workers say some dormitories house more than 40 people and are infested with ants and cockroaches, with the noise and stench making it difficult to sleep.
  • know1know1 Posts: 6,794
    to those of you defending the chinese rights to jobs .....how do you defend this:
    (from jeanwah's original post)



    Down narrow, prison-like corridors, they sleep in cramped rooms in triple-decked bunk beds to save space, with simple bamboo mats for mattresses.

    Despite summer temperatures hitting 35 degrees, with 90 per cent humidity, there is no air-conditioning. Workers say some dormitories house more than 40 people and are infested with ants and cockroaches, with the noise and stench making it difficult to sleep.

    First of all, there were a lot of things in that article that are pretty subjective and do not take culture into account. To those of us in the west in our McMansions, I'll bet most corridors seem narrow. Heck, aren't there Japanese hotels where people actually pay to basically sleep in something that's about the size of an oversized drawer?

    I'll also ask whether those workers are slaves or prisoners. If not, they are there by choice. And what that tells me is those conditions are better than their alternatives. I'm not defending the conditions, but if change has happened that allows these people better conditions than they had before, is that a bad thing?

    Finally, they talked about restaurants and basketball courts. How many factories in America have those?
    The only people we should try to get even with...
    ...are those who've helped us.

    Right 'round the corner could be bigger than ourselves.
  • Jason PJason P Posts: 19,158
    "Despite summer temperatures hitting 35 degrees, with 90 per cent humidity, there is no air-conditioning. Workers say some dormitories house more than 40 people and are infested with ants and cockroaches, with the noise and stench making it difficult to sleep."
    Sounds like my freshman year at college . . . and I wish I was kidding! :(
    Be Excellent To Each Other
    Party On, Dudes!
  • JeanwahJeanwah Posts: 6,363
    know1 wrote:
    to those of you defending the chinese rights to jobs .....how do you defend this:
    (from jeanwah's original post)



    Down narrow, prison-like corridors, they sleep in cramped rooms in triple-decked bunk beds to save space, with simple bamboo mats for mattresses.

    Despite summer temperatures hitting 35 degrees, with 90 per cent humidity, there is no air-conditioning. Workers say some dormitories house more than 40 people and are infested with ants and cockroaches, with the noise and stench making it difficult to sleep.

    First of all, there were a lot of things in that article that are pretty subjective and do not take culture into account. To those of us in the west in our McMansions, I'll bet most corridors seem narrow. Heck, aren't there Japanese hotels where people actually pay to basically sleep in something that's about the size of an oversized drawer?

    I'll also ask whether those workers are slaves or prisoners. If not, they are there by choice. And what that tells me is those conditions are better than their alternatives. I'm not defending the conditions, but if change has happened that allows these people better conditions than they had before, is that a bad thing?

    Finally, they talked about restaurants and basketball courts. How many factories in America have those?
    You are actually going to defend sweat shop labor... :roll:

    And yeah, factories / companies have been known to jack up the amenities to make it look like the employers care, while actually they overwork & underpay employees. I've worked in 2 such places (American) that pull that off.
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