When you shop at walmart, you are buying tanks and planes for China

[SoCalDem]

China apparently is beefin up their military in a big way.. Hey, why not.. They are rolling in cash from all our upside-down trade with them..

We are loathe to pay "trinket-makers" here in the USof A, a living wage, so we allow corporations to set up shop there and let the Chinese trinket-makers make our plastic crap.

The money that used to go towards wages here, is now being funneled into China's coffers..

They have a lot of angry, bride-less young men to find work for, and what better job is there in China, if not the military? There is no reason to have a huge military unless you plan to use it.. We have a large military and we are sure using it.. have been since WWII. The "enemies" we choose have been relatively weak ones, but China has no problem with servicemen's deaths, so they would not shy away from a tough adversary.

So, the next time you drop some cash for those $5 jeans or $2 flipflops, pat yourself on the back.. you bought a rivet for a chinese tank:)

[brentspeak]

1. I had a sobering experience to a Toys R' Us in Manhatten last year

before Christmas: I couldn't find a single item that was made in the USA. Not one. It was unbelievable, and my Christmas mood was ruined.

[democrat_patriot]

2. When I buy American am I buying bombs for use

in Iraq?

Just wondering......

[SoCalDem]

5. Perhaps, but there's a minute chance that some American will

benefit by still having a job here..

[lindisfarne]

15. Yes. Also, when you pay your taxes. n/t

[Old and In the Way]

3. China spends $30BB a year on defense.

We spend $500BB. Many reasons not to like China, but I don't think they can be considered offensive in their expenditures when compared to what we are spending and doing in this world. And they have 4X the population.

[Placebo]

4. It's so true.

For someone like me, who lives in the city and is young and is far more "aware" of this problem, and has access to a bunch of places where I can buy items NOT MADE IN CHINA (clothes and plastic crap, ew) it's easy.

But for most of America, who live in the suburbs or wherever and it's pretty much Wal-Mart or bust, I guess you can't blame it. The responsibility should be on our elected officials to get rid of this problem.

[SoCalDem]

7. I think that a lot of people use shopping as "entertainment"

and lots of people buy stuff they really don;t use or need..

I used to be a "shopper", but no more.. I don;t even buy paper towels these days.. I decided that it was ridiculous to buy stuff just to use and throw away.. We have made a conscious effort to NOT buy disposable stuff.. and yes..before people ask.. I used cloth diapers on my three boys.:)

[Placebo]

16. AHH!

Cloth diapers? You truly are a brave woman. :)

[SoCalDem]

19. I am an odd one.. I actually like laundry

and there's nothing more satisfying than a big ole stack of neatly folded, clean, fluffy, soft diapers:)

[Caoimhe]

23. That's what my mom always said

but she also said it was a royal pain. She used our old cloth diapers for years after we were potty trained as dish rags lol. Sortof gross if you think about it, but they took a bleachin and didn't melt!

[SoCalDem]

24. My "baby" is almost 28 and I think we still have a few old diapers

in my husband's car-wash rag drawer.. They are almost indestructible

[lindisfarne]

6. Not only that, you're supporting sweatshops. It's really difficult to

find alternative sources. I looked forever for a waffle iron and the only thing I could find (new, that wasn't made in China) was a stove-top one by Nordicware. I was going to buy it but then found a used one (Made in USA) at a thriftshop (they don't show up very often!) :)

Even 10 years ago, it was quite easy to find stuff "Made in USA" (the waffle iron I bought originally and the one I found in the thrift store were less than 15 years old and most of my appliances are "Made in USA" (they're about 10-20 years old or so). I actually don't care so much whether it was "Made in USA" as whether it was made in a factory that paid decent wages and provided safe working conditions - something that is nearly impossible to ascertain w.r.t. China.

As far as computer or electronic components go - it's really difficult. I don't tend to buy much in that area but I have paid attention.

The US will lose the world status just because it won't have any manufacturing ability and will be dependent on China to supply virtually all computers and electronics. (There was just an article on the state dept. buying Lenovo (Chinese-owned) computers then having to restrict which network they could be hooked up to because there might be some spyware or some other kind of spy hardware. Although you'd think if they wiped the harddrive clean and started reinstalling all the software, this problem could be avoided?? But maybe there's something I don't understand ...)


I never shop at Wal-Mart mainly because of their labor issues.

[SoCalDem]

9. I sympathize about the waffle iron.. My son wanted me to give him OURS

He could not find one like it, and he actually thought I would part with mine.. It's 36 years old..a manning bowman with a cloth cord..It was a wedding present and has served us well.. It took me FOREVER to find one like it (sort of like it).. GE of all manufacturers had the closest, and it was very expensive, I had it shipped directly to him, so I don;t know if it was made here or not..

[Gregorian]

8. The weird part is, freepers also agree with this.

My local freeper came by the other day, and was spouting about how we should have nuke this place, and how we ought to nuke Iran, and so on. But this Walmart issue was part of his agenda as well. So there's no lack of concern about this among most of the country. Now all we need to do is bring back our manufacturing.

Oh, by the way, I was on the phone with a big machine tool rebuilder this morning. He had this to say about China- They are buying up as many used machine tools as they can, and shipping them back to China. And melting them down. Canada has already been emptied of it's old machines. This is China's way of getting the machines off the market.

[Mythsaje]

10. You'd be shocked to discover

how much of our MEDICAL equipment is made in China. A lot of the things like gloves, scapels, respitory tubing, etc...comes from China. And those that don't are made in places like Indonesia.

We don't really make anything anymore.

[SoCalDem]

12. It's a dangerous position we have put oursevles into..

We are a debtor nation now and apparently our kids are graduating without learning much..our factories are being turned into condos, and coffeshops...

What DO we make exclusively these days?

The innovations that used to be ours, have been stripped away and sent to thrid world conutries so they can have on-the-job training in how to beat us at our own game..:shrug:

[savemefromdumbya]

11. start learning Chinese

I like Chinese people

[The Straight Story]

13. But I thought the US was evil and others were cool?

Is china as bad or worse than we are on things?

I am a long time democrat (probably longer than some here have been alive) but sometimes I cannot stomach the 'america sucks, everyone else is better' threads.

China, Cuba, and so on we tend to defend on one hand, whilst we spend thread after thread about how dumb us Americans are. Maybe giving money to china is not such a bad idea - might be better (to some) than what we have now....

Rant over - and not really directed at you :)

[lindisfarne]

17. America and China *both* suck, albeit for somewhat different reasons. n/t

[SoCalDem]

18. I'm not bashing China.. They are actually quite industrious

Look at how far they have come as a nation in one generation.. It's just that our legislators have turned a blind eye to our own industrial base and allowed wholesale dismantling of the very thing that once made us a great nation..

We had steel....auto industry...textiles...airplanes...shipmaking...shoes...clothing...tools.. you name it..

Just because somewhere else can make stuff cheaper is no reason to allow whole industries to just fade away.. The people who DID those jobs are still here...and they need work..

[Xeric]

14. And how many immigrant bashers

whining about the "illegals" sending their hard earned money back home to their poor relatives are shopping at Wal-Mart and sending a good chunk of their money to foreign countries?

[SoCalDem]

20. Strangely enough, a LOT of people still remember the ads

that walmart ran a long time ago.. You know the ones.. American made is the USA?.. When thery came here, those ads were all over the place and people still think they are the same company..

[gatorboy]

21. That would make a great poster

In the foreground, a smiling checker behind a cash register, giving you your purchase.

Behind her dozens of chinese tanks and fighter jets.

And at the top in bold lettering: "Thank you for shopping Wal-Mart."

Thanks for the idea man. I'm hitting the sketchbook later to put this together! :)

[SoCalDem]

25. Be sure and post it when you get it finished.

:)

[Deja Q]

22. Don't blame walmart shoppers. Blame the people at the top.

I never supported offshoring and I sure as hell know you don't "free trade" by giving others jobs. It's no different than slicing off your own arm and leg to give to somebody else... who'll promptly punch and kick you with their newfound appendages.

Pity we gave them our balls too...

[Joe Fields]

26. You know what shopping at Wal-Mart is?

The high cost of being poor. So, do not judge me. Do not lecture me because I cannot afford to buy designer clothes, more expensive groceries or high end T.V's or home furnishings.

I'm doing well to have a job that pays the bills and have a car to get to work with. In case you haven't noticed, the cost of living is going up.

Too bad my wages aren't commensurate.

I loathe shopping at Wal-Mart. I have no practical choice to shop elsewhere.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

27. They have a long way to go to spend as much as we do on weapons.

The peaceloving USA spends almost twice as much as the rest of the world, combined, on "defense".

Of course, China is involved in so many wars, invasions, etc...oh, wait.