Schuler Cue Out of Business??

[gunzby]

People may want to talk junk about countries like China, Mexico, Vietnam or the entire continent of Africa, but I give kudos to people who work like that. Those people aren't doing anything different than I, or anyone else would do to support families or yourself.

 

[JB Cases]

I remember some customers from China coming to where I work one year. At the time I was scrapping cable which is what they were buying at like a dollar a truckload. They would strip off the plastic jacketing and use the aluminum shield and copper to make computer motherboards. A roll of scrap would weigh several hundred pounds and I would dump it and move it by myself. The guys from China were impressed for some reason. I'd do it so I could put the scrapper back together and fill another one up so I could load up two at a time on a forklift.

They told me that when they get those they offload it all by hand. How they do it is beyond me other than to have two or three of em flip it up on end and roll it. I can guarantee you that one could not do it because at that time I had benched 500 and dead lifted 600, including dead lifting my truck. When they told me that I was amazed at the thought of a day like that.

The Chinese do an awful lot of manual lifting, loading and unloading. You know how our beverage delivery drivers have dollies? The Chinese do it all by hand. All the time I see the delivery drivers stacking up six crates of beer and carrying it on their back up several flights of stairs. They have a different way to carry them where they pick up the stack onto their back and lean forward and hold it like they have their hands clasped behind their back.

I am constantly floored by how much a little guy can carry here. And women too. I see them walking down the street with two huge baskets laden with vegetables or fruit balanced on a bamboo rod.

Or the best is when you see them delivering refrigerators and washing machines on scooters. You can see people carrying things on scooters and motorcycles that we Americans wouldn't try to move unless we had a truck.

I wish I had a camera for the time I saw a moving mountain of plastic bags, this was literally a small hill that was at least 15 feet high. When we pulled around it was one guy on a bicycle in the middle of it with a small tunnel out the front so he could see.

 

[JoeyInCali]

And this is the problem: Instantly you vilify the act of making money by adding "more" to it.

First they are not YOUR manufacturers they are just manufacturers that belong to no one.

Secondly you misread my post, I didn't say that everyone has a license to be greedy I said that they have a responsibility to be profitable.

If a business cannot be profitable by staying in a certain location then it needs to close or move. If it closes then the jobs are gone anyway so what's the problem?

How are manufacturer not forced to move to China when competing products invade their market at cut throat prices?
Let's cut the chase. ALL manufacturers, as long as shipping is not costly prohibitive and raw materials/manpower available , would be more profitable if they moved to China in the long run.

 

[fish on]

How are manufacturer not forced to move to China when competing products invade their market at cut throat prices?
Let's cut the chase. ALL manufacturers, as long as shipping is not costly prohibitive and raw materials/manpower available , would be more profitable if they moved to China in the long run.

We must protect our " free"people from unfair competition first!
Our standard of living is being compromised by cheap labor!

Google china knockoffs for your enlightment!
The way things have been going USA will not be manufacturing anything!



I buy American when I can and I own a newer chevy truck and chevy Blazer!
FYI Toyoto and honda have plants in USA due to tax breaks!

What you are saying is we should cut our wages and benefits to compete!

Compete against slave labor at 60 cents with no labor laws to protect them from abuse?
I can buy a beautiful player cue for 20 buckstoday ! Can any cue manufacture compete against that?
How about Champion Ultra plays like Simonis but manufactured in China Guess What 45 bucks including rails!
Insane?



I am well off today due to a great free country and a labor union enabling me to support my family !
God Bless America!!

Yes Let our children have the same opportunity we had before NAFTA!

President Obama understands this !
You will see the changes shortly!!



I say this is BS we should level things up by taxbreaks and tariffs from slave labor competition!

 

[JPB]

Required reading:

Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand.

Agree. I think some of the arguments here - and in other places - would be clarified if people could see what a more truly free market could do. If the car companies didn't have to make cars conform to government mandates, maybe they wouldn't be in as much trouble. Perhaps workers would have a job and make more. And if other countries had free markets, maybe their companies wouldn't get a subsidy. And maybe if a company didn't have to spend tons of money complying with useless regulations jobs could stay here. IOW, price discrepancies between countries would lessen. And eventually they will. For instance, for all the problems with the retired auto worker's health benefits, people neglect that companies started offering health benefits because of wage controls. (at least this is my understanding of it) This is a long way of saying that many problems can be traced back to the original problem, which is excessive regulation by a government in a market, whether the market is for labor, cars, health care, or pool cues.

 

[UGOTDA7]

The Chinese do an awful lot of manual lifting, loading and unloading. You know how our beverage delivery drivers have dollies? The Chinese do it all by hand. All the time I see the delivery drivers stacking up six crates of beer and carrying it on their back up several flights of stairs. They have a different way to carry them where they pick up the stack onto their back and lean forward and hold it like they have their hands clasped behind their back.

I am constantly floored by how much a little guy can carry here. And women too. I see them walking down the street with two huge baskets laden with vegetables or fruit balanced on a bamboo rod.

Or the best is when you see them delivering refrigerators and washing machines on scooters. You can see people carrying things on scooters and motorcycles that we Americans wouldn't try to move unless we had a truck.

I wish I had a camera for the time I saw a moving mountain of plastic bags, this was literally a small hill that was at least 15 feet high. When we pulled around it was one guy on a bicycle in the middle of it with a small tunnel out the front so he could see.

I was in Korea (Osan) back in 2001 and saw a guy riding in the city with a 10-15 foot palm tree strapped to the back of his motorcycle. It was both amazing and hilarious at the same time.

 

[JB Cases]

We must protect our " free"people from unfair competition first!
Our standard of living is being compromised by cheap labor!

Google china knockoffs for your enlightment!
The way things have been going USA will not be manufacturing anything!



I buy American when I can and I own a newer chevy truck and chevy Blazer!
FYI Toyoto and honda have plants in USA due to tax breaks!

What you are saying is we should cut our wages and benefits to compete!

Compete against slave labor at 60 cents with no labor laws to protect them from abuse?
I can buy a beautiful player cue for 20 buckstoday ! Can any cue manufacture compete against that?
How about Champion Ultra plays like Simonis but manufactured in China Guess What 45 bucks including rails!
Insane?



I am well off today due to a great free country and a labor union enabling me to support my family !
God Bless America!!

Yes Let our children have the same opportunity we had before NAFTA!

President Obama understands this !
You will see the changes shortly!!



I say this is BS we should level things up by taxbreaks and tariffs from slave labor competition!

I don't need to be "enlightened" I live in China. Who do you think is doing a lot of the "knocking off"? It's Western companies who bring products to China and say "make this". Then you wonder why the Chinese follow suit and copy your copy.

So Toyota has a plant in the US because of "tax breaks" otherwise known as GOVERNMENT SUBSIDIES funded by the people and you complain about China possible doing the same thing?????

You want the government to protect you? How will you feel when that protection becomes a prison you willingly walked into and cannot escape from. What will you do when the government decides that it's in the best interest of our nation that you are not allowed to earn more that $10 an hour and that your labor is needed in a particular job even if you don't want to do that job.

Try educating yourself a little more about China before wrapping yourself in the flag and blinding yourself to how it really is. China just last year enacted a set of labor laws that makes health insurance and five other insurances MANDATORY for ANYONE working in a factory and the EMPLOYER has to pay it. That increased labor cost by 30% overnight.

Is the American worker protected in this manner? Should they be? Germany's workers are and they have a 55% tax bracket and 18% sales taxes on top of 50% gas taxes and plenty of other high taxes to fund the health care and other semi-socialist benefits that Germans enjoy. Will you be willing to spend half of your income on taxes to "protect" the "free" American worker?

And I don't know where you get your information but if there is a cloth that is manufactured in China that plays (and lasts as long) as Simonis then that's called free competition in a free market. Simonis should buy that factory and make it there themselves. Or would you prefer that we dictate (legislate) what the cost of production should be along with the retail prices? If the brand you mentioned (I think you meant 'Championship' Ultra) is really as good as Simonis then do you buy it or do you buy Simonis because you want to protect the Belgium worker's job and Simonis' profits? If the choice for new cloth is a difference of $100 more or less in your pocket and you could use that $100 to benefit your family then what is your choice? (Championship Cloth is made in the USA by the way as far as I know so you should be buying that over European cloth anyway if you really walk your talk).

The fact is that you DO NOT KNOW what Simonis in Belgium's business practices are, you are not familiar with Belgium law, you have no idea whether the people who work there are treated fairly or not, what their benefits are, or what Simonis' profit level is. You don't know what their cost of goods are and whether they COULD sell you their cloth much cheaper or not. They are in business to make money and will stay in business as long as they can do so.

Asking for government protection in business is like asking for protection from the mob. It comes at a high cost and a high obligation.

Do you really want Big Brother watching over you?

"Those that trade liberty for security deserve neither", Ben Franklin

More required reading, "The Way to Wealth" by Ben Franklin, freely available on the web.

 

[JB Cases]

How are manufacturer not forced to move to China when competing products invade their market at cut throat prices?
Let's cut the chase. ALL manufacturers, as long as shipping is not costly prohibitive and raw materials/manpower available , would be more profitable if they moved to China in the long run.

It's called a free market. When all of our factories move there and the competition for skilled labor heats up then the cost savings will vanish and what will happen? Then the smart entrepreneurs in the USA will have figured out how to produce here efficiently and cost effectively and production will resume in the USA. It's a cycle that's all.

As I said before no company is guaranteed profits (unless you are Haliburton feeding on the public tit charging embezzlement prices). No person is guaranteed a job. The company you work for could be insolvent tomorrow due to any number of things, including government regulation.

Competition is the only real regulator out there. If the disparity between the cost of making something and the price it's sold at leaves a lot of room for competitors to jump in then they will. That's the way the game is played.

Sure there are a lot of social considerations but in the end business is just a collection of people trying to make a living by making something or providing a service. If another collection of people can make or perform that service cheaper then that's just business.

The real commodity that has value is reputation. If you get a damn good reputation then you can hang on to business in the face of cheaper competition. However a lot of companies don't invest their profits in service and building a good rep when they have no competition and subsequently their customers can't wait to jump ship when a cheaper alternative arrives.

 

[JoeyInCali]

It's called a free market. When all of our factories move there and the competition for skilled labor heats up then the cost savings will vanish and what will happen? Then the smart entrepreneurs in the USA will have figured out how to produce here efficiently and cost effectively and production will resume in the USA. It's a cycle that's all.
Free market? You mean open trading? The developed country who has a free trade with a socialist country in the end does not benifit. The reason there is free trade is our politicians sold us out,

As I said before no company is guaranteed profits (unless you are Haliburton feeding on the public tit charging embezzlement prices). No person is guaranteed a job. The company you work for could be insolvent tomorrow due to any number of things, including government regulation.
If you are in the manufacturing business, you are in danger of losing your job to China.

Competition is the only real regulator out there.
Japan figured it out a long time that is not true.

Sure there are a lot of social considerations but in the end business is just a collection of people trying to make a living by making something or providing a service. If another collection of people can make or perform that service cheaper then that's just business.
That's not business. It's dumb for our government to let it happen. But, they are getting greased.
The real commodity that has value is reputation. If you get a damn good reputation then you can hang on to business in the face of cheaper competition. However a lot of companies don't invest their profits in service and building a good rep when they have no competition and subsequently their customers can't wait to jump ship when a cheaper alternative arrives.
The biggest commodity is CHEAP prices. What you do is outcheap the main guys until they go out of business or can no longer compete. Those who have great reputation who can't be beat are then subject to counterfeiting.
I wonder where those fake LV bags come from. Fake Rolex? Fake Ipods?
How about those 3 for P100 dvd's sold in Quiapo?

But, I could be wrong. It's really ok for our manufacturers to move to China.

 

[JB Cases]

It's called a free market. When all of our factories move there and the competition for skilled labor heats up then the cost savings will vanish and what will happen? Then the smart entrepreneurs in the USA will have figured out how to produce here efficiently and cost effectively and production will resume in the USA. It's a cycle that's all.
Free market? You mean open trading? The developed country who has a free trade with a socialist country in the end does not benifit. The reason there is free trade is our politicians sold us out,

As I said before no company is guaranteed profits (unless you are Haliburton feeding on the public tit charging embezzlement prices). No person is guaranteed a job. The company you work for could be insolvent tomorrow due to any number of things, including government regulation.
If you are in the manufacturing business, you are in danger of losing your job to China.

Competition is the only real regulator out there.
Japan figured it out a long time that is not true.

Sure there are a lot of social considerations but in the end business is just a collection of people trying to make a living by making something or providing a service. If another collection of people can make or perform that service cheaper then that's just business.
That's not business. It's dumb for our government to let it happen. But, they are getting greased.
The real commodity that has value is reputation. If you get a damn good reputation then you can hang on to business in the face of cheaper competition. However a lot of companies don't invest their profits in service and building a good rep when they have no competition and subsequently their customers can't wait to jump ship when a cheaper alternative arrives.
The biggest commodity is CHEAP prices. What you do is outcheap the main guys until they go out of business or can no longer compete. Those who have great reputation who can't be beat are then subject to counterfeiting.
I wonder where those fake LV bags come from. Fake Rolex? Fake Ipods?
How about those 3 for P100 dvd's sold in Quiapo?

But, I could be wrong. It's really ok for our manufacturers to move to China.

You voted for the people you say sold you out. Germany is a socialist country and we have free trade with them. Seems to me people like German goods.

Dumb for our government to let what happen? Where in the Constitution does it say that government must protect your job or protect a company's existence?

At what point should business be protected? How should they be protected? Should business in one state be protected from business in another state? The cost of living and labor is cheaper in Alabama than it is in California so should there be some sort of protection from cheaper goods coming out of Alabama? Should companies be forced to stay in California in order to insure Californians have a job?

How about if you want to buy a widget for your cue making business and it's $1000 if you buy from the California company and $500 from the Alabama company, should there be a law that prevents you from buying from the Alabama company? Would you agree with such a law? Would you follow it if there were one?

I could go on and on putting holes in this protectionist and isolationist attitude.

Yes, if you work for a company that makes things then your job is in jeopardy. Your job is in danger of being lost to competition, innovation, poor management, bad economy, loss of credit, government regulation, lawsuits, higher taxes, lower taxes, your company relocating to another state or country and so on.......

So what should YOU do about it? Save your money, don't live on credit, develop your skill set so that you are more valuable to a broader range of employers, begin a home business to add another income stream, invest (hopefully in things that appreciate), and basically do what it takes to increase your own positive net worth and build security.

Surprisingly enough there are plenty of people who do this and they don't worry about losing their job. They have enough money saved up to live decently for a certain length of time which allows them to pick and choose where and for whom they want to work. They have skills that allow them to work in any number of fields or even work for themselves if they want to.

Again, required reading, "The Way to Wealth" by Benjamin Franklin, who coincidentally was part of drafting of the aforementioned Constitution. Or you could choose not to read it and continue the idea that government should coddle us and protect us financially.

 

[JB Cases]

And by the way Joey, the "main" guys have been the main guys for as long as you and I have been alive and will continue to be the "main" guys long after we are gone.

Everything isn't about price.

 

[bandido]

It's called a free market. When all of our factories move there and the competition for skilled labor heats up then the cost savings will vanish and what will happen? Then the smart entrepreneurs in the USA will have figured out how to produce here efficiently and cost effectively and production will resume in the USA. It's a cycle that's all.
Free market? You mean open trading? The developed country who has a free trade with a socialist country in the end does not benifit. The reason there is free trade is our politicians sold us out,

As I said before no company is guaranteed profits (unless you are Haliburton feeding on the public tit charging embezzlement prices). No person is guaranteed a job. The company you work for could be insolvent tomorrow due to any number of things, including government regulation.
If you are in the manufacturing business, you are in danger of losing your job to China.

Competition is the only real regulator out there.
Japan figured it out a long time that is not true.

Sure there are a lot of social considerations but in the end business is just a collection of people trying to make a living by making something or providing a service. If another collection of people can make or perform that service cheaper then that's just business.
That's not business. It's dumb for our government to let it happen. But, they are getting greased.
The real commodity that has value is reputation. If you get a damn good reputation then you can hang on to business in the face of cheaper competition. However a lot of companies don't invest their profits in service and building a good rep when they have no competition and subsequently their customers can't wait to jump ship when a cheaper alternative arrives.
The biggest commodity is CHEAP prices. What you do is outcheap the main guys until they go out of business or can no longer compete. Those who have great reputation who can't be beat are then subject to counterfeiting.
I wonder where those fake LV bags come from. Fake Rolex? Fake Ipods?
How about those 3 for P100 dvd's sold in Quiapo?

But, I could be wrong. It's really ok for our manufacturers to move to China.

America and other high-labor-cost countries have been moving their manufacturing off-shore for quite a while now and even before China. Or bring in contracted foreign laborers as in the case with Middle-Eastern countries. Japan has been moving their manufacturing to lower labor cost countries but send their key personnel to head departments or sections. My Japanese friend told me that the Japanese Government is slowly turning Japan into a R&D Department. Others can stay in the agricultural, Japanese Arts and Crafts, healthcare for the ageing population and infrastructure.

For starters, why doesn't the US unemployed ranks work the jobs that the illegal immigrants target?

 

[LC3]

I'm sorry to read that Schuler is closing shop. I had a Schuler and thought it was a solid cue. I'm not into their aesthetic (at least for most of the SLC line), especially the large signature printed on the butt, but the cue I had felt and played great. The only thing that concerned me was getting a replacement shaft for that joint if Schuler were to go out of business.

Speaking of fading cue companies, is Huebler still in business?

 

[fish on]

America and other high-labor-cost countries have been moving their manufacturing off-shore for quite a while now and even before China. Or bring in contracted foreign laborers as in the case with Middle-Eastern countries. Japan has been moving their manufacturing to lower labor cost countries but send their key personnel to head departments or sections. My Japanese friend told me that the Japanese Government is slowly turning Japan into a R&D Department. Others can stay in the agricultural, Japanese Arts and Crafts, healthcare for the ageing population and infrastructure.

For starters, why doesn't the US unemployed ranks work the jobs that the illegal immigrants target?

60% of the exports from China are from US based companies !
Walmart if it was a country would be the 9th highest exporter in china!
The problem with low labor rates and bad labor conditions is other countries must meet this competition and it becomes a
race to the bottom!!

JB cases FYI
I have read the Autobiography of Ben Franklin which is regarded as a top 10 ever read!
The thing I gained from reading this book was He had a unbelievable way of using common sense relating to problems!
Illustration of this was street lights powered by candles glass would darken from soot and be dark by 9pm
His solution was to put holes in top of lantern to let out smoke!
This was how he thought simple solutions !

JB Belgium is considered a top country in the world for living standards!Google them
I am well off financially with 2 children both having Master Degrees and I don't have to work!
I use my electrical head to help people at Home DepoT!

China is now but SE Asia, Pakistan, are up and comers!

What I am saying is we can't let cheap wage bad labor law countries lower the living standards for the rest of the world !

 

[bandido]

China is now but SE Asia, Pakistan, are up and comers!
So SE Asia and Pakistan aren't allowed to be?

What I am saying is we can't let a cheap wage bad labor law countries lower the living standards for the rest of the world !

A hunter loses his instincts in protected hunting grounds. Also, if the obscene salaries of CEOs and pro athlete endorsers are brought down to something realistic then 42" flat screen TVs may not cost as much.

What should be an acceptable standard of living anyway? Should it be 40% essentials and 60% non-essentials?

 

[fish on]

A hunter loses his instincts in protected hunting grounds. Also, if the obscene salaries of CEOs and pro athlete endorsers are brought down to something realistic then 42" flat screen TVs may not cost as much.

What should be an acceptable standard of living anyway? Should it be 40% essentials and 60% non-essentials?

The point is how low can you go?
China is setting the level low and for others to compete they must go lower by wages ,benefits or working conditions! IE S.E Asia etc.
We had this problem in U.S. in the 20's and had work rules implemented to protect children and workers from employer workplace abuse. U.S. companies were against this then and have not changed there agenda.

U.S. companies are fighting against all these corrective human rights abuse laws in China and other countries and they have been taken to task by our country political leaders!
The currency value manipulation in China is artificially subsidizing the real cost of the labor!
Read Pres. Obama campaign statement on this!

I agree with what you say about the aristocrats.
I think people are people though out the world and think they should have protection from being taken advantage of by corporate greed!
I appreciate your comments !

 

[JB Cases]

60% of the exports from China are from US based companies !
Walmart if it was a country would be the 9th highest exporter in china!
The problem with low labor rates and bad labor conditions is other countries must meet this competition and it becomes a
race to the bottom!!


What I am saying is we can't let cheap wage bad labor law countries lower the living standards for the rest of the world !

So we do that by oppressing them? Do you think it's right that America uses more than a third of the world's energy? Why is that you have the right to a high standard of living and other countries don't.

We should keep them out of the economic loop by refusing their goods and keeping them under our military thumb?

But yet we are happy when they consume our products?

Our government projects that freedom brings prosperity through Radio Free Europe and other propaganda tools, our movies all celebrate "the good life" and success through hard work, our celebrities are celebrated like none other and the rest of the world eats it up.

So it is natural that they want to be like us? What right do you have to deny them? You have answered none of my questions and you never will.

You may have read Franklin's autobiography but I doubt you learned from it. Did you remember the part where Franklin went to Paris to lobby them to help the Americans fight the British so that we could be an independent nation? Do you remember reading that that they did?

It's not a race to the bottom, it's the rest of the world chasing us. Soon they will have passed us by while we live under despotic rule brought on by our own decadence, corruption, and complacency. It's the very notion that government should protect your job that will imprison you under government rule.

If America wakes up and realizes that we don't NEED to be so consumptive to live well and we don't need McMansions to be successful, that we can live happy productive lives on far less and in harmony with the world around us then our "standard" of living will not only be higher than it is now, but it will be a better standard.

Then we can lead the world by showing them that we don't need to live in fear of them and each other, that we can live healthy responsible lifestyles that give as much as we take. That way instead of fighting to keep what we think we want and need we can cooperate to insure that production is where it makes the most sense both economically and environmentally to have it be.

 

[fish on]

So we do that by oppressing them? Do you think it's right that America uses more than a third of the world's energy? Why is that you have the right to a high standard of living and other country's don't.

We should keep them out of the economic loop by refusing their goods and keeping them under our military thumb?

But yet we are happy when they consume our products?

Our government projects that freedom brings prosperity through Radio Free Europe and other propaganda tools, our movies all celebrate "the good life" and success through hard work, our celebrities are celebrated like none other and the rest of the world eats it up.

So it is natural that they want to be like us? What right do you have to deny them? You have answered none of my questions and you never will.

You may have read Franklin's autobiography but I doubt you learned from it. Did you remember the part where Franklin went to Paris to lobby them to help the Americans fight the British so that we could be an independent nation? Do you remember reading that that they did?

It's not a race to the bottom, it's the rest of the world chasing us. Soon they will have passed us by while we live under despotic rule brought on by our own decadence, corruption, and complacency. It's the very notion that government should protect your job that will imprison you under government rule.

If America wakes up and realizes that we don't NEED to be so consumptive to live well and we don't need McMansions to be successful, that we can live happy productive lives on far less and in harmony with the world around us then our "standard" of living will not only be higher than it is now, but it will be a better standard.

Then we can lead the world by showing them that we don't need to live in fear of them and each other, that we can live healthy responsible lifestyles that give as much as we take. That way instead of fighting to keel what we think we want and need we can cooperate to insure that production is where it makes the most sense both economically and environmentally to have it be.

I think you are part of the problem not the solution!
You are there to take advantage of the poor people of China and will go to the next country if they have lower wages, less benefits, and no enforced labor laws!
Ugly American!
Stay away please!

 

[JB Cases]

The point is how low can you go?
China is setting the level low and for others to compete they must go lower by wages ,benefits or working conditions! IE S.E Asia etc.
We had this problem in U.S. in the 20's and had work rules implemented to protect children and workers from employer workplace abuse. U.S. companies were against this then and have not changed there agenda.

U.S. companies are fighting against all these corrective human rights abuse laws in China and other countries and they have been taken to task by our country political leaders!
The currency value manipulation in China is artificially subsidizing the real cost of the labor!
Read Pres. Obama campaign statement on this!

I agree with what you say about the aristocrats.
I think people are people though out the world and think they should have protection from being taken advantage of by corporate greed!
I appreciate your comments !

So your answer to this is what? To cut off any chance of the Chinese or any other low wage country's people to have any influx of capital and thereby better their lives and become empowered to demand change.

You are absolutely right that the US government enacted laws to protect the worker in the workplace. That is not the same as guaranteeing you a job. The Chinese government also has laws on the books that protect the worker. The problem is, and its the same in the USA as you well know, is enforcement.

Unfortunately corruption is China is far more prevalent than in the USA. And why not, the culture of power and fealty has been here for 5000 years and isn't likely to change in 50 just because a new title is given to the government. But America itself is also a collection of self-interests that rely on a mix of honesty, integrity, legislation, favors, and outright corruption to get things done. The only thing that stops America from being like China is that the average American has it within their power to effect change. The average Chinese is still concerned with existence first. However as they become more and more financially secure they turn their thoughts to making their environment better and demanding better governance.

To get what you want for America you need to give China (and others) the chance to grow in the right direction. If you force them to grow in the wrong direction then their factories can just as easily make weapons as they make toys.

Now, let's talk about your personal activity for a moment:

You say that you work at Home Depot because you want to share your elctrical expertise and help people, not because you have to but because you want to. I presume you take a paycheck for your work there?

Aren't you doing three thing that you say you are against?

1. You are taking a job from a person who needs it. If you are well off as you say and don't need to work then your Home Depot paycheck should really go to someone who needs a job.

2. You are giving away knowledge for free that licensed electricians invest a lot to learn and subsequently sell. Thus you are personally subsidizing and promoting low cost electrical repair to the detriment of your local elctricians who don't get the business.

3. You are encouraging people to use more foreign made goods since you say that is mostly what Home Depot sells. Because you give them the knowledge to do it themselves they then can take that knowledge and couple it with buying the lowest cost parts and thereby take money from a US manufacturer and a US professional at the same time.

I personally see nothing wrong with you working part time at Home Depot so that you take a low wage to share your lifetime of knowledge. However it pays to be aware of your own economic impact in your community before you try to tell the world that it shoud not do what you do on a personal level.

 

[JB Cases]

I think you are part of the problem not the solution!
You are there to take advantage of the poor people of China and will go to the next country if they have lower wages, less benefits, and no enforced labor laws!
Ugly American!
Stay away please!

Ha ha, that's rich. I am here to take advantage of the poor people of China?

And how exactly do I do that? I trade them money for their labor which they then trade for things they want and need.

My customers give me money for top quality goods which they can acquire from me at a lower cost to them because my overall cost is lower to produce those goods.

My customer saves money, receives a thing of value that they want and the money I get is recycled into the world economy by purchasing supplies and paying people.

The people I pay then have a better life than if there were no demand for my goods and they were forced to live a subsistence existence.

On a very personal level my tooler Zhen Hai Lee came from a very very very poor town where he and his family were living hand to mouth financially. He scrimped and saved and taught himself how to tool leather through internet tutorials and began making small wallets and belts and the like and selling them through China's version of Ebay, called TaoBao.

I contacted him more than a year and a half ago and offered him work doing our tooling and offered to pay a top price for it. Much more per square foot than he would get making his small items. He started doing contract work for me. Eventually I offered him a full time position and a handsome salary and he moved here.

About six months after he got here he was talking to my mother-in-law and said that he was so grateful that I offered him this job because he feared that the criminal element in his home town was going to draw him in and that he would turn to crime to support his family.

Now, he makes a great living working for me during the day, his son and wife are safe and happy, through me he has access to better tools and supplies and he has learned much more about design and tooling through access to books and tapes and advice from toolers around the world. Because of that his own goods have improved to the point that they are not just pattern copies of what everyone else is doing but instead are original pieces with practical design that fetch much higher prices than what he was doing before.

So forgive me if I tell you that you are completely full of crap with your ignorant accusations. You sit in your ivory tower, made well off by your union job and have the luxury to work or not work and you presume to tell me what I am doing when I am living and working with the people I deal with here in China.

Maybe you would prefer that the Chinese stay poor and ignorant and the only thing that they can believe in is that they must continue to build weapons to fight the evil capitalists. Maybe you would prefer that the only imports we have to worry about is incoming nuclear rockets.