Should We Ditch China
Adventures in Sustainable Living Podcast
Episode 48
Should We Ditch China?
Having lived and worked in several different countries what I have learned is that no country or government is perfect. Every place has its problems, its share of corruption, and quirky little things that seem to make life more difficult than it really needs to be. And this includes my home country of the United States.
As you could have easily guessed some countries are far worse than others. Now I am not very politically oriented and rarely do I feel compelled to make any sort of strong political statement. However, something was brought to my attention recently that completely changed my perspective on something. This has to do with everyday life, sustainability, as well as basic human rights. So listen to this episode and learn all about why we should ditch China.
Welcome back everyone to the Adventures in Sustainable Living podcast. This is your host Patrick and this is E48 which is called Should We Ditch China?
Believe it or not, the inspiration for this episode was my accountant whom I’ve known for over 20 years. I was introduced to Sean many years ago by a classmate of mine and I’ve had a good working relationship with him since that time. Every month Sean publishes a newsletter that contains accounting and investment advice.
Now Sean can be rather outspoken at times but I think this is because he has to deal with the Internal Revenue Service on a regular basis. Anyway, his newsletter usually has some entertaining, and sometimes not so funny, updates on “what the government is doing to you this time”. He also tends to have a few other things in there directed toward his views on the world at large.
It is Sean that brought my attention to China. It is my subsequent research that made me completely change my views on this country especially from the perspective of sustainability. But my research also brought up some other political issues. Now at this point you may be questioning how these two things are related. Well, please bear with me for a moment because I am going to get to that. But I also think it is important to give a short history lesson in order to bring things into perspective.
About 40 years ago, China made some sweeping economic reforms and broad liberalization of their trade policies that has resulted in China becoming a major global economic power. Prior to that China maintained policies that suppressed the economy and kept it isolated from the global market. Consequently the economy was poor, stagnant, centrally controlled and enormously inefficient.
That all changed in 1979 when China made extensive free-market reforms. As a result China has emerged to become one of the world’s fastest growing economies. It has had annual gross domestic product growth of 9.5% through 2018. In fact the World Bank views this growth as “the fastest sustained expansion by a major economy in history.”
In turn this has made China the world’s largest economy, manufacturer, merchandise trader, and holder of foreign exchange reserves. As far as the United States goes, China is our largest merchandise trading partner, biggest source of imports, as well as the third largest U.S. export market. China is also the largest foreign holder of U.S. Treasury securities.
Now I did not know exactly what it meant to hold a treasury security so I had to look it up. U.S Treasury securities, such as bills, notes and bonds, are debt obligations of the U.S. government. When you buy a treasury security you are lending money to the U.S government for a specified period of time. China is now the largest holder of U.S. securities which means China is now loaning the federal government more money than anyone else in the world. Now I guess that adds a whole new meaning to a global economy.
Now please allow me to get on my little political soap box for a moment. In 2020 the federal government collected $3.42 trillion in revenue but spent $6.55 trillion. Our present national debt is at about $26.7 trillion. Now it seems to me the government continues to spend our tax dollars like an irresponsible teenager with a credit card. Consequently we are now in debt to foreign countries that obviously do not have our best interest in mind.
But please, back on topic here.
In 2020 China exported approximately $2.6 trillion U.S dollars worth of goods. Of that about $560 billion dollars of goods were sent to the U.S. Approximately 21% of all goods imported to the U.S. comes from China. But why is that?
The simple fact is that low priced consumer goods produced in China have been dominating American imports for decades. The best known reason for this is that it is typically far less expensive to manufacture goods in China than in many other countries. Lower manufacturing costs translates into better margins and lower prices for the end user. Even with factoring in shipping costs it is still usually cheaper to manufacture goods in China. And that is why so many products are outsourced to that country.
Just the other day I went out shopping for a couple of things, which is rare for me. But when I do venture out I am usually looking for something specific. I needed a couple of things because I was on a short business trip to Arizona. First I went to a local sporting goods store. I needed some new shoes for work because I am on my feet a lot so I use hiking shoes for work shoes. I typically buy the Merrill brand of light weight hiking shoes, which I have purchased repeatedly over the last 10 years.
But I also needed a cooking set for my camping gear so I could cook simple meals in my hotel room instead of eating restaurant food. The next stop was the local supermarket because I needed a small cooking knife for chopping food. I did not look at the origin of these products until I returned to the hotel. And guess what? To my surprise every single item was labeled “Made in China.”
Now first of all I want to clear up some common misconceptions about Chinese manufacturing. The label “Made in China” has certainly acquired a negative connotation as people often equate that to poorly made products. There are in fact a lot of poorly made, cheap consumer products that come out of China. However, there are also some top name brands such as Apple products and even Armani that are manufactured in China.
So it is back to the old adage “You get what you pay for.”
And that reminds me of something I saw the other day when I met some friends at a local restaurant. On the wall of this restaurant is a sign that says “Price. Quality. Service. Pick any two.”
What you have to understand is that the Chinese economy is feeding our unrelenting Western appetite for inexpensive consumer goods. It is often a matter of choosing two out of the three, price, quality, or service. As Westerners we often demand a good price and quick service. But what that means is that you may not always get the best quality.
So what I want to do is look at the this situation from a sustainable perspective. So allow me to point out a few things that I’ve mentioned in earlier episodes.
E2 The Most Sustainable Countries. I discussed several countries that have emerged to the point of the entire country running of a renewable energy sources. These countries are great examples of what can be accomplished with proper motivation.
E18 Choices Make Changes. In that episode I discussed how our choices are a powerful driving force in the market place.
E19 The True Impact of Fair Trade. In this episode I brought up the fact that two thirds of the world makes less than the equivalent of $10 USD/day and 10% of those make less that $1.90/day. Yet it is these folks that provide the developed world with the majority of the goods that we use everyday, right down to the fruits and vegetables that we eat.
$10 USD/day means about $300/month. $1.90/day means about $57/month. The average American spends more than that on Starbucks coffee every month.
E20 The Good Country I talked about all the concepts that make up a good country and if you had to move out of your home country, how would you choose your new home.
And now we circle back around to the subject of China.
Our consumer choices obviously drives the market place. So why do we consistently purchase lower quality products from China that are used for a short period of time and then have to be tossed in the garbage? We should be putting our money into higher quality products that have a longer shelf life and have been manufactured from materials that can be recycled.
China is the largest economy in the world yet they have not even begun to address the concepts of sustainability.
As far as China is concerned, you can forget about fair trade. The average hourly wage in China is $1.52 an hour. As a teenager in 1976 I was working in a supermarket bagging groceries and I was making $2.35 per hour.
But besides all of that, China has a horrible track record as far a human rights are concerned. The government of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) is guided by a totalitarian ideology under the absolute rule of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The government commonly deprives their citizens of basic human rights on a wide spread scale and systematically limits their personal freedoms as a way of retaining power.
Chinese citizens cannot practice the religion or belief of their choice. They cannot openly express their opinions nor can they form groups of their choosing without fear of harassment, arrest, or retribution. Minorities are subject to arbitrary detention, forced abortions and sterilization, state-sponsored forced labor, so called political indoctrination and even torture. The CCP recently announced that the accumulation of personal wealth was only allowed as long as it served the purpose of the Chinese Communist Party.
Furthermore, it is openly acknowledged in the international community that the Chinese government is responsible for widespread and open violations of basic humans rights and actions that are considered crimes against humanity.
But as I said before, I am not a very politically oriented person and seldom do I make a strong political statement. But, just take a moment and consider a few controversial things about our own culture.
Confederate Flag
Let’s consider for a moment the Confederate flag. Most people these days consider the Confederate flag to be highly offensive and a representation of blatant racism.
These days people feel so strongly about anything that even has a hint at racism that even professional sports organization are changing their names, military bases are changing their names, old movies are being banned and books are being pulled off the market.
Cancel Culture
Presently our culture tends to immediately boycott public figures, companies, and media after they say or do anything considered objectionable or offensive.
Black Lives Matter
This is a strong political movement to resist police brutality against Black people. This movement actually wants to defund police departments which from a public safety perspective makes no sense whatsoever.
The Green New Deal
This is a movement to confront climate change by curbing emission, imposing environmental regulations, and exploring alternative energy sources. Despite all the scientific evidence that this is the direction in which we need to move, massive amounts of people even oppose this.
Right to Privacy
Now this is a highly controversial topic that centers on conflicting priorities between individual privacy and public safety.
And I could list even more political charged, very emotional controversies issues in our own country. But these are just 5 examples.
So here is my point.
With the Confederate Flag being offensive to most people these days, would you be willing to financially support an organization that openly displays the Confederate flag and promotes white supremacy? Most likely not.
Would you be willing to financially support an organization that openly promotes and justifies violence against black people or any other ethnic group for that matter? Mostly likely not.
Would you be willing to financially support an organization that wantonly destroys the environment. For example, the total destruction of Teton National Park for the sake of drilling for oil.
Would you be willing to support an organization that openly advocates our total loss of any sort of personal privacy? Most likely not.
And these are just a few examples and I hope anyone listening answered no to all of the above questions.
That being said, I have one last question
Why do we as individuals financially support a government that is well known in the international community for openly committing crimes against humanity. Because that is what happens when you buy “Made in China.” Or do we just openly ignore this in order to satisfy our insatiable appetite for consumer goods. Or would it be better to completely boycott any product made in China?
I think I can say with certainty that with China being one of the largest international trading partners on a global scale that no government in the world is going to completely break off relations with China and ban the importation of their products. That is because it is hugely profitable for them.
So you may be asking what the heck this has to do with sustainability. Certainly you have heard me say before that the one basic principle of sustainability is what kind of future we are leaving the next generation. Additionally, if you simply search for the term “principles of sustainability” one of the top principles that is consistently listed is social equity.
When you mention sustainability the first thing people tend to focus on is environmental issues. But we must not forget that sustainability is just as much about people as it is about the environment. Because how can we work together to build a better future when social equity is ignored?
I have to say that I find it surprising that many of us ignore such things especially when we literally live in the age of information. But according to modern psychology the evolution of our ability to develop rational thoughts is highly biased toward fulfilling fundamental social functions such as cooperating in large groups and communicating with others. It did not evolve to simply help us find the truth. So maybe that is why so many of us simply ignore the truth.
This whole topic here reminds me of a conversation I had with one of my long-term friends a couple of months ago. They only live a couple of miles from the cabin and I’ve know these guys for about 15 years or so. We were discussing the state of the economy as well as some other international issues. Dan told me that his wife absolutely refuses to purchase anything made in China. At the time I was wondering why she felt so strongly about it. I never did ask her the justification for her feelings. But I can honestly say now I have my own opinion about it.
I know you have heard me say before that preventing one piece of trash from going to the landfill is not going to save the planet. However, a lifetime of sustainable habits will. You have also heard me say that incorporating the principles of sustainability into your life is about making better choices. The whole point of this episode is about making better choices.
I have given 5 examples above about controversial issues in our own culture. And I asked 5 pertinent questions. Think about his again.
Would you be willing to financially support an organization that openly displays the Confederate flag and promotes white supremacy?
Would you be willing to financially support an organization that openly promotes and justifies violence against black people or any other ethnic group for that matter?
Would you be willing to financially support an organization that wantonly destroys the environment. For example, the total destruction of Teton National Park for the sake of drilling for oil.
Would you be willing to support an organization that openly advocates our total loss of any sort of personal privacy?
And if you answered no to any one of these questions, then why do you continue to financially support the Chinese government when they promote ethnic superiority, openly justify violence against any group of their choice, wantonly destroy the environment, deprive all citizens of any sort of personal privacy, and openly commit crimes against humanity.
The Chinese government has made it clear that any and all activity that goes on in the country is for the sole support and benefit of the Chinese Communist Party. So what that ultimately means is that if you purchase “Made in China” you are supporting that government.
Just the other day I was in a store in a small community looking for a skillet. I am presently on a short business trip and I needed a good quality skillet for cooking meals. I had two options. I could purchase a light weight, non-stick skillet or a heavy duty cast iron skillet that cost 2 1/2 times more. The less expensive item was “Made in China”. The cast iron skillet was made by the Lodge Cast Iron Company in Tennessee. They have been making cast iron cookware since 1986. So I gladly paid for the cast iron skillet. And as I was driving back to my hotel I noticed a sign at the edge of the city limits that was about 5 feet high and 20 feet long, all in capital letters that simply said “Buy Local Please”.
This also makes me think about the most recent political slogan “Make American Great Again”. Well how are we supposed to do that when we spend billions of dollars, and take loans from a government that is founded on the very principles that this country fights against.
Now I do realize that this is a controversial topic. And I rarely stand up and make any sort of strong political statement. But this unjust situation is so blatantly clear that I felt compelled to say something.
In closing folks, I know you have heard me say before that I have lived off the grid for 25 years and do it willingly. But I do not expect everyone to live like I do. But it is not difficult to make simple small changes in your life that will ultimately result in a life time of sustainable habits. So, I would ask you to make one simple choice.
Ditch China. Find other products and solutions to satisfy your everyday needs and stop financially supporting a government that cannot even respect basic human rights much less contribute to a sustainable future. One of the founding principles of sustainability is social equity. It is a very basic thing that we expect in our culture so why would we willingly support a government that goes against those principles.
John F Kennedy once said, “Life is never easy. There is work to be done and obligations to be met-obligations to truth, to justice, and to liberty.”
Whether you like it or not, we all have an obligation to build a better future for ourselves. And building that future means making better choices.
This is your host Patrick signing off until next week. Always remember to live sustainably because this is how we build a better future.
Resources
China’s Economic Rise: History, Trends, Challenges, and Implications for the United States
