China's Choices
Choices that will have major global implications
There are no answers, just choices, this is one place to follow the choices that China makes. This nation of 1.3 billion people is faced with the daunting task of building on its 30 years of unprecedented economic development without further damage to its environment. How is it going to do this and how is that effort going to impact the rest of the world? ...learn more
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Created: Dec 18, 2007
Updated: Nov 02, 2009
Membership: Open
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Topic: Lets start a boycott!
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Flag comment for removal Nico about 1 year ago
I can’t understand why there has not been a serious boycott of China yet. It seems that everything they make is either toxic, environmentally disastrous, or abusive to the people who make it. What’s more, China is a brutal oppressive dictatorship (remember the tank man) that occupies a sovereign country (Tibet) and has designs on its neighbors (Taiwan).
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So I've already picked on one company Krups, it's one place to start. Hay Krups, it's time to re-think what your doing, if you even know how to do that. It's your bottom line in the long run, making cheap crap is a very strange way to improve on it.
You won't believe what they say on their web site: http://www.krups.com/ believe it or not.... "krups - beyond reason." And more "Precision, Perfection, Passion...beyond the everyday, beyond the norm, beyond reason. For Krups, seeking performance goes way beyond ordinariness. Stringent design, extreme precision, choice of the best materials. Discover the Krups range of espresso makers, coffee machines, toasters, kettles, blenders, sandwich makers and much more" ... can you believe that? |
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Personally, I would be careful about certain things I buy from China as well. I totally am down for buying locally and would pay the extra few dollars if I feel I could get a more quality product from elsewhere.
But I don't think starting a massive boycott is the answer...I fear that "boycott China" is too broad of a term and that it will lead many people to adopt semi-racist attitudes, when really...is there someone who's entirely at fault? Is it the U.S manufacturer or the corrupt factory manager? It's both. I'm not trying to excuse the Chinese government of blame or influence. If there were higher labor standards and a greater human rights culture then of course China would produce better goods. But China is not the only place that can be exploited. If we want to improve what comes out of China and other countries, we need to hold trans-corporations accountable. If we don't they'll just move and exploit labor elsewhere. Some are better than others. A complete boycott of Chinese goods is a convenient way for manufacturers to point the finger on China without addressing their own flaws. Recently Mattel apologized to China for harming the manufacturing reputation of the Chinese as a whole... did Mattel's display of incompetence deserve a boycott as well? I also don't believe that China's government is even big enough to keep track of everything and everyone in its boundaries...which is why corporations should inspect HOW their products are being produced and whether its safe for consumption. This is an issue that is universal, not just to China. Despite some of the dangerous items coming out of Chinese factories, I'm not going to be suddenly allergic to everything that has a "made in china" label. There are some things which I feel can be trusted..or at least accepted...since if China doesn't make it...someone else will. It's also kind of hard to avoid things like my vans shoes. And laptop. And jacket...car parts...the cup I'm holding. |
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Hey, all:
Gee, it is getting to be the usual suspects! We could be a line up! I personally have been engaging in a boycott for many years but it is very non-discriminatory--I avoid India, Malaysia, Taiwan, Chile, Brazil, in fact most foreign countries when it comes to my consumer purchases. I would much rather purchase goods made locally--in the USA in my case--since I am supporting local industries and businesses, and the embodied energy is less because it is not shipped half way around the world, let alone the raw materials and fossil fuels needed to propel/light/manufacture/store it all. To me, this is just a logical application of the "Think globally, act locally" principle--really very simple. David Messages done with sustainable energy, with Wind and Sun! |
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Hey all,
An excellent point on this "outsourcing pollution" issue @ http://www.treehugger.com/files/2007/12/the_hypocrisy_o.php Bowo |
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There's an interesting place to start a boycott - how about the Olympics? Put up a pick line at Wal-Mart and other retail stores that buy crap from China. I posted two recent stories on what is taking place in the great industrial state of states - on story's headline has the word goons. I'm beginning to like that, the goons of China working with the goons of Wal-Mart and the like.
What fun... maybe a few Olympic athletes might be contacted to see where they stand on "labor relations" in China. |
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crazy but i had the same thought - boycott the Beijing Olympics. i'm all for boycotting China. though i 'm not really sure where to start on the consumer end
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As per Mike's point - we need to hold businesses accountable...we also need to hold govenment's accountable. How come all the 'crap' that can't get in to Europe due to strict government regulations manages to get into the US (toys being a perfect example). The US needs regulations to protect consumers from people making 'rubbish' in the first place.
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Thought this was of interest to the group.
Corporations Go Public with Eco-Friendly Patents With the launch of the Eco-Patent Commons earlier this week, four companies -- IBM, Nokia, Pitney-Bowes and Sony -- joined with the World Business Council on Sustainable Development to do something almost unprecedented: they agreed to relinquish their control over inventions that could benefit the planet in order to spur innovation for the greater good. Inspired by the open source software movement, the Eco-Patent Commons aims to share knowledge as a way to address large-scale problems. IBM, which released 27 patents to the commons this week, has spearheaded the initiative after more than a year of discussion. www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/01/14/BU6IUDVBM.DTL |
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I think the opportunity to put some pressure, might be with Coke - see the article that was posted in "resources". With Cokes history with the Olympics dating back to the 36 Olympics in Germany, I think they are caring allot of baggage.
How to do it? When going after a large multi-national like Coke, their vulnerability, is their brand - their logo. It's the symbol to attack and the process of attack is by association. Attaching symbols to their brand that are negative is a likely strategy. China has already done allot of the work for us and Coke having associated themselves with China already - it seems a no brainier. China's association with any number of issues that are listed in the "resource" section of this group, the process is already started. What we need to do is define our "purpose,” that also has been established with actions that have been pointed out with this group. I suggest that the purpose be to Shame Coke. So why don't we get other people in WE to get behind the "shamming of Coke" because of the position they have taken regarding China? Once started lets see how Coke reacts - probably they'll react very negatively about being shamed. With that reaction we then have a reason to start a campaign affecting their "market share" in countries that sympathize with the issues that are presented within this group? U.S., France, Japan, where there already has been a reaction to just one of the issue, Tibet. ... your thoughts? |
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