Chinese Laundry

I had wanted a simple, cheap, comfortable dress to wear around the house while cleaning or cooking or relaxing. Growing up I saw my Southern grandmother wear muumuus for this situation (the 70s version of the 50s “house coat,” "brunch coat," or "duster"). Muumuus were brightly colored, shapeless, frankly obnoxious garments. My generation seems to favor an even more obnoxious sweat pants/ t-shirt combo AND we don’t relegate the look to the privacy of our homes. We sport this anti-fashion everywhere we go, inflicting our sloppy appearance on everyone we encounter!

Well, I was going to up my style game. I could totally see me scrubbing sinks and toilets while rocking this cute sleeveless little denim number from T.J. Maxx, $15. Any bleach spills would only add character to the denim, right? The “Made in China” label did give me pause, but hey, I didn’t want something really nice for this deal. I’m not having tea with the Queen of Washington, D.C.

It literally fell apart in the washing machine after one wearing, one washing. You might point out that it was only $15, that it could even be considered a “disposable” dress at that price. But, take a deeper look, a longer view, at this picture with me.

Is this what we’ve become – a society that wears disposable clothing? How much sub-standard, cheap-ass clothing rots in our landfills? The buttons fell off, and we’re too busy or lazy to sew new ones on. It shrank after a few washings. We can’t even burn a lot of it since manmade fibers are so prevalent; it would be a gooey, melted mass in the garbage heap then.

I laughed at that scene in the “Idiocracy” movie in which the female from our time is presented with clothing of the future – polyester skirts and shirts peeled out of what looked like a Kleenex box, with hundreds more lying just beneath them. Not so far-fetched. Remember the “Units” craze from the late 80s?

(I recently read a hilarious story about Hawaii trying to pay a mainland state to dump its garbage there. Hey, they don’t want the $#*! in their paradise! Actually, their own landfills are near capacity. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/08/24/honolulu-waste-problem-ci_n_692279.html )

What is wrong with us that we keep buying the cheap, made-in-China crap and think happily “that’s exactly what I was looking for.” It’s kind of irresponsible environmentally even. If we paid a little more and demanded higher quality, things would last a little longer or have more re-use potential. How can we completely adjust our thinking process regarding money and buying decisions? It’s tough.

I’m going to try harder, though, to see every transaction as my “vote” to support or not support a policy, philosophy, or technology. I’m going to use my money as my voice to say “no, I don’t want to eat the genetically modified Franken-fish” or “I want the sturdier garden tool that will last 15 years, not two.” Just this week, my 16-year-old son pointed out to me that he drives a PLASTIC car.

I’m just saying, I’m going to try to put a lot more thinking into my thinking.

Chinese Backflips

Just read an article in a May 2010 issue of TIME celebrating the influx of Chinese business investment in America, more specifically “Companies from China are spending billions to build factories in the U.S. and creating new jobs for American workers.” Yes, you read that right. Just how much are we talking about? Five billion dollars’ worth in 2009; previous annual investment averaged $500 million.

Who wrote this and why is she so happy? Sheridan Prasso, who wrote The Asian Mystique: Dragon Ladies, Geisha Girls & Our Fantasies of the Exotic Orient, is considered an expert on All Things Asian. Fair enough.

But I’m not nearly as excited as she is, and I’d be glad to tell you why. Too much control on a national level. Strategically speaking, this could be disastrous.

1. China holds the biggest chunk of our national debt.
2. We love to buy “Made in China” crap because it’s cheap. I present you the Wal-Mart Model: higher quality, non-China suppliers have been or are being ran out of business because Americans have chosen crap over spending a few extra pennies. This also encompasses all the cheap-ass components our American manufacturers have chosen to use in their products.
3. We are now allowing Chinese entrepreneurs to build new and ACQUIRE existing non-profitable American factories. It would appear that China has made them non-profitable (with their notorious low-balling labor costs) and is now swooping in to “save” them in their desperate under-valued state.

Sound like a recipe for disaster? China is becoming our daddy in all ways that matter, economically. Our debtor, our boss, our mother’s breast milk, our daddy. Sorry to be so blunt. We owe them, we work for them, we depend on them for our substandard stuff. Maybe a little too much power held by our new Commie friends? Just a thought.

Maybe I’m a xenophobe, business is business, if we’re yoked together, no one can nuke the other, right? Let’s all join hands now and sing “Kumbaya” in Mandarin. And wracking my brain, I can’t think of anybody they’ve attacked in modern history.

I’m no China Expert; I’m just One Stoopid American. But knowing the very little I know about the Chinese Mindset, this is what I think. Americans are greedy and focused on the short-term gain. (But I can get the Chinese version 3¢ cheaper today!) Meanwhile, the Chinese concept of long-term spans generations…we hand over all power to them, willingly, without a shot ever fired, and they defeat us and our way of life the exact way we’ve defeated other countries – ECONOMICALLY.

And our government is helping them through tax credits and other business incentives (a state payroll tax credit of $1500 per employee!). Sometimes I think we’re so stoopid, we get everything we deserve. Theoretically, we could be paying them to take complete economic control over us.

Just what factories/ companies are we talking about here? Oh, a $1 billion plant in Corpus Christi making seamless pipe for oil drilling (makes us a little more slave-like in the whole big OIL picture, if that’s even possible), a wind-energy turbine plant/ wind farm in Nevada (another small vulnerability in the utility area), four factory acquisitions for machine tool-makers, under four different brands.

Of course, Rush Limbaugh followers rant about Chinese flags flying higher on the pole out front than the U.S. flag…which frustrates me. People, who gives a damn about what flags are flying, KEEP YOUR EYE ON THE MONEY! Another annoying distraction: the positive spin the media gives anyone who deighns to give us a dime today, pocketing dollars later. In Corpus Christi, they're throwing backyard barbecues to welcome their new neighbors.

Call me suspicious. I may not have to deal with the fall-out in my lifetime, but my sons will.

Read the Labels! Especially those that don’t look like they’re in Chinese…

My recipe calls for tilapia. The only tilapia for sale at the local Wal-Mart grocery store comes frozen in a bag, pretty cheap price, farm-raised…wait…does that say “China”???? Noooooooo! What do they think I am? Some kinda Stoopid American? I DO NOT want the frozen fish farm-raised in China!

An article on how clean and healthy that farm in China probably is…

http://www.mnn.com/earth-matters/energy/blogs/the-most-polluted-city-in-the-world-linfen-china

China: Home of 16 of the world’s 20 most polluted cities. More than half the rivers, one-third of the lakes, and 80-90% of the groundwater are polluted. Here’s a photo of a beautiful village called Linfen.