America’s favorite pasttime: buying cheap crap

by Chris Piel, The State Press

Unless you have been living in the pool or spent all your time huddled around your friend’s iPhone this summer, you probably heard about the recent attacks against American consumers.

First, they struck our beloved pet population with poisonous dog food. As if killing man’s best friend wasn’t enough, the assault continued with poisonous food additives, children’s toys coated with lead-based paint and defective tires seemingly designed to come apart at high speeds.

The transgressions go on and on. These guys are better at disrupting the American way of life than Al-Qaeda and gay marriage combined. And exactly who are they? No, they are not some sophisticated transnational terrorist organization. They are our friends in red, the Chinese.

OK, OK seriously. There is no conspiracy aimed at the demise of consumers, but it is clear that products “MADE IN CHINA” pose a safety threat to this nation. But before you get your polyester Gap panties from China in a bunch and boycott Louis Vuitton knock offs, understand this: nothing is going to change.

When the United States is importing well over $200 billion in goods from China every year, it is no wonder that a few products are going to require a recall. It doesn’t take a FDA official to know that Chinese imports are manufactured cheaply and are prone to being defective.

Despite these highly publicized incidents, Chinese imports will not falter. In fact, June was a record high month for the Chinese trade surplus. All of this is for good reason too.

Just ask Sara Bongiorni, author of “A Year With Out ‘Made In China’: One Family’s True Life Adventure in the Global Economy.”

Over a year prior to the Chinese imports scare, Bongiorni and her family decided to abstain from purchasing Chinese-made products simply out of curiosity.

Bongiorni, whose book release coincided with the recent scares, had this to say: “It is impossible to live anything approximating a normal, ordinary consumer life without Chinese merchandise.”

It is a simple fact of economics and human nature that cheap stuff is just too enticing to resist. But this does not have everyone, including the Chinese government, convinced. On June 12, the former State Food and Drug Administrator of China, Zheng Xiaoyu, was executed by a firing squad following his corruption conviction by China’s Intermediate People’s Court.

But make no mistake; the execution of Xiaoyu is not the fulfillment of ancient Confucian code. It is a purely economic maneuver, which ensures that China is serious about maintaining its status as the world’s predominant exporter of crap.

China will not remain the primary exporter of goods to America because they produce exceptional products or because China will radically reform its regulatory procedures.

Americans will continue to purchase Chinese products for the same reason we cannot resist “All You Can Eat” buffets and super-sized value meals; we cannot turn our backs to a good deal when we see one.

Screw baseball, good deals are America’s favorite past time. So this summer, turn off the ball game and get back to Wal-Mart for some great buys made possible by cheap foreign labor.