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Just stop. China as a manufacturing solution for anyone but the people of the region must cease. It is utterly inefficient to produce stuff far, far from wher

Just stop. China as a manufacturing solution for anyone but the people of the region must cease. It is utterly inefficient to produce stuff far, far from where it will be used. Spreading things out like this is balls. Lets start building again. If we're to get off this dust-ball, we have to learn to do things ourselves, again.

themitigating 4y ago
Isn't it just economics? How can a US company compete with the cost of labor?
- somesortofsystm 4y ago
  "Just economics", sure, its cheap to exploit China. That's why I'm saying: just, stop! It has to become consumer-preferred to have something cool be built locally. This won't happen until someone builds something cool this way.
- nforgerit 4y ago
  And how is the economics changing if you internalize social and environmental cost?
  - themitigating 4y ago
    Can you elaborate, I don't know what you mean
    - nforgerit 4y ago
      Well I'm calling bullshit on neoliberal free-trade ideology based on voodoo economics which just looks at simple measurable factors like "cost of labor" completely ignoring social cost (local unemployment, mass migration, social tensions, etc.) and ecological cost (pollution, climate crisis, etc.) which were commonly socialized (tax money) in case of a concrete crisis. Not a personal attack, sorry if it sounded like that.
dgacmu 4y ago
That's not necessarily true. Shipping (via ocean) of finished expensive small products is cheap and quite low carbon on a per device basis as long as you don't mind the delay. One of the reasons china is the place to manufacture is that the electronics manufacturing _inputs_ are now concentrated there, as is the know-how.
newyankee 4y ago
It also depends on the weight, volume and nature of the product (whether perishable)
amelius 4y ago
Would you rather spread all the pollution sources over the world as opposed to keeping them in one place (wherever that may be)?

themitigating 4y ago

Isn't it just economics? How can a US company compete with the cost of labor?

somesortofsystm 4y ago
"Just economics", sure, its cheap to exploit China. That's why I'm saying: just, stop! It has to become consumer-preferred to have something cool be built locally. This won't happen until someone builds something cool this way.
nforgerit 4y ago
And how is the economics changing if you internalize social and environmental cost?
- themitigating 4y ago
  Can you elaborate, I don't know what you mean
  - nforgerit 4y ago
    Well I'm calling bullshit on neoliberal free-trade ideology based on voodoo economics which just looks at simple measurable factors like "cost of labor" completely ignoring social cost (local unemployment, mass migration, social tensions, etc.) and ecological cost (pollution, climate crisis, etc.) which were commonly socialized (tax money) in case of a concrete crisis. Not a personal attack, sorry if it sounded like that.

dgacmu 4y ago

That's not necessarily true. Shipping (via ocean) of finished expensive small products is cheap and quite low carbon on a per device basis as long as you don't mind the delay. One of the reasons china is the place to manufacture is that the electronics manufacturing _inputs_ are now concentrated there, as is the know-how.

newyankee 4y ago

It also depends on the weight, volume and nature of the product (whether perishable)

amelius 4y ago

Would you rather spread all the pollution sources over the world as opposed to keeping them in one place (wherever that may be)?