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Comments

• [1] Glenn from Manhattan April 21, 2008 - 11:07AM

  Somehow liberal political people like those in NYC don't really care as much as conservatives around the rest of the country (i.e. the New Yorker's view across the Hudson River) about how China

  - censors news by simply not allowing in or out anyone to whatever village after they massacre protesters

  - uses prison labor to supply America's consumer wants and needs

  - has the worst corrupt communist politicians who get hugely paid off for every direct investment made by foreigners

  - purposely devalues its own currency in order to stamp out competition from other starving countries which would possibly compete with it to provide developed countries their finished products

  - many more

  
  
• [2] Corn Husker from New York City April 21, 2008 - 12:22PM

  I’ve stopped shopping at Wal-Mart ever since I saw the documentary The High Cost of Low Price. I’m now trying to entirely stop buying goods made in China. I wonder though, China has a massive population, how are these workers going to earn a living if they don’t work for long hours and low wages?

  
  
• [3] Mike from Bellport April 21, 2008 - 12:24PM

  Glenn-

  What are you talking about? Who says that? Where did you get your ideas about liberal political people?

  It's Republicans that say that shipping jobs offshore is OK, while having immigrants work here in the US is not.

  
  
• [4] Michael from Manhattan April 21, 2008 - 12:27PM

  Agreed on the misguided remarks about liberal response to China's human rights abuses. It's liberals who boycott Chinese goods and organize benefits for pro-Tibetan causes. I'm not aware of conservatives joining those initiatives but maybe they are, they're just being really low-key about it.

  Also, Jonathan Capehart, you rule! And you always wear really nice glasses.

  
  
• [5] RC April 21, 2008 - 12:28PM

  It seems to me that the guest is looking at this society as someone who was raised in a very comfortable Western Society. How is this any different than America's early days in industrialization.

  On balance, aren't the Chinese (I hate broad generalizations but..) better off now than they were under Mao?

  Won't they eventually move in the direction of the West as they continue to grow their economy and build a wealthy society?

  
  
• [6] Glenn from Manhattan April 21, 2008 - 12:33PM

  Mike,

  Globalization is here whether anyone likes it or not, sorry to have to let you in on that.

  So, our goods are going to be made somewhere else from now on, whether you or I like it or not. Its the liberal political people who somehow feel insulated in being able to criticize right wing regimes in human rights abuses, when there is a big communist elephant standing in the room.

  BTW, Google also conspired with the Chinese government to censor things. When will Google be the next Microsoft?

  
  
• [7] Glenn from Manhattan April 21, 2008 - 12:35PM

  Michael,

  Yes, conservatives do boycott Chinese goods also, I know a few. Some won't use google, or blogger or gmail because of that. But just because its not vocal, like a union square protest march, doesn't mean its not effective and just as meaningful. No?

  
  
• [8] Mike from Bellport April 21, 2008 - 12:38PM

  Glenn-

  Which liberal political people are you talking about? Are you saying that these liberal political people are in league with the Communists?

  What's your point about Google? What are you talking about?

  
  
• [9] Susan from Kingston, New York April 21, 2008 - 12:39PM

  Liberals boycott Walmart and Chinese products too!

  
  
• [10] tom from nyc April 21, 2008 - 12:40PM

  When I can buy a pair of pliers for 99 cents that is a benefit to me. On my way home I walk past half a dozen empty buildings where manufacturing has ceased. THis is not a benefit to us, it is a loss. I would rather pay more and have the jobs here. This situation is a HUGE LOSS TO U.S.

  
  
• [11] Michael from Manhattan April 21, 2008 - 12:40PM

  Agreed, boycotting Google's odious censorship is an admirable thing to do. But like I said, it's hard to know who's engaged in such low-key modes of protest. Admittedly, I don't watch Fox "News," but I just don't see much conservative hue and cry about human rights abuses in China, starting with the president, who seems far more concerned with China's strategic currency devaluation.

  
  
• [12] Julie from Hastings-on-Hudson April 21, 2008 - 12:48PM

  My NYT letter "Workers in China" (7/4/07)speaks to the problematic media coverage:

  "To the Editor: 'As Unrest Rises, China Broadens Workers' Rights' (front page, June 30) makes due note of American corporations' opposition to these initiatives. If implemented, however, such basic worker protections would seem to constitute a hopeful sign for American workers, given a world economy characterized by rampant worker exploitation in China and elsewhere. It's no wonder American unions are active in China -- from attempts to 'bore within' the official government union to advising dissident Chinese organizers."

  
  
• [13] Glenn from Manhattan April 21, 2008 - 12:59PM

  Mike and Michael,

  Fox News doesn't represent the views of each and every 'conservative' person in America. You two seem to polarize all conservatives into neo-conservatives. I guess maybe I shouldn't polarize all liberals into Communists then either.

  However there still exists the difference between liberal and conservative in that the former, the more polarized it is, feels that a strong central government is the solution to all the world's problems. Conservatives, I believe, at least the Main Street conservatives, feel that individuals have the responsibility to act correctly, and that responsibility comes from one's innate sense of right and wrong.

  
  
• [14] Mike from Bellport April 21, 2008 - 01:17PM

  Glenn,

  That is Republican bull that they love to spout about big tax and spend Democrats. Republicans over the last 7 years built the biggest Government ever known to mankind and what they cut in Government jobs, they parlayed out to contractors, in dubious biddings, costing more than they did before. Don't buy into this idea that Republicans just want Government out of our lives. It's just what they say, not what they do.

  As Susan says, liberals boycott Walmart and Chinese goods too.

  
  
• [15] Amy from Manhattan April 21, 2008 - 01:31PM

  I was hoping to hear more about whether & how companies that sell products made in China can know about the environmental & labor conditions those products are made in. I've noticed that even eco-product catalogs have a lot of items made in China. I finally called one of them, & their rep said they had no way to influence or even know whether, e.g., the energy-saving light bulbs they offer to Western consumers are made in factories that spew coal dust into the air & poison their workers. There's even a "Buddha machine" (!) that basically plays atmospheric music to relax listeners. And yes, it's made in China. Wonder what Tibetan Buddhists think of that?

  
  
• [16] Michael from Manhattan April 21, 2008 - 01:52PM

  Glenn, no reasonable person would presume that Fox "News" (the term merits quotation marks in this instance) stands for each and every conservative person. But as a general barometer of conservative concerns, it cannot be beat. And I don't hear about Sean Hannity getting steamed about human rights abuses in China. Nor do I hear "president" Bush getting too upset about it either, as evidenced by his intent to attend the 2008 Olympics on the grounds that he is a self-described "sports fan." The entire issue is largely absent from the conservative radar, and that's just a demonstrable fact.