First off Cary,, I'm glad you found your new Harbor Freight.
The issue of "chinese junk" and such is a more complex issue than just what is perceived.
Let's go back to post WWII, when "Made in Japan" was considered cheap. Many Vets & their families refused to buy stuff so marked. Principals. But as time passed,, we have discovered that despite the horrors of WWII & the Japanese we fought & defeated, we have overcome (mostly) the attitude of "cheap junk" from them. Nowadays,, lots of good quality products do come from Japan.
Yet,, there still an underlying feeling of how they lost face in defeat,, and as such, they have worked hard at trying to beat America economically.
The same thing in general is happening with us & China. While we never really fought on Chinese lands,, they were a big part of the Korean War. They too have an underlying attitude of losing face & wanting to beat us economically.
And as Americans,, we've witnessed decades of politicians & clueless minded people saying; "We need to get over the war & move on. We need to embrace them as friends & help them etc etc etc!" So we spent a lot of money "helping" them rebuild a lot of stuff, and also encouraging them to build products for us to buy.
That goes hand in hand with people always wanting to buy stuff cheaply. We are all guilty of it. We want an item, and if brand "A" is cheaper than brand "B" we OFTEN do not look at where it was made. We just want cheap.
Add in how many politicians have been made rich by working deals with Japan & China,, to where they are allowed to import stuff & sell stuff here easily.
Now let's throw in the cost of building products here in America.
Decades ago,, we had people working hard for low wages, children working in dangerous places, poor working conditions, & many other very negative work related things.
Labor unions were formed to make things better.
And they did eventually.
Next,, we got government regulations via an agency called "OSHA!"
Between the unions, and OSHA,, goods made in the USA cost a lot more to make than if made in China or Japan. And many USA manufacturers have found they can go to these countries, (as well as other countries such as Mexico) build a plant, train the local workers,, WITHOUT OSHA, or unions, or such strict oversight, so much cheaper than here.
Then the companies & those politicians or other rich people get richer.
It's because we as people want cheaper stuff, and they can make bigger profits by using other countries DIFFERENT approaches to work forces than we have here.
Other countries do not have a Constitution.
They do not allow unions.
They do not have such strict oversight as OSHA has here.
And they do not care if workers get paid very little, work long hours, or in unsafe conditions. Because they also do not value life or look at it the same way we do here.
We the people have allowed this to happen.
We the people pushed for unions.
We the people want OSHA to defend us if work conditions are unsafe.
We the people demand higher pay, better benefits, and other things not available in other countries.
We the people have allowed the politicians to sell us out to other countries.
We the people did not stop the attitudes of "helping" these defeated countries by those who may feel the need, without looking at the bigger picture.
And,, We the people are being fought against & defeated economically by these other countries.
Basically a "death by a thousand tiny cuts!"
Sadly,, We the People have failed. The only way it'll ever (hopefully) return to a better place would be a very harsh & horrible thing. A 3rd world war. We'd have to go to war with China, & other countries such as Mexico, & even Japan (again.) And they have the support of Russia. Which,, BTW, has also been getting similar treatment of "help" & such from the USA.
I doubt that most of us here on this Forum will ever see it,, but I predict an eventual major war if it ever gets to the point of real Americans revolting against such an economical attack. But, by then,, it'll probably be too late, and we'll never have a strong Constitution again. And it's entirely possible for the USA to be destroyed. It happened to the Roman Empire. And other once "great" countries suffered defeat or division if you study history.
Why?
Because of the people.
In many ways,, the USA is mirroring the Roman Empire.
It used to be the biggest world power. They built coliseums, they conquered many smaller countries. They lived in excess. They had games in the coliseums. Gladiators were worshiped. People reveled in such things. It took decades,, but they fell to ruin,, and it toppled from within.
We have been the #1 world power for a spell. We have built Sports arenas, (coliseums,) & games within, (football, basketball, baseball, soccer, etc.) We have athletes elevated to worship status & wealth. And people revel in such activities. We live in excess,, in so many areas. We have Americans who feel it's "beneath them" to do manual labor, or work hard. Yet, they demand high pay, and expect things be given to them. (Welfare, stimulus money, free health care, etc.)
About all that's left is for us to "fall from within" as the Roman empire did.
And we the people did it to ourselves.
