Blame China

(originally posted somewhere else June 22, 2007)

A few days ago, there was an article in the International Herald Tribune about the high number of recalled products manufactured in China. The article mentions the Thomas the Train recall, the pet food scandal a few months ago, and also some recent issues with pharmaceuticals and toothpaste. According to the article, "China today is responsible for about 60 percent of all product recalls, compared with 36 percent in 2000." The rest of the article discusses inadequate oversight both in the US and in China, quotes a bunch of people saying how it's just unbelievable and unacceptable, and even manages to blame President Bush a bit.

But really, who is to blame here? Is it China? Sure! The toys were made in their country, in their factories, by their citizens.

Hmm. But they're making them for mostly American companies, so is it their fault? Sure! When they outsource their production to save money, the consumer should still have some assurance and confidence that the products are going through a quality control process that assures safety - especially for a vulnerable population segment like children.

But, isn't it also the fault of the American government? Sure! The government should enforce safety standards as well, by imposing them on the corporations and demanding that they comply and show proof of compliance regularly. Corporations should pay for all of the testing, but the inspectors should be federal employees or members of a non-profit, unbiased organization. Consequences for non-compliance should be swift and severe. There's really no reason in 2007 for there to be leaded paint in anything, much less a children's toy. This isn't a gray area.

OK, so it's China's fault, the company's fault, and the American government's fault.

Except ... not really. If we really want to break it down, whose fault is it? Before you answer, look around your house and pick up a few items, included appliances, toys, dishes, knick knacks, and see if there's a little "Made In" sticker somewhere ....

Mmm hmmm. Maybe those poor employees laboring away in sweatshops aren't the only ones who will suffer because of our need to spend constantly on low priced, flimsy crap ... and because of our demands that corporations constantly set records for revenue and profits. Maybe karma is real.

And I'll conclude with this, a personal anecdote from a friend when we were discussing this article earlier ... enjoy:

When I was in Kyrgyzstan, we met a sociologist from Texas A&M who was doing a study on the old nuclear test sites in Kazakhstan and the people who made their living scavenging metal off the old sites. Apparently there was a considerable quantity of resellable metal out on those sites that was free for the taking...if you didnt mind the fact that it was RADIOACTIVE. Day in and day out they were going in, grabbing the metal, driving it down to china and selling it to the Chinese, who were scrap-metalling it and recycling it, with only a requisite "this didnt come from a banned site did it?" question, with the inevitable "no sir, of course not!" in response. From what she could tell, once it was bought it just got dumped into the general metal recycling process, where it would end up as toasters, electronics, toys, jewelry, etc, and guess who China's numero uno client for all those lovely products is...