From slave labor, we as a nation and as individuals have funded for decades, to a manufactured pandemic that succeeded in undermining the effectiveness of freedom based governments and crippled the global economy...to violent and widespread religious persecution of Christians and Muslims...trafficking of fentanyl into our nation...overt disbursement of spy balloons across our airspace...and finally their involvement in propping up Russia to defeat Ukraine... when is enough finally going to be ENOUGH?
Our dependence on China didn't happen overnight and our separation from her won't either. We have become not just reliant on China's products for necessities like medications, vital technology, tools, clothing and PPE...at the same time we've become addicted to the cheap tchotchkes we use to decorate our homes and yards, the small toys and gadgets we purchase for a few moments of happiness before they ultimately end up at second hand stores or in the landfills.
The first step in taking the China challenge, which I've been doing personally since the spy balloon incident, is the most practical, albeit not easy. It eliminates the non-essential "Made In China" purchase. Whenever I am shopping, when I start to choose an item that is not a necessity, it is just something I like or want, I check the label to make sure it is not made in China. Sadly, it usually is...and it is very difficult to put back. But I put it back. I put it back for the slaves who made it. I put it back for the innocent Ukraine people slaughtered by imperial forces. I put it back for the Muslims in internment camps. I put it back for everyone who died or has lost loved ones to Covid. I put it back for all the lives lost to fentanyl. I picture that spy balloon drifting across our nation and imagine that next time it's filled with poisonous gas. I put it back because to buy it is suicide. To buy it is slavery. To buy it is genocide. To buy it is to become complicit with evil.
It's important to draw the distinction here between China and Chinese people and Americans of Chinese descent. In the context of this message, I am only talking about China as a government, not as a person. I have no ill will nor should anyone toward the Chinese people. And it should go without saying that our fellow Americans whose families come from China also have nothing to do with this international crisis.
Weening ourselves away from the necessities is going to be a more complicated process that involves more manufacturing here at home and within our ally nations along with the intentional acceptance that things will cost more. Individual Americans can and should become a part of this process. Pressure your local and state representatives to enact tax incentives for domestic manufacturing. Send letters to corporate leaders from your favorite stores like Target, Wal-Mart, Tractor Supply, etc. and tell them how you feel. Let them know you are reading labels and avoiding products made in China. I'd like to see shame labeling similar to those on cigarette labels, alcohol labels, and everything known to the State of California to cause cancer labels. They should be highly visible on every product made in China, necessity or not, and should read something like this...this product came from a country known to use slave labor and bio warfare.
When we have finally managed to become independent from China with all of our necessary commodities, then we should impose a China tax. This would be a tax on every item made in China that would bring it up to the cost it would be were it made somewhere else in a free market where workers are paid and protected. This would level the playing field and dissuade our major retail chains from buying China because there would no longer be an economic advantage to it. Every dollar from the China tax should go toward pharma manufacturing at home, PPE manufacturing at home, technological materials like batteries and computer parts...you got it...all made in America.
It will take a while. It won't be easy. We can do it. Take the China Challenge.
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