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China & The Decline In Quality (And Soon In Profits)
Submitted by Charles Hugh-Smith of OfTwoMinds blog,
Automation poses an insurmountable obstacle to China's full employment and spells the end of Corporate America's vast skimming operation based on low wages and zero-regulatory costs in China.
The general decline in the quality of tools and consumer goods predates the emergence of China as the workshop of the world, but the decline has gathered momentum with China's dominance of manufacturing.
Young people have little to no experience of tools and consumer goods that function for decades; today, everything that isn't disposable is expected to fail/break within a few years. Whatever doesn't break must be upgraded or tossed as uncool.
This is partly the result of planned obsolescence: designing the device or appliance to fail or become obsolete within a few years so the consumer has to replace it.
But planned obsolescence is not the entire problem; the quality of goods has declined dramatically due to shoddy manufacturing, poor quality control and low-quality materials. This trend has accelerated as production moved to China.
A few decades ago, things built in the U.S.A. and elsewhere were built to last: not just tools and appliances, but electronics: My 31-Year Old Apple Mac Started Up Fine After 15 Years in a Box (February 28, 2015)
Correspondent Mark G. has been sharing his experience with machine tools that were made in the U.S.A. 60 or 70 years ago that are still going strong.
By his reckoning, table saws sold in the U.S. in the early 1960s--tools that are still working today--were only 10% to 15% more than current table saws (when adjusted for inflation) that are made of plastic and inferior components that won't last a decade, never mind 60 years.
Here are Mark's comments on comparing table saws made in the early 1960s and those sold today:
Comparing tablesaws is problematic. The reason is even consumer level American made table saws in 1960 used heavy machined iron castings, structural steel, sheet steel and ZAMAC die castings in all parts. My Magna 10" table saw is a classic example of that era. Far lower grade plastic and stamped metal contraptions are sold now. Devices of that low a grade simply weren't on the market before.
Regarding Do-it-yourself: Popular Mechanics had run a 1950s article on building a Delta Unisaw style table saw from plywood and parts machined on a metal lathe. The classified ads of Popular Science and Popular Mechanics were full of DIY shop tool plan sets for $5 or so.
The key take-away is that tools and appliances of the current low quality simply weren't available in the Made-in-USA era. In a competitive market, i.e. one that isn't dominated by cartels and quasi-monopolies, competition would drive out low-quality goods designed to fail or made to fail by default.
But with virtually everything made in China now, competition is no longer about quality--it's only about price. Where's the competition in quality when everything is made in China? There isn't any. the quality is low regardless of the brand on the device, tool or appliance.
The life-cycle costs in cash and wasted resources for poor-quality goods are horrendous. What is the total life-cycle costs of low-quality goods that soon end up at the dump? If a table saw (for example) costs 10% less than a table saw in 1965, but the new tool fails in 10 years while the one made in 1965 is still working fine, what is the total cost of having a functioning table saw for 50 years?
Five new table saws at 90% of the original cost equals 450% higher life-cycle costs for the poorly made modern tool.
The profits from fabricating low-quality goods flow to the Western owners and buyers, not the Chinese workers. If you watch China Blue, a documentary on a clothing manufacturer in China, you will see a Western buyer squeezing the factory owner to wholesale blue jeans for $4 each that the Western buyer will retail for $40 each. Meanwhile, the factory workers (mostly teenage girls) go months without pay and are penalized if they can't work crushing slave-labor hours.
The horrendous human costs of working distant factory jobs for low pay is explored in the documentary Last Train Home.
I have explored the dependence of U.S. corporate profits on cheap goods made in China many times: Trade and "Trade War" with China: Who Benefits? (October 5, 2010)
Mark G. compared the modest price reductions in shoddy goods made today and asked where the savings end up. Here is his answer:
It is crystal clear the slight cost reductions were obtained by reducing the material specifications and much corner cutting in the manufacturing processes. Where then did the large additional costs saved by the labor and regulatory arbitrage of the China Trade go? We both know the answer to this. See soaring income inequality.
A key observation is the Chinese import retail prices are not as cheap as they should be. Equally clearly, improvements in manufacturing technology and automation since the late 1950s should have enabled such production to stay onshore with production cost cuts and a retention or even increase in quality and specifications. In many instances the 1950s production was coming out of line shaft powered factories. Instead of manufacturing process modernization the movement to China and offshore has been accompanied by process stagnation and even a reversion to more labor intensive hand work methods.
The rise of cheap automation and robotics dooms mass human labor in China and everywhere else. This poses an insurmountable obstacle to China's full employment and spells the end of Corporate America's vast skimming operation based on low wages and zero-regulatory costs in China.
China Builds City's First All-Robot Factory Replacing Human Workers
The era of reaping stupendous profits from low-quality goods produced by low-cost labor in a lax anything-goes regulatory system are ending, not as a result of policy changes but as a result of far deeper structural changes. Anyone thinking China, Inc. and Corporate America will emerge unscathed is living in Fantasyland.
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Build it cheap and they will cum
It was
Hong Kong
then
Taiwan
then
Korea
then.................China
We're ahead of them in cheaply built houses for the subprime masses. The Mesican swarm comes to the site and throws up a crappy house every few days. Knotty wood, poor framing, shitty foundation, etc.
I am not sure how long these houses will last, esp the ones built in the last 8 years.
This argument about "cheap quality" tools in our modern age, while I agree with lots of it, completely ignores the advances in materials science that are being utilized to create these tools.
For instance, in 1960, picking up and using a corded circular saw was something only men could do reliably as such tools were heavy and dangerous. Now those same tools, while they don't last as long, are 1/5th the weight and cordless. In the 1960s, everything was built out of hard, heavy metals. That's fine for long term reliability as those materials had known failure modes for hundreds of years. The new materials we're using now have lesser-known and compounded failure modes. It will take time for reliability to come back with modern tools made from more modern materials.
Give reliability time to catch up please, and while that's happening, enjoy your portable CNC machines, portable 3D printers, etc...
The building I work in installed thousands of efficient fluorescent lights made in China. They started catching fire from the day installed. At great expense they removed every one and replaced them. The cost was over $250K. They all went to the landfill. The landfill is the legacy of twenty years of consuming low-quality garbage from China.
My new replacement auto parts are shit, the nuts and bolts strip out upon installation, and they look like they won't last a month. I need to fix the old part and replace it.
BTW I asked for American made parts and was told there aren't any..., at any cost. (we're so phucked)
I gave the posting a one. Steel was cheap back then so they used lots of it. I have a shopsmith from 1956 that is not too heavy but most things from the 50's are too heavy.
I had a typewriter. I much prefer a computer printer. They are far cheaper to buy than a typewriter.. I have no faith in his 90% of the 50's cost nonsense and you really can't compare anyway.
I have bought many replacement parts from China that work great. That is one reason their stuff outsold the USA stuff that also works but at a higher price.
You should better ask which genius decided to buy thousands of fluorescent lights, without beforehand buying 20 and see how they run for a year.
Depends on what you want and understanding what 'quality' actually means. Several years ago I bought an Atlas lathe built in 1961 and a Clausing vertical mill built in 1964 at an auction at White Sands. Both are massive iron monsters with extremely high accuracy and with just minor tune-up perform very well and both has been upgraded to full CNC. There is still good stuff being made, but you have to search for it......
That is a strawman argument. Most cordless tools while of very good quality, simply cannot go toe to toe with a corded tool of same nature. I seriously doubt that you could built a dozen houses with cordless tools before they begin to fail. You can't show me a cordless circular saw that can match a cordless circular saw simply because cordless tools are not designed for that kind of wear and tear.
Another problem with tools (hand) is a man's inherent compulsive nature to have a matching set. If a wrench or screwdriver breaks, the replacement tool, even from Sears Craftsman line will not match and the odd tool out will irritate a man to the point where he will buy a new set just to have them match. Of course, the latter argument is from my individual point of view.
I wasn't sold on cordless until I used them in the 18 volt li-ion version. The dewalt heavy pro series, while a little expensive for Joe Average, is awesome. I've pounded literally 10's of thousands of screws into metal and wood. The drill, with the concrete setting, works like a charm for light stuff.
I've gotta say, they're good.
But if you're gonna screw red iron, you need the DW268 corded.
But the cordless are getting much better. the 24 volt Dewalt circular saw is sweet.
It'll do the 2x4's and plywood all day with a fast recharge.
•?•
V-V
I have, and still use, a 1948 Skilsaw "worm-drive" circular saw. My grandfather bought it new for just over $100 (granted, a lot of money in 1948) and it served him well building houses for his entire life. I watched as my father built houses, sheds and decks with the same saw. And now I use it nearly every weekend. It's still running the original 12-amp motor and the only maintenance has been blades, brushes, a cord or ten, and gear oil. Is it heavy? Hell yes! But that weight helps in making straight cuts.
Can you imagine any of the "power tools" available at HD or LOW today lasting 70 years, including 50 years of daily use?
Well, a lot of 'Pr0n' is free, so there's that...
Most of those are made of cheap plastic now too ;)
Regardless if an item is made in China by hand , or made in the USA by a robot, the American worker has no job.
Deflation is coming
Since the robots do not simply appear out of thin air, why not go to work for the companies that build and service the robots? There's a pretty big supply chain there too.
Well, because robots actually pretty much make themselves...
Probably there's a chance to get a work picking parts when Foxconn robots start jumping from the ceiling.
Americans WILL NOT buy quality. I know this for a fact because I run a business. Americans say they want quality, but they won't pay for it.
Two items, a couple bucks difference. The more expensive item is of higher quality - 95% of Americans will go straight for the cheapest price, even though the product is shoddily made.
US Companies therefore have two options: 1) go out of business for lack of sales or 2) have their products made in China using cheap labor and cheap materials.
"THEY" are not shipping your jobs overseas. "YOU" are by the purchasing decisions you make.
+100
I'm so sick of listening the the folks whine about cheap shit..., then drive across town to shop WalMart.
what do YOU do to fight FED derived inflation? Bite the bullet and pay thru the nose?
It's everywhere.
Just got back from the store...hot dogs are beginning to resemble brown cigarettes
I have 2 1960's Bridgeport mills for a home shop that are older than me and will live longer than me
There's no recurring revenue in building things that last but at the same time it's a complete waste of energy and resources to build junk
"The rise of cheap automation and robotics dooms mass human labor in China and everywhere else."
I'm not given to alarmism, but this is something people should indeed be made acutely aware of. The issue isn't limited to blue-collar jobs, either. Software with recursive self-learning capabilities can eventually come to replace 80% of all jobs in the service sectors of the industrialized nations. This software presently exists, and is under constant development.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t4kyRyKyOpo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=czLI3oLDe8M
Very very true. I am currently developing software for editorial teams that will allow a team of 1 to accomplish what currently requires a team of 1 + 4 or 5 junior editors. If you can accurately describe your job, you can count on the fact that it won't be done by people for long.
We Harbor Freighted some folks
Some of those tools are sheer garbage. China's standards for high end steel are a joke.
China is no longer a cheap place to manufacturer...if its a legit company...but a very cheap place to copy crap and steal your stuff if they want to..
Yup you talk to anyone who is from China here in the states about buying say Software and they laugh at you " you buy software "
We are not begging yet no matter how expansive things get or how worse things may look, they want us begging for change and we are not there yet.
Dewitt Vice Grips, Channel Lock pliers all 55 years old. Craftsman sockets 70 years old, 1998 Accord (300,000 miles).
Fucking computers, 10 in the last 16 years.
I am so tired of shit not working, not being servicable, and being built with barely acceptable materials that I purchase very little now.
FYI, I just saw a medical kit yesterday (infusion setup) with the big old Made in China stamp on it.
Can't wait till I need one.
pods
Couldn't agree more. I now understand these guys that buy two old refrigerators of the same model, two old cars of the same model, kirby vacuums etc. You can not only save a incredible amount of money that way over a lifetime but you also preserve some independence. Unfortunately they have been shipping our older quality goods to China to be melted down and then they return to the states as piss-poor quality sheet metal.
If you have to buy new and you can't get quality why bother.
Looking at buying a tractor for the homestead (older model preferred) but she still doesn't seem to understand I want two of the same model.
Standard Disclaimer: Spare Parts.
Only people who are not engineers will fail to understand that the extra cost of manufacturing items more durable than their useful life is a cost whose elimination will increase value.
Engineer here. People that are not engineers or who do not function at the high level that someone like, say, you and I, i.e. not engineers, will also fail to understand not only the things that you and I understand on a completely different level, but they also fail to understand how people such as our selves are able to take complicated workings and ideas and break them down to the most efficient and simplest-to-understand designs and explanations, thus making them easy enough and clear enough for even the most thick headed and incapable folks that simply don't have the capacity for cutting through all the doublespeak and mumbo jumbo that often permeates our culture, rendering people like us the sole purveyors of clarity and simplicity on a national and indeed, global, possibly universal level, leading to a total breakdown in the ability to speak and write clearly. Engineers. You'd thank us for us if you were anywhere near as impressive as I am.
I am not an engineer and I 'understand' perfectly what you and the original poster suggest... Why? Because it doesn't take an 'engineer' to understand some basics - like logic and common sense. After that, the math quite elegantly finishes the equation --
Engineer here and you sound like a blowhard...the kind I routinely and for big $ go behind and fix shit for because they under or overestimated the size or complexity of the simple problem they turned into a complete clusterfuck.
While people who are not engineers often missunderstand or misallocate their grievances in a product, process, or automation, the mentality shown above is precisely why most will just shrug their shoulders and say "fucking engineers"
Quit giving the rest of us a bad name Narsasistic Fuckwad
Engineers were some of the worst members of the Party in Soviet Russia. Take the corruption of science, add the elitism of industrial management and you have the perfect recipe for reducing humans to machines.
As those comments above suggest it seems little different in America.
Don't lump us all together as a group...we aren't all assholes
So no one here understands sarcasm unless the comment has a '/s'. I thought even an engineer could see the joke.
I also took americanreality's comment as a great parody of the previous post.
The folks here have become very, very touchy..,
and thin skinned.
Only people who are not engineers will fail to understand that the extra cost of manufacturing items more durable than their useful life is a cost whose elimination will increase value.
LOL, Value added manufacturing.
The gas range in my kitchen is an O'Keefe & Merritt from the 1940's. It's a beauty, looks like a post-war Buick, and after millions of cycles in decades of use, those gas valves work as smoothly and reliably as the day they were made. It would be a giant step backwards to"update" it with a new model.
The circuit board on a new gas range will last 5-10 years if you're lucky.
You are the optimist...
I bought a Frigidaire gas stove/oven, 4 burner .... new for $125 .... on sale at Commercial Mexicana .... it was so light .... I walked it up the stairs of my beach chalet .... in the box .... the oven door has a window .... the burners are super efficient and easy to clean .... stainless steel top .... and a two piece grill (?) to slide the pots around on .... the only problem is .... it slides across the floor too easy .... when I sweep behind it .... I may put some rubber suction cups under it !
Maintain your fire insurance.
Back on New Years eve 2012 my friends and I gathered for a party and I sat across from a guy I just met who was from Finland. As we indulged he shared how his company was involved in placing hugh robotic machinery in place throughout China. I had completely forgotten about that conversation and now realise just how extensive his work was and just how excited he as an engineer was in developing this revolutionary workplace.
He also told me he made 'boatloads of money'.
I also believe he has no regrets.
Once you go robotic , we could easily do it in the USA
Very few jobs produced , but it's something
The problem with Capitalism .... it produces leisure time, abundance, services .... like no other system can ! sarc
Socialists are mortified .... that Capitalism .... caught a second breath .... with China ! LOL
I have my grandfather's Delta/Rockwell tablesaw with a new Biesmeyer fence, new blade and motor belt.
Same goes for his 4" jointer (a bit small by today's standards). The knives on that unit can shave hair off your arm when handheld.
Yeah but... Can they shave the peach fuzz off that fine ass...?
Careful.
That cold steel gives me goosebumps.
Another anti-China post (Is Tyler on Soros payrole?) Yeh, China makes cheap shit to sell to the Yanks, so what, I bought a pair of Nike last year (made in U.S) and guess what? They're falling apart now. I guess China has always made shit things not built to last...like the Great wall or the terracotta Army, eh?
For me there's only one U.S. product I would stand by, something of absolute quality...and that is Timberland boots, IMHO the BEST boots money can buy...guess what, the last ones I bought ($300) said Made in Indonesia on them??
Don't the three richest men in the U.S drive German cars? I guess them boys don't know shit about quality products eh?
Fuck off, fuckin moron....
Timberland used to make good stuff.
The last pair of boots I bought, the soles delaminated within a year.
Fuck Timberland and their outsourced crap.
Red Wing (the models made and sourced in America) and Belleville are the only boots I buy.
Danner are also made in America but pricey.
Vasque now makes all their boots in China. I've told them to go pound sand.
Sad state of affairs in this country.
Thorogood? (not George)
+1 for the tip and the George Thorogood reference.
Firstly Bunghole, I like that ass pic...now that right there is made in the U.S.A
Secondly, for you three downvoters, go and suck the cum out ya mothers ass, that was definitley made by some U.S. big, black cock...Good stuff (So your mother said!)
U.S.A U.S.A U.S.A
You fucking cum stains on the preface of humanity...
You mad bro?
Careful..., he's a real tough guy..., when his mom isn't around.
Yep.
Keen makes those nice sandals for the beach or river walking and hiking. Oregon company. A relative gave me an almost new pair. The sole and heel become unglued just like Nike golf shoes due to cheap ass glue. My guess is Keen is a stealth Nike company. The sandals are expensive and they use such shitty glue.
I am sure it is all China shit too. Some of New Balance stuff is still made in America.
Keens USED to be made in OR, for the last 10 years or so all made in CHINA. Free Enterprise, or something.
Swedish woman singer really puts it all in perspective, it is interspersed with news footage of riots in Sweden. This is culled from 2 live performances. Poor America, Poor Sweden...
Ode To A Dying People
Wearing a 15 year old pair of Danner boots at this moment actually.
Resoled them with Vibram 100's. Wouldnt trade these for anything.
Best $250 I ever spent.
The next step up is Wesco boots (boots.com) and a good pair of those will set you back $500. $650 gets you a custome set however you want and literally made for your feet.
Trying to decide on those or more silver. Honestly it's a tough choice.
How much did you pay for those Nike's? I get the $12 Walmart sneakers which can last from 6 months to a year depending on mileage. If they wear out I get another pair with the added benefit the old ones double as a dog chew toy.
As for German cars, I am currently running an experiment to see just how long I can keep my 2000 BMW running. 247,000 miles, Original cost $42K, repairs to date $15K. So over 15 years, $57K not counting gas. How much would I have had to spent and how many cars would I have had if I bought American? 3? 4?
I watch for deals on Academy Sports Shops web site on sneakers. They have their own brand BCG. I bought a pair of those and Asics for about $44. The BCGs were $9.99 usually $24.99 to 19.99. The Asics were onsale for $32.98. The BCGs are not as good as Asics and will wear out faster but they are not bad.
Don't go too cheap on shoes because you need to take care of your feet.
BMW? Just keep changing the oil and filter. Flush the radiator and brake lines every few years too. Does it need a timing belt or chain replacement every 80,000 miles? It will last forever.
Many years ago when I was young, I tried to buy a BMW 2002 from an old German-American guy. It had 80,000 miles and I was concerned. He thought I was an ass. At the time, he was right.
Old Mercedes 280 diesels will go 1 million miles without a problem.
"The rise of cheap automation and robotics"
Where is this cheap automation & robotics...and cheap programming & integrating... and cheap maintenance?
The payback in the USA for such equipment is not easily justified. China, where annual medium income is $4750, is precisely where developed countries send manufacturing to avoid investing in production lines. Compare human operator at $4750 annually to ~$30,000 robot + ~$30,000 integration (not including adding tech staff & maintenance). If equipment can be paid back by improved productivity, it'll stay in the developed world for the abundance of skilled technicians.
Yep, cheap shit is everywhere. High end or low end, doesn't really matter. It's all junk. Recent purchases, Krup toaster, doesn't toast evenly and is poorly made crap. Nike 5.0 shoes, crap, manufacturing defect mismatched sole and upper. Windows 8.1, don't even get me started. Dialing back on purchases to avoid the frustration. Thought only I had concluded that stuff is made poorly.
Time to market is the highest priority for the MBA inculcated upper management. Reliability & durability are tested on the backs of paying customers without shame. Examples include: PC/laptops, software, automatic transmissions (don't buy from a platform that isn't into its third year of production), etc.
Nike makes total crap. New Balance still makes some shoes in America. Asics shoes are much better than Nike's cheap shit.
Also avoid adidas shoes. Fall apart in weeks.
Corporations have no moral guidance available to them and therefore they are always doomed to failure.
Amen to this post! Junk stores everywhere, it's dispicable. I make/ buid my own like crazy. Making pantry room now.. oak molding, $3.50 for 3/4" linear foot at local sawmill.. stuff is amazing.
I did hardwood floors, bought the unfinished, red Oak, installed, sanded, stained, 3 coats oil based poly, came out amazing ..and will last my lifetime.
The unfinisehd had to be specially ordered.. all tehy wanted to sell me was the engineerd stuff with teh veneer over the BS wood. Give me a break!
Labor on your own account folks.
+100
If you can lay the wood floor then the staining and urethane is the easy part. The engineer stuff is shit by comparison. That REAL oak will last forever.
I buy my tools used from Garage sales and have never had a problem.
ebay as well. I'm amazed at some of the quality compared to today. Occasionally I get a buyer who doesn't even know what they are selling... Apparently there is no market for good tools because there is nobody left who knows how to use them.
Bought a toaster...which lasted about 2 months......when i called the MFG / didtributor, he said, cut off the plug and send it to me. I did, and received a brand new toaster by UPS. They weren't interested in the toaster, or why it failed ....cheaper to just replace itwith another piece of shit.
(i can remember when japaneese products were considered to be crap....but they worked hard to build better)
Tools are disposable now..unfortunatly...Snap on keeps their quality...I think Crafstman has quit the lifetime guarantee....they used to be good..electric saws and drills..all junk now...
I've been opining on this for YEARS - nice to see a decently written article about it.
DO NOT BUY ANYTHING MADE IN CHINA IF YOU CAN AVOID IT
Is China like...the chink in the chain or something? That's what the thumbnail graphic makes it look like.
This article is complete bullshit. I spend every day here in China teaching very bright Chinese engineers how to design quality and reliability. I have personally designed hundreds of products both here and in the US and you use these products and they are still working. Of course there are lower cost lower quality options as well, there is something called "The Market" that demands these alternatives. You get what you pay for but don't bash the Chinese just because you are racist.
"teaching very bright Chinese engineers how to design quality and reliability"
Too bad your wasting your time as their future or current employers won't allow the quality or reliability make into the end product. Yeah I'm a racist because I don't care for the gutting of American manufacturing
You really shouldn't blame the Chinese for US not having a manufacturing economy. US simply doesn't have a comparative advantage. Simple as as that. It's no more the Chinese fault than American's fault.
US imports increased, because government cannot support a service economy. US is a consumer economy for few influencial reasons. Too much government outlays (government income is no substitute for real wealth, ie industrial production, manufacturing), monetary policy that encourages consumption over savings. A economy with 50% government cannot sustain the rest of the economy. It's actually industrial production and manufacturing that does this. Government expansion is the reason why Nixon abandoned the gold standard in the first place which was loosely followed before the severed ties. Also a strong currency in the foreign exchange market. All these factors combined creates what we know today in the US as a consumer economy.
Lack of savings and too much consumption means less investment, lower quality investment, and lower ouput. Afterall if you are dispensed all your income and external funds on consumption, you are not improving production.
So what is sustaining the US economy right now? Really government and foreigners. Government creates jobs, but they are not productive jobs and foreigner productivity substitutes the lack of productivity that government and service jobs crowd out. This is why Bernanke says cutting federal spending will create a depression, but Bernanke sees things in reverse. Similar to like seeing that a bubble is a boom, thus booms are good, it's the bust that is bad.
In global trade, one country's spending is another country's comparative advantage. Americans don't save much money, and government workers are automatically importers, because they don't produce anything to import anything. They are pure importers.
Notice how all the old-timers insist on stating the manufacturer name. They won't say well I bought a polnit-stamper 50 years ago and its far superior quality means it's still working fine today. No they always always say well I bought a Furke & Witte polnit stamper. I have always found this to be the very hallmark of a pompous and confused dim bulb. Just sayin.
America was a pretty special place, once upon a time, before it was changed by the enemy of humanity.
My grandmother's pots and pans are still good, still cook perfectly. She uses a hand can opener that was made in 1960, opens every can with EASE. I compared it with a hand opener I have and it was CLEARLY better, and the one I have was built in the USA in maybe 2000.
GUNS were better made. Knives. I know a guy who has a Shelby Mustang from 1960s it STILL runs better than any modern car I know of.
But as I pointed out in my opening paragraph THIS WAS BY DESIGN, not by CHANCE. America is often accused of committing suicide, no IT WAS MURDER!
They took our manufacturing jobs and sent them to China, our enemy, well pals with Israelis and Jews but enemy of Whites that is for sure. So we lost good paying jobs and got CONTAMINATED shoddy goods in return. And the banksters and their goy allies chuckled all the way, just like orchardists and other agricultural people. White teens used to do those jobs, now they belong to Mexicans or Asians or Africans.
Diversity Is Strength! It’s Also Bear-Part Delicacies In A Chinese Restaurant In Montana
During WW2, American main battle tanks, Sherman tank, the infamous "Widow Maker", were made to be destroyed by enemy intentionally. Follow the money!
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Jezus Chriminies! Get a soldering Iron, and some tools that allow you to fix some of the stuff.
As for 60's vs Current every-day tools...If its bolted down and doesnt need to move, go with the 60's stuff...but if you actually need to use it, well, who the FUCK is going to NOT use a 2015 cordless 20V liIon ??
and lets not kid ourselves, one only has to go look under 1950-1980's US-Made cars to see what "Real" quality looks like...
Remember replacng all those water pumps on those cars? How about Tie Rod ends? Wheel Bearings? Fucking dashes cracking apart, or how about door handles made of Pot-Metal breaking off? ALL US Made.
Shit, a 1960 car in the 80's was considered JUNK...cuz it was!
Use a littel common sense, and test some stuff out, then buy what feels sturdy and higher-quality. But Stop bitching about how everything made nowdays is so fucking much worse that the 60's - and if not, then throw your fuking HDTV's away and by all means PLEASE turn on that 1969 "Console" "Color" TV with the little dial tuners. And get the fuck off the 'puter as well - they werent even around for common consumer use til the early 90's.
The real threat is Total Automation...and Its coming, I know all too well first hand, and I may even be part of that damned problem.
They are built cheap because that's how the importers want them. $100 retail and it costs maybe $5 FOB. The factory margin is razor thin. Again, it's only shit because that's all the importers want. And that's what you get stuck with as a consumer.
I can get some rather damn good quality over here when I'm willing to pay for it, and the cost isn't really all that much. The problem isn't coming from the China-side.
The change this artical talks about are mostly due to productive alternative and falling standard of living of households due to inflation. The factories just produces what the people are looking for. The iPhone and most pre assembled flat screen tv parts are made in China. I am in the realestate business, older houses used mostly all hardwood but I will only install laminates in as flooring. Laminates are much worse in quality than hardwood and need to be replaced every 20 years. But I only install Laminates because its only a fraction of the cost and its most cost efficent in the long run. Its market demand. I believe the nation used to be much wealthier nation because houses build 50 years ago had generally better material and the decline I believe is mostly due to inflation and the rise of the welfare state and high property tax. Building houses are done by all americans, but new houses are mostly now frames of lumber plus dry wall and plastic siding, back in the day it used to be all brick with stone basement. The decline is more demand side than supply side. I feel this article is just the author's wishful thinking and scapecoating other country instead of dealing with real Austrian economics.
The change this artical talks about are mostly due to productive alternative and falling standard of living of households due to inflation. The factories just produces what the people are looking for. The iPhone and most pre assembled flat screen tv parts are made in China. I am in the realestate business, older houses used mostly all hardwood but I will only install laminates in as flooring. Laminates are much worse in quality than hardwood and need to be replaced every 20 years. But I only install Laminates because its only a fraction of the cost and its most cost efficent in the long run. Its market demand. I believe the nation used to be much wealthier nation because houses build 50 years ago had generally better material and the decline I believe is mostly due to inflation and the rise of the welfare state and high property tax. Builders are all still american companies. Still new houses built are of lower quality. Houses now are mostly made of frames of lumber plus dry wall and plastic siding, back in the day it used to be all brick with stone basement. The decline is more demand side than supply side. I feel this article is just the author's wishful thinking and scapecoating other country instead of dealing with real Austrian economics.
If you still want good tools go to a used tool shop. Not only do you get them for 1/10th the price but they will probably outlive you. It won't be long before those shelves are empty of the quality stuff too. Maybe another decade or so
I think this article makes a convoluted statement about why Chinese goods can be of poor quality. Don't a lot of third world countries make a lot of low quality, cheap stuff? Doesn't Mexico? I been to Mexico, I know they have a lot of cheap stuff and lower quality than the developed world. Goods made in developing economies reflect their own economy regardless of where their exports go to and outsourced production of goods that have less reliability is the result of engineering, not because it's a Chinese person making it. Quality itself is kind of like capital accumulation. Yes poor quality stuff exists initially until consumers expect higher quality, and servicers, and producers compete for consumers with higher quality goods.
Charlie boy is only seeing what is obvious, comparing a closed economy with less imports to that of open economy that accepts influx of goods, which may be lower quality. Quality is accumulative trait in society. Poor economies have cheaper, simplier housing, because they are poorer, the wealthier society gets, the better quality housing is that even exhibits artistry as opposed to cheap housing that was made to be purely cost effective.
Charlie boy assumes consumers only buy high quality stuff and value quality over price. If that was true, and the premise that American manufactured goods are of higher quality, then consumers would not buy Chinese made goods at all, and only buy American made.
Yes China did develop income inequality, but also developed a middle class, people who can buy stuff and this article makes it seem like all chinese production is from sweat shops and child labor. If that were true, then you wouldn't have affluent Chinese people at all who are not rich employers but affluent employeed chinese.
Once again mediocore article Of Two Minds.
SO is America now discovering the virtues of QUALITY regulation?
Like banning ALL GMO crops, and "junk foods" full of poison, like Tobacco Road ?
Hells bells and Fracked Pan Handle!
"In a competitive market, i.e. one that isn't dominated by cartels and quasi-monopolies, competition would drive out low-quality goods designed to fail or made to fail by default."
This is a pathetic fallacy of neoclassical economics. In fact, MOST markets are what is known in the field as "lemon markets" -- situations in which asymmetry of information prevents buyers from being able to evaluate the flaws in (especially rarely-bought) goods, and where repeat business between the same buyer and seller is nil. This makes it impossible for the buyer to comparison shop, and so advantageous for the seller to misrepresent poor goods, that honest businesses selling quality workmanship are driven out of competition by the dishonest purveyors of crap.
The only solution to this problem which has reliably worked over historical periods has been government regulation. This is why medieval law is chock-full of standards on weight and measure, for instance, with stiff penalties for short-weight or adulterated goods. Medieval guilds were arrangements for self-regulation by which the community of craftsmen stood surety for one another to kings and lords, with penalties for the inevitable cheating paid by the business community as a whole (who then imposed drastic economic penalties on the transgressor which were not, however, as drastic as the amputations which were otherwise favored by secular law at the time).
It's the heritage of these medieval quality controls that cause European goods to continue to dominate all others on measures of quality. But notice that very few people buy these high-quality goods when cheaper ones are available, mostly because the average first-time buyer has limited up-front resources and little understanding of the benefits over time. Twenty-somethings ALWAYS lack a forty-year horizon, which is why the sellers of cheap crap always win out.
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I was amused at the article, as this is just old news for men like me. I started 'collecting' antiques like some queen about 15 years ago, kitchen appliances and older stuff. I just had this attraction to the stuff. I liked the design, the substance, the permanence of it. Solid. Dependable.
Older tools, too.
They just didn't break. All the fucking time.
I got so goddamn tired of buying toasters and coffee makers and kettles, and all sorts of shit, that I started going to the GoodWill to buy them, and then I discovered the fools that were throwing out Grandma's old kitchen stuff.
I bought breadmakers, that I'm sure the little actuary cocksucks count that you make about 4 loaves the first week after Christmas and maybe for the next month. Then it's down to 2-3 and then a few months later, 1-2 a week and then in about, well… They all seem to go at about 70-90 loaves.
Bastards.
I bought GE beehive percolators and a whole set of that beautiful stainless steel stuff from the 50's at the GoodWill. I filled my house with these antiques.
Real old cast iron pans. I wouldn't cook on that stainless chrome shit! Ever notice the cooking shows, with their sparkling, unscratched stainless steel pans? I think they get a new set every show. Otherwise, they're fucked after about a dozen uses, scratched up.
I went to make toast tonight. My sexy looking silver and black plastic GE toaster that I bought for a couple of bucks, worth about 70 new, that has a fucking electronic circuit board in it—What the fuck!? It's a fucking toaster?—And the heating elements were… Toast… On it.
I thought I'd rant.
Yeah, the good ol' days, lots of stuff was built crappily, because they just didn't know, but lots of stuff was built to last. The chrome was thick, as Savage says.
I'm going to dig out my box of antiques and pull out an old toaster from the 50's or 60's and use it for a few years. It's worked for 40 or 50.
I can't wait for the recession, depression, deflation, to put the screws to the bastards. But then again, everything will be 3D manufactured in a few years. And by robots, so we're all screwed.
This stuff will be worth a mint.
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