I'd suggest that this is less black versus white than it appears.
In buying products made in China, you're helping to raise a huge number of people out of crushing poverty. I've traveled through China across 25 years, and seen how their lives have improved, yet some are still trying to eke out subsistence, farming what looked like a 1-acre plot with an ox.
Yes, the CCP is evil. But the moral calculus is never simple, I don't think we can simply assume that the net effect of purchasing from China is morally bad. It does enable some bad things, but it also helps quite a lot of people.
We're funding the upliftment of Chinese citizens, at the cost of the millions of unemployed in our own home countries. And that according to you is still a good thing?
I'm a firm believer in free trade and all that, as long as trade partners are of the same ideological bend, even if flawed. Not the country that's actively looking to rivalldestabilize every other Western democracy through backroom dealings.
As a start, you can buy goods from non-Chinese owned companies, even if they're manufactured in China. Also, you can start paying attention to the manufacturing location, so at least you are able to make a conscious choice. It's not easy, but possible.
For example, I'm planning on building a computer. I'm going to aim for components from Taiwanese and U.S. companies as much as possible. In terms of laptops, I won't buy a Lenovo, but would consider an Apple or HP, even though they're all at least partially made in China.
You should stop buying all goods or services from those who do serious business with China: large US farming corporations, Microsoft, GE, GM, McDonald's, KFC, Boeing, Nike and Apple.
This is where you can actually make a difference as much as many people don't want to hear it.
A bit of an exaggeration. It does not take much research, google of course is useful, and looking at product websites they must disclose country of origin. Certain big names are obvious skips, seriously don't buy Apple. Avoid certain car brands and yes this includes Tesla but Volvo also exports from China as does Buick and others. A lot of brands have US based manufacturing but to be honest, if you are avoiding China related items you must hold the company accountable across all territories.
for consumer electronics its pretty easy to find sites dedicated to popular models and from there you can easily see where something is made
if you are looking for house hold goods, furniture, dinner ware, and the like, consider buying used from thrift shops, donation centers, garage sales, and even ebay; all my dinner and glass ware is vintage anchor hocking and morgantown glass.
the other option is to consume less. most often people buy stuff when what they have already does quite well. it is also a leading reason why many don't have sufficient savings
It will get easier - there has been a significant shift of manufacturing away from China to other countries, primarily India.
That is the case for tech and some of the more crucial imports - cheap less important items will probably always be manufactured in China in high volume though.
1. Resolve to not care if anyone is hurt in the process of providing you with consumables. Come up with excuses why it's not your responsibility, avoid learning more about it, ignore it, live in denial. The moral dread is gone.
2. Acquire your goods somewhere else, which may involve more cost and difficulty. The moral dread may not be gone if you realize that simply not supporting the oppression does not stop the oppression (avoiding German products does not stop the Holocaust)
3. Consume less. Same issue as #2 though.
4. Actively work towards ending the oppression which is giving you moral dread. This may end the moral dread, even if you continue to consume their products.
The only way to avoid your moral dread is to change your belief system. Anything that legitimately hurts the CCP a little would disproportionately devastate the residents there. If you boycott all factories that employ Uighurs, for example, that means that many of them will be laid off and sent back to reeducation camp.
Start by self reflection on your hypocrisy. Do you feel bad about regularly using services from a country which has committed and supported some of the worst war crimes and genocide in history? (if not obvious, I am referring to the US)
I'm pretty sure he didn't. The US has the notable distinction of performing genocide on an entire continent of peoples and cultures in the process of replacing its population with settlers. I'm sure more then a few people in China justify ethnic cleansing with "The US did it and now they're the most powerful nation in the world. Maybe they were on to something. Well, better late then never."
I am not American, but I assume you are referring to native americans, it is my understanding that the displacement of the native population occured before the federation of the US states, which would mean the perpetrators of this crime would be the colonizing countries, which would be Spain/France/England, surely?
> it is my understanding that the displacement of the native population occured before the federation of the US states,
It started before that, sure. It very much continued after (into the 20th Century), and was a major feature of the post-independence westward expansion of the US.
USA's Pacific Ocean imperialism was never really distinguishable from its Western America colonialism. The same racist bastards (as in, the same actual army personnel: Jacob Hurd Smith, Leonard Wood, Blackjack Pershing, etc.) who killed lots of indigenous Americans also killed lots of indigenous Filipinos. The Bud Dajo Massacre was similar to that at Wounded Knee sixteen years earlier, except probably more diabolical.
Of course, the imperial conquest of Philippines presaged more USA imperial conquest elsewhere.
Disproportionately purchase items made in your own country. Encourage others to do the same. Vote for government officials who encourage similar policies, write to government official who do not. Start/join action groups, engage in political debate at all levels. Start / invest in a local manufacturing company, run for local office, run for president, get rich and invest in local brands.
These are excellent suggestions. I've been wishing for some kind of "made in democracy" stamp, or a "produced humanly" if that would also shut out other more moderate manufacturing centres, similar to fair trade chocolate.
Many countries have a fake democracy cover. Even Hitler won an election with like the 99% of the votes (I wonder if the other 1% survived for too long.)
Also, does this label apply to the United Kingdom or Canada?
So my main worry was the possible controversy over what some consider pseudo-democracies, like Russia or outright not democracies but generally considered within the tolerable realm of citizen freedoms, like Vietnam, but I think your instant response over the UK and Canada indicates that a "made in democracy" would be tricky and that it would possibly have to be a more neutral term.
The intent would be a feelgood symbol manufacturers could attach to their products that would essentially give them a very slight competitive marketing edge - like the fair trade symbol, or the regionalities for cheese and wine, or the nintendo seal of approval, etc. This would be run through some kind of tiny registration fee for the symbol, which would then fund the central body of a few people checking the supply chains, dealing with the applications, and sorting out the advertising/branding.
If anyone has good ideas about this, post here. If anyone wants the idea and wants to do it, do it.
> Also, does this label apply to the United Kingdom or Canada?
Why would it not?
It's not like the head of state wields power in a parliamentary democracy. We cut the head off the last monarch to try that 1649, more than 100 years before either the French or US revolutions.
Why is the Queen involved at all in regards to Parliament? The spectacle with Boris Johnson and the Queen was quite a sad joke on supposed British democracy.
So long as the Queen (royal family) has any political capabilities, Britain is a partial democracy at best. Realistically they're still a mixture of monarchy and democracy, as they have been for a long time. Although people certainly likely to pretend the royal family has no tangible role or political power (because they want to pretend to be a modern democracy, while retaining the monarchy which they culturally have affection for; which is another way of saying they want to have their cake and eat it too).
That's not the case. The Nazi party won only 37% of the vote in the last arguably free election (1932). They also didn't win a majority in the 1933 election, which the Communists were barred from and which was post-Reichstag fire and suspension of civil liberties.
