In a message dated 6/7/04 10:52:16 PM, Guy.Weller@kencomp.net writes:
> Maybe you should give back your transcontinental railway - the Chinese
> built most of it - or at least the difficult half through the Rockies.
>
> Good point Guy!! That was effectively slave labor by Chinese who
apparently
wanted to stay here. The Chinese who built the railroad weren't chained
together like prisoners, but from what I find out that's pretty much where the
parallel ended. Since history usually repeats itself, I suggest the
naysayers
go ahead and not buy "Chinese junk" if they want. I can remember back when
"Made in Japan" meant very accurate copies of American products built from
beer
cans as raw material. (Fake Zippo cigarette lighters come to mind.) If
you can't remember it's only because I've been around a little longer. The
Japanese, with their industry and work ethic have certainly put an end to
"Japanese junk", and it is just possible that the Chinese will follow history
and do
the same.
I have to admit I do cling to appliances, tools, etc. that I have owned most
of my life. I, too, am frustrated by new stuff that falls apart the first
time you use it. It saddens me not that the Chinese stuff is junk but that
the
American made stuff is also junk--sloppily made of decent materials and Union
scale priced. Or it was made in China with American (or British) flags all
over it for an American manufacturer.
Annice & Bob
1960 Bugeye (Mk. IV in disguise) "The Sprite"
1966 Sprite Mk. III (Still in Boxes) "Trevor"
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