Book Review - A Year Without "Made In China" by Sara Bongiorni
Category Book Review
So do you know where the vast majority of the stuff in your house and life is made? Have you ever given it much thought? Try reading A Year Without "Made in China": One Family's True Life Adventure in the Global Economy by Sara Bongiorni for an entertaining and eye-opening look at just how much we have come to depend on China for everyday life. Besides being a laugh-out-loud read, it will cause you to start looking a bit more carefully at that "Made In" tag...
Contents: Introduction; Farewell, My Concubine; Red Shoes; Rise and China; Manufacturing Dissent; A Modest Proposal; Mothers of Invention; Summer of Discontent; Red Tide; China Dreams; Meltdown; The China Season; Road's End; Epilogue; About the Author; Index
Sara Bongiorni, the author, decided on January 1, 2005, that her and her family would spend a year without buying anything made in China. This wasn't a radical "WE MUST BUY AMERICAN!" reaction, rather an experiment to see if it was possible to live without feeding the growing economic tiger across the Pacific. Factor in the elements of a husband and two young children, and it becomes a task far beyond what she had imagined. With her journalistic background, she set off on an adventure that taxed her will, her patience, and her sanity. And you, the reader, get to come along for the ride and the laughs.
The rules were simple. Nothing could be purchased that had a "Made In China" sticker on it. Gifts received by others could be made in China, but there would be no family purchases that fell in that category. What she and her husband quickly found is that there are vast consumer areas that are nearly all Chinese-dominated. Toys? Nearly all made in China. Lamps? Made in China. Shoes for the kids? China. Electronics? Yup, China. It was possible to find exceptions to these rules, but it usually meant hours (or days) of searching, in addition to spending far more money than they were used to. Birthday candles for cakes? China. Holiday decorations? China. That one special toy that your child just HAS to have at Christmas because Santa will come through? Count on it being made in China. The interplay of emotions and dialogue between her and everyone else had me reading passages to my wife (and both of us laughing). And I could relate to her schemes to get around the boycott by mentioning to her mother-in-law what exactly so-and-so wanted for their birthday, knowing it could come in as a gift but not as a purchase. Desperation makes cowards of us all. While there were a few mistaken buys (as well as a few knowing "mistakes" by "the Weaker Link"), overall the boycott was pretty closely adhered to. Not that there weren't some times when giving in would have been easier on everyone, however...
The underlying message in all this is that we've abandoned large areas of industry and commerce to others who will manufacture it for far less money than American and European workers. While we might be able to get the $49 DVD player and the $10 red sneakers for the kids at Wal-Mart, the question is... what happens when all the decent jobs are shipped off and we can't afford even the basics? Manufacturing in China might keep prices much lower, but it also eliminates the jobs that offer wages to pay for those goods. Bongiorni does a great job of making those points without turning the book into a diatribe against global trade. The average person is much more likely to read a book like this, enjoy the story, and start to grasp the important points. A business book about the same subject with stats and theories would probably never get opened...
I read this book in about one day, as I couldn't put it down. And when I went to work today, I started flipping over a few things on my desk. China, China, China... While I'm not ready to take the same drastic actions of the author, I will be much more aware of just what I'm doing when I pick up that household item that I absolutely *need*. Maybe, just maybe, I'll flip over a few more options before I decide.
So do you know where the vast majority of the stuff in your house and life is made? Have you ever given it much thought? Try reading A Year Without "Made in China": One Family's True Life Adventure in the Global Economy by Sara Bongiorni for an entertaining and eye-opening look at just how much we have come to depend on China for everyday life. Besides being a laugh-out-loud read, it will cause you to start looking a bit more carefully at that "Made In" tag...
Contents: Introduction; Farewell, My Concubine; Red Shoes; Rise and China; Manufacturing Dissent; A Modest Proposal; Mothers of Invention; Summer of Discontent; Red Tide; China Dreams; Meltdown; The China Season; Road's End; Epilogue; About the Author; Index
Sara Bongiorni, the author, decided on January 1, 2005, that her and her family would spend a year without buying anything made in China. This wasn't a radical "WE MUST BUY AMERICAN!" reaction, rather an experiment to see if it was possible to live without feeding the growing economic tiger across the Pacific. Factor in the elements of a husband and two young children, and it becomes a task far beyond what she had imagined. With her journalistic background, she set off on an adventure that taxed her will, her patience, and her sanity. And you, the reader, get to come along for the ride and the laughs.
The rules were simple. Nothing could be purchased that had a "Made In China" sticker on it. Gifts received by others could be made in China, but there would be no family purchases that fell in that category. What she and her husband quickly found is that there are vast consumer areas that are nearly all Chinese-dominated. Toys? Nearly all made in China. Lamps? Made in China. Shoes for the kids? China. Electronics? Yup, China. It was possible to find exceptions to these rules, but it usually meant hours (or days) of searching, in addition to spending far more money than they were used to. Birthday candles for cakes? China. Holiday decorations? China. That one special toy that your child just HAS to have at Christmas because Santa will come through? Count on it being made in China. The interplay of emotions and dialogue between her and everyone else had me reading passages to my wife (and both of us laughing). And I could relate to her schemes to get around the boycott by mentioning to her mother-in-law what exactly so-and-so wanted for their birthday, knowing it could come in as a gift but not as a purchase. Desperation makes cowards of us all. While there were a few mistaken buys (as well as a few knowing "mistakes" by "the Weaker Link"), overall the boycott was pretty closely adhered to. Not that there weren't some times when giving in would have been easier on everyone, however...
The underlying message in all this is that we've abandoned large areas of industry and commerce to others who will manufacture it for far less money than American and European workers. While we might be able to get the $49 DVD player and the $10 red sneakers for the kids at Wal-Mart, the question is... what happens when all the decent jobs are shipped off and we can't afford even the basics? Manufacturing in China might keep prices much lower, but it also eliminates the jobs that offer wages to pay for those goods. Bongiorni does a great job of making those points without turning the book into a diatribe against global trade. The average person is much more likely to read a book like this, enjoy the story, and start to grasp the important points. A business book about the same subject with stats and theories would probably never get opened...
I read this book in about one day, as I couldn't put it down. And when I went to work today, I started flipping over a few things on my desk. China, China, China... While I'm not ready to take the same drastic actions of the author, I will be much more aware of just what I'm doing when I pick up that household item that I absolutely *need*. Maybe, just maybe, I'll flip over a few more options before I decide.
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Comments
http://www.ns-tech.com/blog/geldred.nsf/d6plinks/GELD-6ZZT7Y
Probably an oversimplification, but shipping manufacturing and labor overseas makes the short term financial results of the US-based companies look really good. The long term? We will be dead and leave the pieces to a younger generation to pick up.
Posted by Gregg Eldred At 08:22:26 On 12/07/2007 | - Website - |
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/08/02/AR2007080202219.html?hpid=topnews
At least one person "gets it:"
"I'm afraid sometimes we're trying to save some money on labor, but in the long run we compromise" on safety, said Meisel, who recently bought a specialty toy marketed as nontoxic. "I try, but we can't protect them from everything."
Posted by Gregg Eldred At 06:29:12 On 03/08/2007 | - Website - |