Classe move to China

With all due respect ... the 'made in US, Canada, Europe vs made in Asia' arguments are inherently racist, as opposed to protectionist. From a purely economic perspective, buying a Rega Brio rather than a Prima Luna Prologue One is the same to me ... US dollars going to the UK are no different than US dollars going to China.

For however many Classe amps that are sold and the claims of the handfuls here that they will never buy a Chinese made Classe product ... what about the absolutely ZERO 'made in US' flat screen tv's, blu-ray dvd players, laptops, cell phones, etc. are there. That is where the real money is. Just how is everybody viewing this post without 'made in China' iMacs, Dells, iPads, etc.

I lived through this 45 years ago when the US electronics industry left the US for Japan (Zenith, RCA, Emerson, Marantz, Fisher, Scott, etc.). My dad, who owned a brick & mortar TV repair shop in Brooklyn, and I would go weekly to the public dump on Shore Parkway and scavenge for discarded electronics, because you could not get replacement parts shipped to the US. It is why Sears stopped repairing its own TVs in the late 1970's/ early 1980's.

None of this means that I like what is happening, but it is what globalization is all about.

Rich

Rich,

I agree with much of your statement, and for the most part I am a free trade proponent. However, I must disagree with one statement you made...that there is no difference in Us dollars going to the UK or to China.

If I have a choice when I buy a product, I would much prefer to spend money in the US. But if I buy foreign, I would definitely rather see money go to the UK- an open and free society- than to China, which is still an authoritarian, single party police state. That's not because I'm racist- its because I value freedom and intrinsic human rights.

Hi Dan:

It is why I prefaced the statement with ... from a 'purely economic perspective.'

More than China, I have problems with anything made in Vietnam. I remember all too well the yearly birthday drawing lotteries to see who would go over to fight in the war.

Rich


Rich

Rich- Understood . Thanks!

Rarl -- wrong!!! This is NOT about racism. The issue is about American jobs, plain and simple. Oh . . . as to racism, let me remind you that American society is made up of different types, stripes, colors and whatever.

I care when I see empty and decaying factories in my home town. I care when a friend, neighbor, or colleague gets laid off because his/her job has moved offshore -- anywhere. I care when I see what was once nice neighborhoods, decay because the people have moved away or live at subsistence levels.

I repeat what I said above. Even if the stuff we buy is a few bucks cheaper, if at the cost of American jobs, the trend is that large swathes of our society are being left behind. So, what good is it if a TV is made a few bucks cheaper overseas, if the target market is becoming impoverished --and it is, who is going to buy all this cheap jung anyway??