If you want to talk about product safety – which is what much of the Made in China debate has been about recently – you’ve come to the wrong place.  We believe that there are so many moral and ethical reasons to stop buying Made in China, that even if Chinese products were the BEST and safest in the world, we would not buy MiC.

Thoughts on Product Safety

1.     The problems we are experiencing recently are the natural result of a system that simply disregards people.  Product safety, like effective environmental standards and labor laws, etc. are the result of the democratic process.  We have chosen these things as voters and active participants in our government.  As long as China remains a totalitarian state, any improvement will be so we keep buying their stuff.   2.     Who is looking after the Chinese consumer? We recalled (sent back?) the lead-painted toys, so now Canadian, American, Australian and British kids are safe, but what about the Chinese kids?  The kids and their parents, brothers, sisters work in the factories, painting the toys?  Here’s an interesting article n Chinese consumer safety: http://yaleglobal.yale.edu/display.article?id=9579   The free enterprise system, the free media, and our criminal and civil justice systems all work to protect us from unscrupulous producers.  One wouldn’t use lead-based paint in a US factory because a) when you got caught, the world would know, b) your business would become worthless, c) you would be sued, and d) probably end up in jail.  Until China has a system that is comparable, don’t expect safe Made in China products.