July 12, 2008
Made In China
There is an agonizing splotch on my conscience stemming from the fact that I work for a corporation that manufactures a growing number of the products it sells in the People's Republic of China. I keep a large poster of the solitary man blocking a column of tanks approaching Tiananmen Square on the wall of my cube to remind me of who we are doing business with.
This can only be maintained through the use of serious rationalization. I tell myself that if I left it wouldn't matter. I am not so important to the company that my leaving or threatening to leave would cause them to rethink their business strategy for even half a second. I have no delusions that I will ever reach a level in the corporation where I can have any impact at all on it's manufacturing decisions. There is no career path from graphic designer to corporate president. That is the part of the rationalization that is based on fact. Then I add in the fact that I have a family to house and feed. That if I were single I could do this and the only person it would impact would be me.
So I look at the poster. Remember all of the products labeled Made in China. Swallow hard and get back to work. That swallow is going to be even harder after reading this:
In this country, liberals have a fit when they are carted away in plastic handcuffs and later released. How do you think they would feel if they faced the possibility of death for "speaking truth to power."
This can only be maintained through the use of serious rationalization. I tell myself that if I left it wouldn't matter. I am not so important to the company that my leaving or threatening to leave would cause them to rethink their business strategy for even half a second. I have no delusions that I will ever reach a level in the corporation where I can have any impact at all on it's manufacturing decisions. There is no career path from graphic designer to corporate president. That is the part of the rationalization that is based on fact. Then I add in the fact that I have a family to house and feed. That if I were single I could do this and the only person it would impact would be me.
So I look at the poster. Remember all of the products labeled Made in China. Swallow hard and get back to work. That swallow is going to be even harder after reading this:
BEIJING (Reuters) - Chinese courts jailed 12 more rioters for their roles in unrest in Tibet, state media said, weeks before the Beijing Olympics and after Beijing deported a Tibetan British woman it accused of anti-government activism.
China's official Xinhua news agency said late on Thursday that to date China has convicted 42 people for their role in the riots while another 116 await trial. Some 953 people were detained by the police, Xinhua said, quoting Palma Trily, the No. 1 vice-chairman of the Tibet Autonomous Region government.
He did not give details on the length of the latest 12 sentences handed down on June 19 and 20 but said neither these rioters nor 30 people convicted earlier had received death sentences.
"But whether or not the death penalty will be applied for suspects still being investigated has to be determined based on Chinese laws," Palma Trily was quoted as saying. (emphasis added)
They are considering the death penalty as punishment for protesting the government.China's official Xinhua news agency said late on Thursday that to date China has convicted 42 people for their role in the riots while another 116 await trial. Some 953 people were detained by the police, Xinhua said, quoting Palma Trily, the No. 1 vice-chairman of the Tibet Autonomous Region government.
He did not give details on the length of the latest 12 sentences handed down on June 19 and 20 but said neither these rioters nor 30 people convicted earlier had received death sentences.
"But whether or not the death penalty will be applied for suspects still being investigated has to be determined based on Chinese laws," Palma Trily was quoted as saying. (emphasis added)
In this country, liberals have a fit when they are carted away in plastic handcuffs and later released. How do you think they would feel if they faced the possibility of death for "speaking truth to power."
Posted by: Stephen Macklin at 10:35 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
23kb generated in 0.0306 seconds; 38 queries returned 176 records.
Powered by Minx 1.1.4-pink.
Powered by Minx 1.1.4-pink.
