Fake Rice - another "Chinese Miracle"

There are an awful lot of folks who hail the Chinese economic "powerhouse".

Even though our economy is far larger, they've been talking up China.

This reminds me of all the "Japan is going to bury us", and "we are being bought up by the Japanese" stuff going around when Japan was "hot".

During that period of the 80's, a lot of "the bosses" would use "Japanese mamagement practices" as a way to get workers to give unpaid labor. They might be called "circles of excellence" or other crap like that. I say crap because the purpose always seemed to include ways to get workers to give more. At the same time, suggestions on ways management could improve their performance were "discouraged".

I was dropped from "management tracked programs" for making such suggestions.

In other words, all this crap was merely looking for a way to get more from workers -- without looking for any sort of improvement from the way "the bosses" worked - how they ran the business.

Two of the firms I worked for back then went out of business BECAUSE of incompetent MANAGEMENT. They were so concerned with finding ways to screw their workers, they forgot to take care of their end. This is the ultimate result of avoiding your responsibility, while blaming those "below" you.

They're doing it again with the fear of a "Chinese takeover".

It seems to work this way.

First they ship manufacturing to China -- because of virtual slave labor (LOW COSTS, and total control of "workers" - IE - SLAVES)

Then we have "learned men" talk about how "they" will "bury us".

Even though our American "business leaders" are the ones who gutted American manufacturing, they do the best they can to somehow BLAME "the workers" - those "unreasonable" American workers.

Other developed nations still make stuff. Germany and France still make things. Their workers have stronger unions -- heck, these days ANY union is stronger than ours.

the USA, as THE home of "Destructive Capitalism" is ALWAYS looking for a way to SQUEEZE one more penny in profit. Nothing is long term. For all the talk of "Patriotism", American "businessmen" are more than willing to destroy the entire country for a penny.

I think we follow the "English Way" - fight the workers until your business fails, then blame it ALL on "The Unions" when "Sainted Management", usually rigid, "conservative", entitled, autocratic, lazy, and lacking any "spirit of entrepreneurship", is totally unwilling to look at THEIR pratices.

Now, those same Chinese folks seem to be following all the traditional ways of exploiting their workers -- Here's a little report from Raw Story that shows they have learned their lessons well (please follow link to original).

By the way -- to our "free marketeers" out there - I'm sure "the market" would eventually work to end stuff like this -- it's just that too many folks have to die first.

To our folks who are always looking elsewhere for "enlightenment" -- hows that vaunted "wisdom of the East" thing going?
---------------------

China’s poor treated to fake rice made from plastic: report

By David Edwards
Tuesday, February 8th, 2011 -- 11:45 am

China's history with food safety is a rocky one, but even in the annals of robbery and abuse, this will go down in infamy.

Various reports in Singapore media have said that Chinese companies are mass producing fake rice made, in part, out of plastic, according to one online publication Very Vietnam.

The "rice" is made by mixing potatoes, sweet potatoes and plastic. The potatoes are first formed into the shape of rice grains. Industrial synthetic resins are then added to the mix. The rice reportedly stays hard even after being cooked.

The Korean-language Weekly Hong Kong reported that the fake rice is being sold in the Chinese town of Taiyuan, in Shaanxi province.

"A Chinese Restaurant Association official said that eating three bowls of this fake rice would be like eating one plastic bag. Due to the seriousness of the matter, he added that there would be an investigation of factories alleged to be producing the rice," Very Vietnam noted.

Unfortunately, it's not the first time fake rice has been sold in China, according to China's Global Times.

Previously, a company in Xi'an, Shaanxi Province had added flavoring to ordinary rice to synthesize "Wuchang rice," which is regarded to be the best rice in the country.

About 300,000 people were injured and at least six infants died in 2008 when Chinese milk and infant formula was found to be adulterated with melamine, which was thought to help the milk pass nutrition tests.

Later that year, melamine was also discovered in Chinese eggs.