19th century political cartoon charging Chinese labor with unemploying American labor.
"Why the United States will Never, Ever Build the iPhoneARTICLE
Via The Atlantic.

The past few days I've noticed a surge in articles pertaining to Apple and it's choice to manufacture in China. From The New York Times' feature " How the U.S. Lost Out on iPhone Work" to The Atlantic's own smaller feature, "Why the United States will Never, Ever Build the iPhone" , all articles explore reasons why it's not just cheap foreign labor that have consistently won the manufacturing edge over the United States.

I think The Atlantic's article is straight to the point about why the United States and many other countries have been outpaced in the manufacturing sector.

" For Foxconn, the global manufacturing behemoth Apple pays to assemble its products, it's the ability to hire thousands of new workers in a single day. It's being able to wake up 8,000 employees, herd them out of the company's on-sight dorms, and order them pull a midnight shift fastening glass screens onto phones. In China, workers are cheap, plentiful, and -- most importantly -- mind bogglingly compliant in ways that America's culture and its tightly enforced labor laws simply wouldn't allow."

In addition, the article elaborates about the absence of a once vital supply chain that existed in the United States. Today, because most of that supply chain has been put out of business, it is very hard to compete with China, who's supply chain also now eclipses ours and perhaps most of the world's.

"Those sorts of statistics should bring into cold, clear focus why America's education system is at such a disadvantage when it comes to manufacturing. The problem isn't a lack of elite graduates. We have those. It's our unskilled working class. "

I could go on about the article but it's really best to read it yourself. I know I'm not the only one who would love to one day manufacture in the United States, or even be able to support more companies that do, but to get there, Americans have to realize where our weaknesses are and how we might be able to affect it.

CHEAPLABOR

On another note, the phrase "Cheap Labor" totally bothers me. The phrase to me almost minimizes the humanity of people that make your shit. And I really hate that. Because the phrase is synonymous with "poorly made" it is entirely dismissive to individuals that are capable of producing a quality product. Though iphones are made by "cheap labor" it would be the same train of thought that would lead us to the logical conclusion that iphones are of poor quality and assembled to fall apart or explode in your hands. But of course this isn't the case. You can clearly purchase products that are well made that have employed cheap labor. I think the issue with the stereotype of cheap labor is that people automatically assume it's made in a sweatshop by a toddler in a foreign country filled with people who work for nothing. What about "cheap labor" in the United States? It definitely exists yet somehow America is above "cheap labor" when it comes to other countries? Like we don't have a history ( and present ) of cheap labor and racism? Basically, cheap labor is an easy way to vilify others, and I think it's bullshit.

Kind of random. Two weeks ago I was visiting my friend at the Supra store, an old guy put on a sneaker and said to his wife ," These aren't a size 10. This is tiny. Was this was made for a Chinese foot?"