motomech
10 MW
Recently, I posted that I am not going to buy anymore Ebike stuff from China. I didn't imply that folks here need to follow suit, I was just stating what felt right for me.
I was excoriated by the China apologists and they attacked me as being "stupid" and having "wet undies".
Whether or not it originated in a lab and how it "escaped" is not exactly clear, but that they covered up the risk and then lied to the World is well established. They shut down domestic flights, but allowed 100,000's of people from Wuhan to fly around the World. So if we evaluate using the "low bar", it is negligent homicide instead of murder. Is that so hard to believe about a totalitarian regime that harvests the organs from many 1000's of political prisoners while they are still alive? Or forcibly sterilizes women because they are Christians? The list goes on, including the recent ostracizing of Africans in their country, blaming them for the virus.
Human rights aside, there is the issue of China poisoning of the planet, something we, as E-vehicle users profess to care about. It is difficult to get accurate data on emissions by country, but it has been estimated that up to 65% of the smog in California comes from China! For those of us who live or travel regularly in the Golden State it's hard to deny this (compare the LA basin to the Phoenix metropolis in the same time period for example).
Now it's not hard for me to say I will not knowingly buy products made in China. I am retired, live in a sm. beach town in Mexico, buy little and have a lg. stock of ebike parts. But once again, I'm not advocating that people immediately cease buying stuff from China, but isn't it time to have the conversation about how we can influence the availability of products from other countries. No doubt, countries like Vietnam, Thailand, India and Mexico have pollution issues of their own, but at least they are not trying to dominate the World.
Stating that "90% of the stuff in Walmart comes from China, so what can we do" is a cop-out and should not assuage one's conscience. Likewise for E-vehicle products.
In closing, I would ask; "Do you really want your kids (or grand kids) to live in a world where China calls the shots??
I was excoriated by the China apologists and they attacked me as being "stupid" and having "wet undies".
Whether or not it originated in a lab and how it "escaped" is not exactly clear, but that they covered up the risk and then lied to the World is well established. They shut down domestic flights, but allowed 100,000's of people from Wuhan to fly around the World. So if we evaluate using the "low bar", it is negligent homicide instead of murder. Is that so hard to believe about a totalitarian regime that harvests the organs from many 1000's of political prisoners while they are still alive? Or forcibly sterilizes women because they are Christians? The list goes on, including the recent ostracizing of Africans in their country, blaming them for the virus.
Human rights aside, there is the issue of China poisoning of the planet, something we, as E-vehicle users profess to care about. It is difficult to get accurate data on emissions by country, but it has been estimated that up to 65% of the smog in California comes from China! For those of us who live or travel regularly in the Golden State it's hard to deny this (compare the LA basin to the Phoenix metropolis in the same time period for example).
Now it's not hard for me to say I will not knowingly buy products made in China. I am retired, live in a sm. beach town in Mexico, buy little and have a lg. stock of ebike parts. But once again, I'm not advocating that people immediately cease buying stuff from China, but isn't it time to have the conversation about how we can influence the availability of products from other countries. No doubt, countries like Vietnam, Thailand, India and Mexico have pollution issues of their own, but at least they are not trying to dominate the World.
Stating that "90% of the stuff in Walmart comes from China, so what can we do" is a cop-out and should not assuage one's conscience. Likewise for E-vehicle products.
In closing, I would ask; "Do you really want your kids (or grand kids) to live in a world where China calls the shots??