I do not regard myself as an enemy of anyone, please don't think that. I do have some thoughts and views from some of the rather boring materials that I read, thank goodness it's just some Louis L'Amour right now - easy on the brain.QuasiHoosier wrote: Competition is what kills the weak and bolsters the strong.
Something to think about:
Approx. 20-25% of the world’s population lives in China,
Only about 4% in USA.
Thus, 3 or 4% of the world's pop. thinks products made in Asia or Mexico are junk; the other 90+% probably do not.
What are the chances that the value of "foreign made collectibles" will out pace US made collectibles?
Are internet market places like Ebay opening up a world market where buyers, sellers and collectors have a different geo-political worldview than what we Americans are accustomed to?
AND, jonet143, thanks for the warm welcome.
Sadly I'm afraid I'm making more enemies than friends.
Competition is what kills the weak and bolsters the strong. That's a very true statement, BUT what happens when a government subsidizes a company and its competition in another country does not get government subsidy. No matter how good the company without governmet backing is, they will fail. The Chinese (or Japanese) companies with government subsidy will always win. So the statement is ONLY true on a level playing field. Susidy tilts the playing field.
I can tell you why that first Rough Rider (first introduced in 2003) did not have China on it. They used to use and maybe they still do, a shallow black electro-etch that some seller would just put it under a buffer and buff it of very quickly. It does not take long, especially if you have a big industrial buffer like mine.
Only about 4% in USA. BUT The United States, with less than 5 % of the global population, uses about a quarter of the world’s fossil fuel resources—burning up nearly 25 % of the coal, 26 % of the oil, and 27 % of the world’s natural gas. We are the world's ultimate consumer AND the only country that attended the Kyoto Accord that refused to sign it. President Bush said it would be to expensive to lessen greenhouse gasses.
We in the United States are and have been isolationists purely because of our physical geographic location. We are only now learning about the rest of the world and how it operates. We are just beginning to understand the rest of the world AS China is now learning about capitalism and how to use it for there own agenda. Make no mistake, China is waging a war of finance on the US and the rest of the world.
China is COMMUNIST. No, they are Quasi or Pseudo Communist. After the fall of the USSR, both China and the USSR changed, with the USSR going the Democratic Capitalist route and China going the Capitalist Communist route. Communism we can simply define as the government owning everything. We can use the term pseudo Communist because the people of China can own their own land and businesses AND that can't happen in a pure Communist regime.
Now we can get to knives. Jim Frost (lives in Tennessee) of Frost cutlery (once Parker-Frost) owns the trademarks many old German cutlery companies and at least some of these trademarks are being made in China. I don't know which ones for sure, but some of the brands he has are fairly expensive. Seems like they keep a tight lip on it. Taylor Brands now has Shrades and many others made in China, Buck has knives made in China. Owlhead knives are made in China, even though the tang stamps are of a German name. Some say they are assembled in China, parts made in Germany. Others say, no they are made in China.A big problem when dealing with China is counterfeits and piracy of American brand name products and software. Even counterfeit name brand foodstuff and tioletries. The only reason they have not counterfeited knives is a lack of modern equipment, 440A is about the best they can do. Taiwan can handle many top metals now.
Anyway, this got a little long, so I broke it up by changing colors of text. Part of it is political, another is pure observation of what I've taken apart and came away less than inpressed. Many cutlery companies do not have the quality that they once had. This is a direct result of having communist government backed cutlery operations.
Anyway, welcome to AAPK, we don't have to agree on everything, it would be boring if we did. If I had to buy a Chinese knife, I'd buy the Steel Warrior just because it's built a bit more rugged.
to AAPK!
Another problem is that they are no longer pure commies, they are psuedo-commies in that individuals are alowed to own land, property, and businesses. They have hope and dreams. Whose fault is it? Well, it's my opinion that the Human Rights Organizations, Capitalist Ideology, and the Chinese Governments own evaluation of the fall of the USSR, all played major roles in shaping China into a world's major manufacturing Super-Power in a nutshell.
