Tuesday, June 22, 2010

If everything is made in China, are we Chinese?

Caught this on Facebook by way of My Morning Jacket, pretty good song, I'm a fan of Jim James especially. However, the italicized line caught my attention:
The Roots - Dear God 2.0:
They said he's busy hold the line please
Call me crazy, I thought maybe he could mind read
Who does the blind lead?
Show me a sign please
If everything is made in China, are we Chinese?
Aside from the line being a non sequitur to the rest of the verse, the premise is also way off.  Of course we're not Chinese because we buy Chinese stuff, the point he's making with a seemingly throw away line is that America doesn't produce anything.  Instead of going into a long, complicated rant about trade (quick version - it's good for everyone!), I'm simply going to point out that it is ironic that his problem is that we don't produce anything, all while he's making music.  It's intangible, yes, but he makes a living off of it, I'm not sure how well a living, but one none the less. I wonder if anyone in China will buy this record, or if the CD's their music is recorded on is made in China...

I'll apply a common example used when discussing trade to explain further.  If I like movies, and I go out to them all the time, am I Hollywood...inian, even though I'm from Virginia?  Or vice-versa, if Smokers in Hollywood smoke tobacco from Virginia, does that make them Virginian?  Of course not.

No comments:

Post a Comment