July 4, 2008
This July 4th: Only "Made in the U.S.A."
While the American flag has always been surrounded by its share of regulated stipulations (lighting it at all times, always flying it in fair weather, never letting it touch the ground), a new one has been ushered in by the state legislature of Minnesota. Effective this year, selling Chinese-made American flags within Minnesota is a crime punishable by up to 90 days in jail and/or a US$1,000 fine. As the Minnesota Star Tribune reports, Rep. Tom Anzelc co-sponsored the law because he thought
it was “ludicrous” and “un-American” to have U.S. flags made abroad, in countries such as China... “Real patriotism also includes valuing the work of American workers,” Anzelc said.Another sponsor, Dem. Tom Rukavina, stated last year (when the law was passed) that "Nothing is more embarrassing to me than a plastic flag ‘made in China.’"
Adam Minter of Shanghai Scrap, who brings us this interesting new development, points out that while the legislation does not specifically target China, the vast majority of flags imported into the U.S. are made in China (see the Flag Manufacturers' Association of America statistics here). Therefore Minter concludes:
If this was just about preserving American jobs, then the Minnesota legislature could have banned the import of other Chinese products. But they didn’t. Instead, they chose the flag - the most loaded of loaded symbols - and left it to others to decide what excluding Chinese manufacturers means in this case.
Photo by Daquella manera.
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I do agree that ANY nation's flag should be made domestically, but I think this legislation is a little over the top. I'm not sure if they'll really be able to enforce the punishment.
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This is no different than the "Freedom Fries" propaganda. It is nothing but electioneering, empty rhetoric designed to win over an ignorant populace.
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come on, why so much fuss? Even Dalai has Chinese underwears and had his flags made in China, while in shanty town Daramsala, made-in-China stuffs are everywhere.
You know what? You cannot help giggling at the thought that 81% of condoms in the world are made in China. LOL!
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I can't say that I would find it offensive per se, but it is distasteful and at the very least, poor marketing on the part of the manufacturer.
If Chinese flags were sold with the phrase "在日本制造" stamped across the front, I am sure it would raise Chinese ire. More so than Americans, Chinese tend to be hypersensitive concerning issues of national pride and identity.
The legislation, however, is just stupid political posturing, and of course, the even the bill's authors know that it will not be codified into law. Rather, this is simply a case of political posturing and very publicly taking a position on an issue that has become sensitive, especially since the US economy tanked and the dollar is like toilet paper.
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We should just slap a monster tariff on flags made in Bad China.
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To nanheyangrouchuan
A Bad China?
Do you mean a bad CHina which bring down a 1.5% inflation for you and where you transfer the production carbon to?
China must be bad if he used to be the poor boy next door who suddenly wants to dine with you on the same table and ride the same car;
China must be bad if he is not the one any more whom you could GRANT your “generosity” such as an Olympic;
China must be bad if he is the very grape you cannot reach;
China must be bad if he made a annual 10%GDP in 30 years which your highly recommended DemonCrazy cannot make;
Hollywood need a bad China to make cold war kitsch and actors to become famous;
Your media need a bad China to make bucks by spoon-feeding you what you want;
Your politicans need a bad China to have better vote count;
America need a bad China to point finger and say that is the BADDER guy;
You need a bad China to live on and look and superir8, with or without a visa;
I witnessed how bad West treat China in last 3 decades of reform when no single day passed without West’s badmonthing China.
Give China another ten bad years, you’ll see who will decide who is bad.
Bottom line: I don't blame you hating China so badly since you are too dense to know a real China. But to help you know about your complex, following link is sure helpful in healing: http://www.telospress.com/main/index.php?main_page=news_article&article_id=237
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I mean a Bad China that floods the world with poisoned food and poisoned, defective products.
A bad China that uses its influence to starve millions of Koreans to death over the past 30 years.
A bad China which is the only government in the world to deliberately proliferate nuke weapons to other nations.
A bad China that sells the organs of political prisoners for profit.
A bad China that claims "non-interference" in other nations affairs while a ship of arms arrives for Robert Mugabe (and NK, Khmer Rouge, Iranian nukes, Hugo Chavez, etc).
A bad China that claims it is the alternative to western colonization in Africa while colonizing Africa.
A bad China that points the finger at the US's GHG emissions while being the world leader in GHG emissions as well as flooding the world with inorganic and organic pollution, recklessly ignoring all of the free advice that the US, EU and Japan have offered to reduce emissions. Then Bad China uses pollution reduction equipment not to reduce pollution to reverse engineer and sell to poorer nations.
A bad China that claims to have a developed, market economy to gain influential access to world financial bodies while claiming to be a "developing nation" to sucker the world for free money and aid...
all while maintaining only the third manned space program on the planet as well as a rapidly modernizing navy and soon to be the world's largest submarine force.
Bad, rotten, filthy China.
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Yangrouchuan, problem is that by your standards lots of places are bad and rotten.
If these same standards were to apply to USA, for example (although applying the same standards to others is VERY unamerican), US would be ranked even worse.
I mean, China didn't kill 150,000 people in Iraq and create 4 million refugees for example. And China still has many years of development before it can catch up to US arms sales. And so on.
I wonder where all those "I love China nationalism is ridiculous" American patriots are now to lambast this law.
Probably eating yangrou chuan.
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I'm right here. I think this law is just as ridiculous. And said so during the Chinese flare-up that the Chinese nationalism was so stupid, it reminded me of the idiocy my own country went through with Freedom Fries and Freedom Toast - although on a much worse scale, because most resonable Americans thought (and I hope, think about this law) that it was much more about posturing and press releases, instead of actual action.
Much UNLIKE what we saw here this past May.
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To Yangrouchuan,
How impressive you just recited loudly all you were spoonfed. Though without knowing the meaning, you missed no single line. I'm pretty sure the boy next desk has pat your behind, as a gesture of recognition. Man, you are accepted, finally. lol!