[email protected] (ecce) wrote in message
news:<
[email protected]>...
> "Tom Hinchliffe" <
[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:<
[email protected]>...
> > Does anyone have any views as to whether either of these two frames is any better than the
> > other? I would be interested to hear from anynoe who has ridden/owned both.
> >
> > Tom
>
>
>
> Both bikes are made by Taiwanese slaves - Trek and Giant use the resources of the country, pollute
> it's soil, air and water, so they can provide high quality products with little cost involved YET
> STILL charge customers a high price so that the company boss gets a massive pay check.
>
> BUY USA or ITALIAN or FRENCH made bikes.
Two things to point out -
first, MANY of the products that we know as "European" or "US" are actually made in SE Asia and
shipped here for sale, with a US or European label. Still more are partially manufactured there,
and then finished here. It's very common for the same plant to be making the products for several
different companies, and the main difference is the label put on at the end of the production
line. Just because it's a US or European brand does not mean that it was made there. (To wit,
there are a number of "US" autos made primarily in Japan, and many "Japanese" autos made almost
completely in the US!)
Second, just because people there get what WE think are ridiculously low wages does NOT mean that
they are slaves, or even being exploited. To wit, several years ago I was at a "sweat shop" in
Honduras run by a well known US company. However, it was far from being what we here made it out to
be - it was a modern facility similar to a nice US factory, with a bank and restaurant attached. The
people in the area voiced strong disapproval over the controversy in the US over such plants - for
them, these were some of the best, highest paying jobs available! While they paid very little
compared to the same job in the US, there those wages provided a decent living. Are all factories
overseas similar to this? Almost certainly not. However, the point is that one should not make naive
blanket judgements based on the standards and limited knowledge that we have here.
