Culture Clash at a Chinese-Owned Plant in Ohio • Hacker News Board

Re: Culture Clash at a Chinese-Owned Plant in Ohio

#21

Post by omegaworks » Mon, Jun 12, 2017, 2:30 AM UTC

>Such lapses are common in the brutally competitive auto parts industry... but they can easily lead to amputation or even death.

This is exactly why these regulations need to exist and be enforced as strictly and evenhandedly as possible. If they didn't exist, your competitors will implement any measure, including ones that compromise worker safety, to undercut your prices. Market forces will attempt to shape this industry to be the leanest it can possibly be.

Capitalism can grind fungible labor into a literal pulp if it is allowed.

Re: Culture Clash at a Chinese-Owned Plant in Ohio

#22

Post by nickpsecurity » Mon, Jun 12, 2017, 2:50 AM UTC

rukittenme wrote: post #14

nickpsecurity wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The author of your link keeps repeating that things will balance simply because they will balance. That sounds like "what I say is true because I say it is true." Is there proof of this beyond the author's mere assertions? Also, the author says we pay for stuff that turns into capital for them. They use that capital to create more businesses or own more stuff here. That doesn't sound like it's going to balance for th…

I suppose you could look at it in the classical economic sense. I give you $1 because I value it less than a cheeseburger. You give me a cheeseburger because you value it less than a $1. I don't think that means things even out between US and China. But I do think it means things even out overall. We may "lose" with China and "win" with others. But ultimately, as long as people are spending their own money (as they w…

" But ultimately, as long as people are spending their own money (as they want to spend it) I can't see how a trade deficit/surplus will ever affect them."

Long-term, risk avoidance is a weakness in people. They'd be spending it thinking of one result with another, worse one on the way. That's a way it might happen.

Re: Culture Clash at a Chinese-Owned Plant in Ohio

#23

Post by litany » Mon, Jun 12, 2017, 2:50 AM UTC

bduerst wrote: post #6

Glass is heavy and brittle, making it both expensive and difficult to ship. Many glass mills need to be within a certain mile radius of the factories they supply because of this. NYT missed this in the article.

You're right, the article didn't mention difficulties shipping glass. It did mention that they wanted to be close to their customers though. I'm not really sure that your detail would have added anything as the article wasn't really about glass manufacturing. It could have been added with one or two sentences though.

Re: Culture Clash at a Chinese-Owned Plant in Ohio

#24

Post by jbscpa » Mon, Jun 12, 2017, 2:51 AM UTC

"Take This Job and Shove It"

A corporate executive is assigned to help improve the efficiency of a small-town brewery in this comedy inspired by the Johnny Paycheck song. When the small town turns out to be his old hometown, however, the executive finds himself torn between his loyalties to his company and his old friends.

Re: Culture Clash at a Chinese-Owned Plant in Ohio

#25

Post by nickpsecurity » Mon, Jun 12, 2017, 2:52 AM UTC

toomuchtodo wrote: post #13

nickpsecurity wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"and if they can why couldn't the same plant be owned and operated by Americans?" You already know the answer to that. It's why they shipped the jobs overseas in the first place. In many cases, the workers even keep voting for the kinds of people that do it. I especially found it amusing that Trump was appealing as a capitalist to workers whose jobs were lost due to capitalism like this. Many of these areas are self-…

Workers voted for Trump because he was the only candidate who offered to help them, regardless if he was lying. I wouldn't be amused; it's a canary in a coal mine (no pun intended).

This is also true. They were foolish to vote for the kind of person who left them jobless. They thought it wise to vote for the only person promising them something. The latter happened because they're too superficial: most districts vote out the honest, well-performing folks early. That superficial "he-said-she-said" stuff is what they need to stop doing the most.

Re: Culture Clash at a Chinese-Owned Plant in Ohio

#26

Post by icantdrive55 » Mon, Jun 12, 2017, 2:54 AM UTC

nickpsecurity wrote: post #12

tuna-piano wrote: post #9

China is a gigantic investor in the USA. Whenever you hear the term "trade deficit" that the US has to China, there is an identical amount in "investment surplus" that the US gets from China. That investment is everywhere - in our stock market, in our government debt, in our real estate and in our Ohio Windshield plants. Every time you buy an iPhone, you're handing China hundreds of dollars which they then invest in…

The author of your link keeps repeating that things will balance simply because they will balance. That sounds like "what I say is true because I say it is true." Is there proof of this beyond the author's mere assertions? Also, the author says we pay for stuff that turns into capital for them. They use that capital to create more businesses or own more stuff here. That doesn't sound like it's going to balance for th…

He uses realestate as his argument, and that's about it.

And why not?

The rich Chinese know our system is less corrupt, more stable than their corrupt/fickle whatever. They know owning realestate in the United States is a no brainer. Why not shoot off a few emails and procure homes, and commercial buildings? You don't even need to be a citizen.

I can think of any country that makes buying realestate so easy. "You can't get a driver's licence, but you can buy an apartment complex.". I don't get it.

Re: Culture Clash at a Chinese-Owned Plant in Ohio

#27

Post by [deleted] » Mon, Jun 12, 2017, 2:58 AM UTC

nickpsecurity wrote: post #25

toomuchtodo wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Workers voted for Trump because he was the only candidate who offered to help them, regardless if he was lying. I wouldn't be amused; it's a canary in a coal mine (no pun intended).

This is also true. They were foolish to vote for the kind of person who left them jobless. They thought it wise to vote for the only person promising them something. The latter happened because they're too superficial: most districts vote out the honest, well-performing folks early. That superficial "he-said-she-said" stuff is what they need to stop doing the most.

[deleted]

Re: Culture Clash at a Chinese-Owned Plant in Ohio

#28

Post by cylinder » Mon, Jun 12, 2017, 3:02 AM UTC

mjevans wrote: post #8

jacquesm wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Those jobs were historically there to begin with, then tooling + process + jobs were shipped overseas because that was cheaper, the resulting trade surplus made it possible for the Chinese to ship the factory back to the United States. The big question then is can they remain profitable in the long run if they do things the US way, and if they can why couldn't the same plant be owned and operated by Americans?

As an American, my observation is that we're allergic to logic and long term planning/investment.

Ask a bunch of American investors to help with your glass plant in Ohio. They will suggest you call them back when you're ready to build the "Airbnb for Glass Factories."

Re: Culture Clash at a Chinese-Owned Plant in Ohio

#29

Post by toomuchtodo » Mon, Jun 12, 2017, 3:03 AM UTC

nickpsecurity wrote: post #25

toomuchtodo wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Workers voted for Trump because he was the only candidate who offered to help them, regardless if he was lying. I wouldn't be amused; it's a canary in a coal mine (no pun intended).

This is also true. They were foolish to vote for the kind of person who left them jobless. They thought it wise to vote for the only person promising them something. The latter happened because they're too superficial: most districts vote out the honest, well-performing folks early. That superficial "he-said-she-said" stuff is what they need to stop doing the most.

> They were foolish to vote for the kind of person who left them jobless.

Clinton's policies would've left them just as jobless (by way of her supporting the TPP, finishing off those crippled by NAFTA, which was a project of Clinton's husband during his presidential stint). When in doubt, vote for the person who says they'll burn everything down, which appears to be on schedule.

Re: Culture Clash at a Chinese-Owned Plant in Ohio

#30

Post by fma » Mon, Jun 12, 2017, 3:05 AM UTC

omegaworks wrote: post #21

>Such lapses are common in the brutally competitive auto parts industry... but they can easily lead to amputation or even death. This is exactly why these regulations need to exist and be enforced as strictly and evenhandedly as possible. If they didn't exist, your competitors will implement any measure, including ones that compromise worker safety, to undercut your prices. Market forces will attempt to shape this in…

Yep. Lack of regulation can affect more than just the employees. If that plant can pollute like they do in China - everyone in that city would all have a negative impact. The Republican administration believes regulation is bad and must be removed. It's a shame what people would believe in the name of 'jobs'.