politics

The exceptions being long-standing, privately owned, trade craft businesses, like Red Wing boots.

Chinese made parts are generally worse. At least industrially. We buy a few things from China that we need in high volume and we have to go over every single part because inevitably 25% will be out of spec in one way or another. We've bought Chinese steel a few times and about half of that material was basically useless.

We avoid Chinese tooling, parts, and steel as much as we can. We will buy used Western made machinery before buying new Chinese machinery for the same reason. The two Chinese made presses we have have had to be rebuilt twice, and were only ever used for light duty stamping. Those presses, only about 20 years old are being decommissioned rather than repaired any further.

Most of what we use is American or German made. German parts generally hold tighter tolerances but they seem to last about as long. We have a few French made lasers that work really well until they don't, and then they're a nightmare to service.

None of that matters. Because we cannot function without these things coming in from overseas. I don't know of any industrial building in my city that can. We make a lot of stuff in this town you need that you'd never think about. Conveyors, refrigerated trailers, the hydraulic fittings and irrigation systems that literally supply the entire agricultural sector, all of it depends on a vast intercontinental trade network that is actively collapsing. The latest order of punches and die inserts we ordered are sitting on a boat in Schenzhen and have been for weeks. Because even though we're willing to pay the tariffs on the few things we order, the ten thousand other customers may not be. And until they can fill a boat with goods people are willing to pay a premium on, that boat isn't going to leave harbor.

Empty shelves are only the beginning of how irrecoverably fucked we're about to be.

Also, high prices are cool, but it's also because Biden left them such a terrible economy.

Very Orwellian. Never mind the objective data we could all see with our eyes about the fantastic economy Biden had. We could all see people complaining about high prices of eggs and the bitching they did about inflation. But nevermind all that, none of that is true because of what Pee-Wee here says.

And when MAGA Americans are angry, they double down on their support for the people that made them suffer.

What I don't get is how capitalism itself is supposed to survive. No consumer spending means companies don't make sales and then assets don't generate enough value to justify already very expensive law enforcing cost to protect it, which would go up if every day a truck pulled into Walmart just like Black Friday

That's an interesting point. When I first read the quote from Trump about 2 dolls instead of 30, I thought he was just out of touch - I mean are dolls still a popular thing in today's day and age? Is he just out of touch?

But no, there's a reason for the usage of the term. Quite an interesting point, especially considering the demographic that largely voted for him this second election was younger men.

Alt headline "Steven Miller wants YOU to buy dolls"

"Show me on this doll where Der Gropenführer touched you...."

I can't believe this man exists in the public spotlight in any capacity and it wasn't the last straw for normal Americans who don't want to live inside a stupid HBO drama with ridiculously written villains.

edit: I've been informed most Americans would rather live in a fantasy world than reality anyway and that's why we're in this mess.

Nah, he looks like he wishes he had the courage to do that.

And unless that apology sounds like a self inflicted shot to the head I don't wanna hear that shit either.