A new generation of consumers

The children of China in school today outnumber the total population of the United States. I think Wal-Mart figured this out many years ago--the Walton family organization (they are 26th today in wealth, Buffet is 1st) is a marketing genius. First they bought the labor there using our know-how and raw-materials, then they marketed there. The people had money from the jobs to spend on the products they were creating. Why not skip the middle step and just market to the Chinese? By-pass all those stupid protestors and regulations trying to keep Wal-Mart jobs out of their communities. You may have noticed in those gut wrenching videos of the earthquake last spring as people scrambled to get out of danger, how extremely well dressed they were and what lovely buildings and parks were being destroyed. That's the new consumer generation American business caters to, not us. We're yesterday's news. How the global financial meltdown, which some are now suggesting belatedly was economic terrorism with help from our own stupid Congress, we'll have to see. The U.S. government caught on to the Walmartization of China, particularly the USDA, and is acting accordingly.

Meanwhile, we're still shipping tofu from Ohio soybeans to China (much bigger market--they actually like tofu). Then we buy their funny contaminating mercury light bulbs made in dirty coal factories and feel self-righteous because Ohio environmentalists believe in Al Gore and want alternative sources of energy not our clean coal. It's called trade.