I buy products made in Taiwan, but not China. Am I a racist?

[Boojatta]

Perhaps, but then isn't the government of China controlled by racists who want to take political independence away from the race of people who live in Taiwan?

Perhaps there's no difference between Taiwan and China and they're like South Korea and North Korea: one people torn apart by some meaningless debate about whether to crack open boiled eggs at the big end or the narrow end. Surely North and South Korea could almalgamate with no change in either government, except for some trivial details of terminology. ;-)

[mac2]

1. Not unless you want lead in your children's toys,

bad ingredients, etc. in drugs, etc., etc.

Their leaders are to blame not the people.

[Juche]

2. I didn't know Taiwan made products

I thought they were too wealthy for that and moved onto high end product manufacturing in biotechnology or electronics.

I don't know if you're serious or not with this post. But if not, Taiwan is a democracy that has earned a very high rating for human, civil & political rights from freedom house. China is an autocratic dictatorship that has earned near the bottom in these things.

You don't become racialist until you avoid African products.

[IntravenousDemilo]

3. I must be a racialist then...

...because I don't see myself ever buying anything from Zimbabwe until Mugabe leaves office and ZANU supporters stop massacring white farmers and expropriating their land. Not that we ever get Zimbabwean products here, but if we did, I'd boycott them.

[Juche]

5. Stereotypical racialism

I don't know what half of those words you said mean, but I bet they are bad.

Seeing how Zimbabwe had elections recently that, if they are followed will pull Mugabe's party out of power they are making some progress. If.

[IntravenousDemilo]

7. Which words in particular?

Expropriation is more or less the government relieving you of your property and giving it to itself or someone else undeserving. Boycott means I won't buy their products. I don't know what the other hard words might be, though.

Yes, I sincerely hope Zimbabwe really is starting to right itself and that the racist homophobe ("gays are like dogs") Mugabe will be out on his ear very soon. But I fear that even now he's going to try to cling desperately to power.

[Juche]

8. My sense of humor keeps confusing people

I have to start using smilies, people keep taking me seriously.

I have the same worry about Mugabe. I sincerely hoped it'd be like Pakistan or better, where the MDC kicks Mugabe's party out of power and starts fixing the economic and human rights problems there, but I have doubts that he'd go down w/o a fight. There was a legit election in Myanmar back in 1988, but the military gov just canceled the results and are still in power 20 years later. Something like that happening in Zimbabwe worries me.

[Boojatta]

6. I have a tape recorder made in Taiwan.

Panasonic RQ-A220

[MADem]

4. That's like saying "I buy stuff made in North Dakota, but not South Dakota."

They're all CHINESE, ya know, the differences are POLITICAL, not ethnic or racial.

[karab]

10. Maybe not

My understanding was that the people on Taiwan considered themselves different that the mainland Chinese, then the Nationalists invaded in 1949 and took over the government there. The mainland non-Communist Chinese (this is getting difficult) also considered themselves different than the native Tiawanese. I don't know how things stand now, but Taiwan is a democratic country and China is clearly not. Ask a Tibetan.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

9. Do you buy products made in the U.S.?

:shrug: