Propoganda 101

Watch the news lately, and tell me what you notice. Is there a new theme? Not sure yet? What if I gave you a clue -- China. Now what goes through your mind? For the last several months, I've noticed an abundance of anti-China themed news throughout the media. The most recent case involved the lead tainted toys (for which the Chinese Boss killed himself), the toxic toothpastes, toxic pet food, unsafe toy parts, defective tires, etc. While I never really had the highest expectations of a product if it said 'made in China' (you get what you pay for), I was surprised by the sudden burst of media focused on China's products in what seemed like a fear mongering propaganda fest.

I fully agree with the fact that products that can harm people should be banned. However, I don't think there's a surge of unsafe products from China, which leaves me wondering why there's a dramatic anti-Chinese product hype. Either there's a surge of more defective products from China, or it's a strategic move to compromise China's economy, or lastly - a new tactic to distract the public from the failed attempt to free Iraq.

China's economy has been growing rapidly. Of course, it shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone considering how much of our capitalistic world depends on them. In short, China is on its way to become the new world power and USA knows this. You can't attack China militarily (especially for no reason), so how do you compromise such a big nation? The only logical thing I can speculate is to do so using economics. By making millions of consumers paranoid about any product with a 'made in China' label on it, China's industry would feel the pressure.

So is China a victim of its own success? Is China responsible for the quality of its products? To answer both questions at the same time, I'll use a Spiderman movie quote - "with great power comes great responsibility". As a potential new world power, China has to step up as a leader, taking full responsibility for its decisions and its impact on the world. Unlike the previous century, China cannot sit quietly behind its walls from the world's eyes. As a leader, China has to take responsiblity for the quality of its products, it has to pay attention to the vast pollution it creates (especially as the world's greatest oil consumer), it has to pay attention to its role in maintaining world peace, it has to play a protective role with the United Nations etc. As a new leader, the world has its eyes set on you and will analyze all of your actions. Just remember - with great power, comes great responsibility.