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A comment on The Decline of the U.S. Machine-Tool Industry and Prospects for Recovery (1994). Parent comment

Re:The Decline of the U.S. Machine-Tool Industry and Prospec... by dccoolgai on Tuesday April 08, 2025 @06:40PM (#43627172)
Unfortunately, when cheap goods are sourced outside the US "innovation" usually just means "slave labor" or "flouting environmental regulations".

Not the case for Europe, etc. but most Americans are better off without competing against slave labor so billionaires can become trillionaires while they lose social security, healthcare, etc. I'll pay an extra 20 percent for well-made things that aren't produced by indentured servants.

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Re:The Decline of the U.S. Machine-Tool Industry and Prospec... by umeshunni on Tuesday April 08, 2025 @07:02PM (#43627315)
> Unfortunately, when cheap goods are sourced outside the US "innovation" usually just means "slave labor" or "flouting environmental regulations".

Eh, China has 20x-ed its GDP per capita in a generation. They're not slaves.

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Re:The Decline of the U.S. Machine-Tool Industry and Prospec... by tharne on Tuesday April 08, 2025 @07:15PM (#43627402)
> Eh, China has 20x-ed its GDP per capita in a generation. They're not slaves.

Maybe not according-to-hoyle slaves, but they're not in a great spot either:

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/jun/18/foxconn-l...

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