Cashmere Kills!

[Sartorially Challenged]

I thought this article was midly informative, but also ridiculously funny at times (unintentionally so):

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/htm...shmere282.html

Some snippets:

It's impossible to say how much any single product contributes to China's air pollution. But the spike in demand for cashmere is taking a toll on the soil, air and water in China as well as the U.S. "” a cost that never appears on any store's tag. And many consumers are unaware of the link.

"I would never have imagined," Colleen Young said amid the bulk Cheerios and plasma TVs at a Costco in Chicago. The Issaquah-based wholesaler moved 18 percent of the world's consumption of cashmere in 2001 "” more than a million sweaters.

"When you're shopping for a sweater, you would never think of pollution. Maybe the poor animal, maybe slave labor. But never pollution."

Still, she gazed appreciatively at the $69.99 lavender crewneck in her hands, pulling at the Chinese-made sweater's waistline to test the quality. "That's a really good price," she said. "This is every bit as nice as the one I bought at Bloomingdale's."

Or the politically naive remarks, such as:

In the 1950s, the father of modern China, Mao Zedong, urged his people to open the western frontier and make the plains bloom. Near Shatar's home, migrants arrived in 1956 and established the town of Wuliji. They dug wells and opened a factory to make wooden tables and chairs. Within a decade, they had chopped down all the local trees, and the factory closed.

From the 1950s to the 1980s, migrants helped triple the Chinese province of Inner Mongolia's population to 21 million. Some tried to cultivate land that had never been farmed. Many others swarmed to the fast-growing cashmere trade.

Yeah, a "father" who killed an estimated 30 million of "his" children. And, of course, that "economic" migration was in great part a design on the part of the ruling Han majority to overwhelm the local Mongolian population and turn Inner Mongolia into "China proper."

 

[Kent Wang]

Is there anything wrong with the legal movement of peoples? It's rather patronizing to the ethnic minorities to keep them partitioned.

What was wrong with the opening of the American west, the illegal theft of the land from the Native Americans or the actual settlement? In the case of Inner Mongolia, those lands were legally acquired and have been part of the Chinese empire for centuries. The settlement of the area by Han Chinese
is completely legal; to prevent it is to infringe on their freedom of movement. Aside from theoretical considerations, Han settlement also brought wealth, education, health and prosperity to this impoverished area and have profoundly improved the standard of living.

 

[minimal]

Originally Posted by Kent Wang

Is there anything wrong with the legal movement of peoples? It's rather patronizing to the ethnic minorities to keep them partitioned.
Needless to say, "legal movement of people", "part of the Chinese empire for ages", and "to prevent [settlement] it is to infringe on freedom of movement" are *very* strong themes in the mainland Chinese educational system. As is the statement that the settled area is better off because "Han settlement [brings] wealth, education, health and prosperity to this impoverished area". These are exactly the same notes played to explain why things for Tibet have been "so great" since '51... But hey, the sweaters are cheaper!! Edit: I add that, yes, indeed something was wrong with the theft of land from the American Indians. I don't know what, if anything, to do about it, but that will not prevent me from stating the truth. This is very far from the mentality of the Chinese government, where mistakes cannot be acknowledged only covered up and all traces burned.

 

[lockey2k]

Lots of politically charged threads today... Can't we all just get along?

 

[Hard2Fit]

Freedom of speech. What a beautiful thing. . .

 

[kronik]

You have deviated completely from the intention of this thread.

CASHMERE KILLS!

(And I will continue to wear it, lovingly..

)

 

[Kent Wang]

Originally Posted by minimal

Needless to say, "legal movement of people", "part of the Chinese empire for ages", and "to prevent [settlement] it is to infringe on freedom of movement" are *very* strong themes in the mainland Chinese educational system.
Certainly true, but I was educated in the US and my knowledge of Chinese history has come from classes taught by Westerners and materials that I have read written primarily by unsympathetic Western sources. You mention that these are themes taught in Chinese schools but never explain why they are illegitimate. Yes, and I bring this up not because Inner Mongolia is important but because it applies to Tibet, which, frankly, I think they've been doing a fantastic job with. The violent repression was tragic but it has been several decades since that happened and since then Beijing has been making great progress building communications and travel links, such as the new raillroad to Tibet, so that more people have the freedom to come and go from there.

 

[minimal]

Originally Posted by Kent Wang

[snip...]
Yes, and I bring this up not because Inner Mongolia is important but because it applies to Tibet, which, frankly, I think they've been doing a fantastic job with. The violent repression was tragic but it has been several decades since that happened and since then Beijing has been making great progress building communications and travel links, such as the new raillroad to Tibet, so that more people have the freedom to come and go from there.

You've *got* to be kidding me. Yes the railroad is perfect, and as you well know it's the tool China uses to flood Tibet with Han, and to transport Tibetans out. Now Tibetans are a minority in the own "country".

I'm continuing this over in the Current Events forum, where it belongs.