Chocolate Connection

            It’s an addiction really. The emotions you feel as you bite into chocolate; whether it’s a cookie, truffle, piece of cake, ice cream, anything. As it slowly melts in your mouth filling every taste bud with joy, your mind starts flooding with past experiences and connections with this decadent dessert. A kind of chocolaty feminine connection that leads back to the beginning of this family. I’ve only heard stories of the soothing affect it has had on my elders, but I have experienced it first hand with the ones closest to me.

            The subtle crack of the chocolate as it drops onto my tongue causes memories of my mother to fill my mind. From when I was young and would share chocolate cookies and treats with her. Questioning her about the world, “Why is chocolate brown? Who’s George Bush? But I thought George Washington is our president? Do you think horses like chocolate?” as I lick off the chocolate smeared all over my fingers. Mom with her motherly patience would answer each and every one of those questions until I passed out from a sugar high. Others are from more recent times when we go out for chocolate croissants and coffee as I confide in her. The soothing words of my mother combined with the sweetness of the croissant make for a relaxing morning that calms my nerves.

            As the chocolate softens in my mouth memories of my grandmother flood into my mind. Tea time with my Googoo. My favorite blanket spread out on the floor, on top sits my tiny tea set; the teapot and cups filled with milk and the little plates filled with Oreos along with my grandmother’s fancy chocolates. In most of my happy memories like this one, I can feel the warm sensation of the sun on my face. I once again bombarded this time my grandmother with questions. She giggled at my curiosity and answered them too as her crystal blue eyes stared into mine. Memories from when I was older surprise me as well. The most common one is walking into my grandparent’s apartment and being welcomed with the smell of fresh baked brownies, her specialty. We sit together over a plate of brownies and have girl talk that includes the fascinating stories of my relatives that I never had the chance to meet. Not a worry in the world.

            Us Ekstrom women, though many of us have never met, bond through this dessert. The memories that consume us as we consume the chocolate fill our brains to capacity. Causing all the worries to fade away. This is the way I get to bond with one of my great, great, grandmothers who was one of the first of very few women to attend college once it was allowed for their gender. How else could she have inspired me to become the strong feminist I am today? Oh yes, the strange female connection my family shares through chocolate. They all speak to me through a dessert. 

Helping China

By outsourcing our work to China we have tarnished many American morals. Incidents including child labor, underpaid workers, over worked workers, unsafe working conditions, ignoring the environmental issues, and much more. In recent years we have watched the Chinese government scrambling together to get things in order. Due to the now booming export and foreign market, China has been working to get back on top of many of these issues. Free trade is not encouraging such irresponsible behavior, in fact it is doing the opposite by pushing the foreign governments like China moving again to get on top of these issues.

This past January Northern China has had a surge of pollution, specifically thick smog that encased Beijing. The pollution was rated by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency with an air quality index of surpassing 300. Though this rise in pollution is not considered a good thing, in hindsight it jump started the slow moving action of the government in the effort to decrease the pollution problem they have.

On just the second “Hazardous” day, in an effort to stop Beijing’s “most polluted days on record” from lasting longer the government ordered temporarily shutting down 100 factories and one third of government vehicles off of the streets. According to Wang Anshun the Mayor of Beijing, the government has created a preliminary plan to curb the pollution, also quoted saying “I hope we can have blue skies, clean water, less traffic and a more balanced education system.” (Wong, Edward) This plan he spoke of was shown in the Xihuan, a Chinese news station: in the goal to bring down the density of major air pollutants by 2 percent this year, officials have ordered 180,000 out dated vehicles off the roads, promoting the use of clean energy government vehicles and heating systems, and growing trees over 250 square miles of land in the next five years.

Although currently this pollution issue may seem like a large product of the outsourcing our companies have done because we have helped to create these new manufacturing factories. I am not going to deny that because are part of the problem, but because our companies are over there they have their own regulations for pollution and workers and in order to keep their good reputation in tact they are going to make sure their standards are high. The need to bring a better reputation to this outsourcing is important, as it said in Businessweek, “Guarantees by multi-nationals that offshore suppliers are meeting widely accepted codes of conduct have been important to maintaining political support in the U.S. for growing trade ties with China, especially in the wake of protests by unions and antiglobalization activists.”(Secrets, Lies, and Sweatshops) Our businesses are bringing our regulations over seas and sharing them with these foreign countries who have less stringent laws. Our foreign trade business has exported more than just jobs, but money for the governments, and values such as stricter laws for a better working environment inside and outside the factory.

Works Cited

Wong, Edward. "Beijing Takes Steps to Fight Pollution as Problem Worsens." New York Times. N.p., 30 Jan. 2013. Web. 7 Mar. 2013.

"Secrets, Lies, And Sweatshops." Bloomberg Businessweek. N.p., 26 Nov. 2006. Web. 7 Mar. 2013.

Lubman, Stanley. "Working Conditions: The Persistence of Problems in China’s Factories." Wall Street Journal | China. N.p., 25 Sept. 2012. Web. 7 Mar. 2013.

The Fight for Domestic Business in China

           China’s problem is quite the opposite from America’s--they have too much outsourcing into their country rather than from it. Though I am sure neither you nor a lot of China sees this as a problem because of the major boost it gives to China’s economy, even during this recession most of the world is experiencing. The problem is that these large foreign companies, who have been coming here for it’s cheap manufacturing and the large market for their products, have made it impossible for any of China’s domestic companies to keep up and flourish as much as the foreigner’s have.

            The economy of China relies purely on their exports and as the past has shown us, it is not safe for a country’s wealth to rely on one source. Due to this, it has been Beijing’s top priority to fix this problem by encouraging the growth of the domestic market. The Chinese government has been focused on taking advantage of the extra export money they have to take a big step up in the bettering of the country. According to Premier Wen Jiabao at the UN general assembly in New York “China has brought down the number of people in absolute poverty from 250 million to 15 million in less than 30 years" (China as a Global Player) this is a benefit of the foreign companies and the work of the government combined. Also over the past ten years China’s economy has been growing by 10.5% annually. All this work the government has been doing has paid off, but it still needs working for the better future of their domestic market.

China’s domestic businesses have been struggling to keep up; those who are really in deep have turned to illegal methods in getting ahead. In May of 2008 the Chinese government had discovered a child labor ring that tricked children from poor areas to come work in the “booming coastal cities.” This included over a hundred children ranging between the ages of 13 and 15 (the legal working age is 16); they were forced to work 300 hours a month. Though we may be bringing money to China by bringing our business there it seems like we are really hurting them in the end not only their businesses, but the people as well. The portrayal of the pressure we have created was written out well in the New York Times article, “The abuses may also reflect the combined pressures of worker shortages, high inflation and a rising currency that have reduced profit margins of some Chinese factories and forced them to scramble for an edge — even an illegal one — to stay competitive.” (David Barboza, China Says) The future of China is domestic demand and consumption so the importance of fixing this problem is immense.

            I hope to see China fix their domestic business problem because the homegrown market is part of every country’s culture; and to see it disappear would be like seeing their culture slowly decay. China’s government is working hard to stop this from becoming their future. From the success they have had so far with the rising of their economy and bettering of the country I believe they will work it out in time.

Works Cited

"China as a Global Player." World Economic Forum. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Feb. 2013.

Barboza, David. "China Says Abusive Child Labor Ring Is Exposed." New York Times. N.p., 1 May 2008. Web. 28 Feb. 2013.

Jiebao, Wen. "Promote Sound, Sustainable and Quality Development." The World Economic Forum Annual Meeting of New Champions 2011. China, Dalian. 28 Feb. 2013. Speech.

"China." Sourcing Line. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Feb. 2013.