Hillbilly Vance's "Chinese Peasant" Problem
In their piece “Your Home Without China,” New York Times reporters Pablo Robles, Agnes Chang, and Lazaro Gamio showed Americans how they depend on products from China in their home life. From the interactive graphics, readers could see that 99% of their toasters, 99% of alarm clocks, 97% of baby strollers, 96% of thermoses, 96% of charcoal grills, 90% of microwaves, 90% of first aid kits, 86% of gaming consoles, 83% of blenders, 82% of pots and pans, 80% of dishes, 76% of toys, and more were made in Chinam — or in VP Vance’s typically insulting words, by “Chinese peasants.”
Not only everyday Americans, our MAGA president Trump, who complained about China “ripping us off like nobody’s ever ripped us off,” and imposed 145% eye-watering tariffs on Chinese imports, also depends on those “peasant” products from China.
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It is more than ironic that the proud and patriotic MAGA movement had to rely on “peasant” factories in China, such as Jiahao Flag Co. Ltd. in Anhui Province, to make their flags or hats. It was rich and revealing of J.D. Vance, our hillbilly vice president, in his contempt for the Chinese workers, entrepreneurs, engineers, factory owners, and exporters who cater to the American market, calling them “Chinese peasants.”
Vance should know that it was not the “Chinese peasants” who stole jobs from the Americans; rather, it was American companies that placed orders for their products from Chinese manufacturers. It was not the “Chinese peasants” who caused factory shutdowns in the U.S.; it was American policy makers who had not prepared American manufacturers and workers for the “China shock” following China’s accession into the WTO, which the U.S. Congress approved.
https://www.postalley.org/2025/05/05/hillbilly-vances-chinese-peasant-problem/
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