Made-in-Chinaphobia

My broken earphones (just the ones I have not dumped)

How many of your electronic devices or apps have broken lately? Were they broken because of your fault or was there something to do with the brand? Of course user’s fault is a primary factor. But, they may also be broken because of horrible low quality. I had fifteen earphones gone in two years. That means roughly eight each year, or four each semester. I could have got purchasing prizes more than somebody else. It sounds like I am a rich guy, no, not at all.  

I have a made-in-chinaphobia now, in the US. It is not because I am rich or do not buy made-in-china products, it is because I could not parry them in the US markets. I have tried to buy each of them from a different brand with variety of prices, company, made manual and online purchases. I have pretty much bought almost all brands that currently exist in the market, since each of them came from a different brand, but the results were still the same; they are everywhere. 

At least, one of an earphone’s components must come from China, either the box, cord, or other! I should recognize that China is invading the US markets like it does elsewhere; the demand for such low quality products over here is also increasing. Probably, low income people in the US is rising? It is not exactly known, but really, the market allows them to be here. I do not say that all made-in-china products are bad, some do have incredible long life span. But, not earphone.  Now, I have the fifteenth gone. Only my left ear can hear sounds. I am looking forward to buy a new one. I will come to buy the same thing; I hope not. 

I would not be surprised at all if I were currently in my home country. I would purchase a made-in-china thing consciously because there is no other option, they are pretty much everywhere. We are just end users, so that's all we can do. But, it seems like same thing happens in the US as well. 

** Hope this gives you an inspiration 

CASINO AND PROSTITUTES

Source

We know Las Vegas, Macau, Hong Kong, Beijing, or many other world class cities that have the gambling business culture. What usually comes with gambling is entertainment. Dancing, alcohol, and musics are inherent with gambling industry. Some of us usually see these things first on TV shows, particularly Hollywood movies. I recall movies like Casino, and Jacky Chan’s, Rush Hour, he fights in a casino. This gives us a virtual experience about the casino industry that we typically heard conservative, and religious people would not want them in their backyard. However, seeing this kind of environment gives us a different perspective. It tells us another way of life of other people in another hemisphere. Some folks  may put themselves incompatible to such a culture, but all we need to do in the US, and it is applicable elsewhere, is just abide rules, respect people, and do not forget to respect yourself. That’s all we can do for our self-preservation while out.

Visit to Washington DC

Washington Monument 

Coming to the US without visiting its capital is like leaving behind a curiosity unsatisfied. There are many reasons why; Washington DC as the Capital of the US is distinctively a pleasing city for those who try to pause to visit hustle bustle cities like New York, Chicago, and others; it is a city that offers America’s political history for visitors to learn, to experience, to even dissent on some events that the country has caused in the world. We, each of us, might have been indirectly affected by the US foreign policies or decisions at some point. It could be bad or good.

Thinking about Washington DC reminds me of my own country’s history that a US former Secretary of State made a decision to support Indonesia to invade East Timor. The decision was made down there, DC, and this is something to which I connected myself psychologically before landing my feet on its ground to explore more and more and more.  Nevertheless, I was not going there to probe. Instead, to see how Americans built a capital city in which federal government servants and politicians live and work.