• tsonfeir@lemm.ee
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    6 months ago

    I want a $10000 car that would normally be inflated to $30000 in the US.

    I’m no lover of China, but fuck the capitalist auto companies.

    • Novi@sh.itjust.works
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      6 months ago

      I was born into a car centric society. So much so they design the places we live around them. Including dense residential far away from employment that requires transportation. Chop all attempts at decent public transit and now you have created a market of completely artificial demand. Which the law says cars must become more expensive. I have to have a car because of the awful design choices made by unqualified politicians past. Fuck the auto industry. They could have been out saviors by being the example of what union companies do but instead chose violence.

        • Buttons@programming.dev
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          6 months ago

          US auto makers were like “we love the free market”, then people bought cheaper cars from China and they said “wait, not that free!”

          • Lavitz@lemmings.world
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            6 months ago

            No ethical way to spend in a capitalist society. It kind of is what it is, cause I gotta eat. Also certified “you criticize capitalism yet you live in it moment” to you sir.

            • nymwit@lemm.ee
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              6 months ago

              are all unethical choices equal? Surely there are better and worse things?

                • nymwit@lemm.ee
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                  6 months ago

                  Where I was going was: effects can be different even if all choices and results are unethical. If one cares about the possible impacts of ones actions, consideration beyond “well it’s all unethical, so whatever” could be warranted.

                  • Lavitz@lemmings.world
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                    6 months ago

                    You tell yourself whatever you need to to live in this society and be happy. I’m sure the extra $.80 you’re spending for the label that says cruelty free, is in fact cruelty free.

    • Buelldozer@lemmy.today
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      6 months ago

      I want a $10000 car that would normally be inflated to $30000 in the US.

      You can’t make that same car in the United States for anything like the same price. Even ignoring the Chinese Governments heavy subsidies there’s still a massive cost gap due to worker compensation, cost of compliance with safety regulations, cost of compliance with environmental regulations, and a whole host of other things.

      The cost of manufacturing in the United States is radically higher than it is in China and that simply isn’t fixable unless you’re going to unwind Union pay deals, remove environmental laws, and reduce safety restrictions.

      You cannot have both, so which are you choosing? Are you going to go with your wallet like a self absorbed capitalist or are you going to support union workers, stronger environmental laws, and more worker safety?

      • bamboo@lemm.ee
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        6 months ago

        While I can’t say any of this is wrong, you’re missing likely the single biggest component inflating the cost of US manufacturing: profit margins. Every step of the supply chain has a profit margin attached. Sometimes just a few percent, but often double digits. These compound, so a 5% margin on a simple component will see an additional 15% when sold as part of an assembly, which is then marked up another 20% when sold as part of the finished good. There’s also financialization which burdens US companies. Companies generally need to take loans to fund their operations, and end up having to pay heavy interest fees and rent which also drives up cost. Workers and environmental protections are more expensive, but in practice they are relatively minor compared to a lot of other inefficiencies US industry struggles with.

        • Buelldozer@lemmy.today
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          6 months ago

          Every step of the supply chain has a profit margin attached. Sometimes just a few percent, but often double digits.

          That’s true in China as well. The only difference is in the price of what is being marked up.

              • fuckingkangaroos@lemm.ee
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                6 months ago

                You think there’s more corruption in the US government than the CCP? That China’s market is more free? Give me a break.

                • jaemo@sh.itjust.works
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                  6 months ago

                  Doesn’t the USA have much higher wealth inequality than China’s? If so, is that not the result of corruption? If not, so you consider the visible symptoms of it?

    • Zipitydew@sh.itjust.works
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      6 months ago

      That $10k Chinese car cost $20k to make. A competitor undercutting the market that much leads to monopolization. When that competitor is being bankrolled by a foreign government it’s potentially even a hostile act.

      People have been mad for decades about what Walmart did to retail in the US. Taking steps to prevent that from also happening with the auto industry should be appreciated.