I lost power during Helene the Hurricane — lots of wind and rain in Savannah, lots of trees down and windblown tree debris. No power meant no Internet. Adding insult to injury, I had no phone though I could slip into another part of Savannah and get some 5-bar G+. I am now repowered and re-connected.
As I write this post, I am listening to Kris Kristofferson. Rest in peace, Ranger.
China is, of course, a rotten bunch of Communists (you cannot overstate what cruel fuckers these guys are). They grow cotton — 90% of China’s cotton — in Xijiang province:
Chinese workers picking ripe cotton by hand. Lots of hands and mouths to feed in China.
1. China is the largest producer of cotton (2023 numbers) in the world (24%, 27.34 million pounds) followed by:
2. India (23%, 25.8), <<< yet another reason why the US should be building a stronger relationship with India
3. Brazil (13%, 14.47), and,
4. the United States (11%, 12.07).
The key to cotton is not just how much is produced, but how much is exported. The chart (2022 numbers) looks like this:
1. China, $12.2B
2. United States, $10.9B <<< #1 in 2023
3. India, $7.27B
4. Brazil, $3.93B, and,
5. Pakistan, $3.73B
In addition, China imports almost as much as it exports. They import different types of cotton than they grow.
Cotton is in place #53 in the list of traded commodities.
The beef is this: China employs embattled Uyghur labor, prison labor, forced labor, and child labor in the cotton business. The cotton business is complex and divided by function:
1. Forced labor can be involved in planting, maintaining, harvesting, and transporting cotton (480 lbs bales of cotton that are often moved by hand).
2. Forced labor can be involved in making cotton thread and weaving cotton fabric.
3. Forced labor can be involved in pattern cutting and dying cotton fabric and sewing cotton garments.
4. Forced labor can be involved in transporting finished cotton goods to their shipping destination.
The Uyghurs are a Muslim minority that are the target of ethnic cleansing by the Chinese government. China is 92% Han Chinese. It is a very heterogenous society and woe to the minorities, particularly the Muslim minorities like the Uyghurs.
At any given time they have a million of the 12 million Uyghurs is self acknowledged “re-education camps” the objective of which is to produce “good” Chinese citizens. The Chinese Communists will tell you they are undergoing “vocational training,” but believe me they are prisons — re-education camps where they are brutally disciplined.
The discipline of the Uyghurs and the growing of cotton are both underway in Xinjiang province where much cotton weaving and garment sewing is also undertaken.
Yes, dear reader, both the United States and the European Union have laws against importing finished goods that are made with forced labor — I use the term “forced labor” to include Uyghur labor, prison labor, child labor, and other that is not a free market source of labor.
In the United States we have a law called “The Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act” that all goods imported from Xinjiang are prohibited unless the importer can prove the goods do not incorporate forced labor.
Bottom line it, Big Red Car
The Chinese are some brutal, harsh bastards and have no problem employing forced labor of all stripes in their cotton industry. I will not buy or wear anything that is even remotely impacted by Chinese cotton.
Some American companies, like LL Bean, have recognized this cruelty and sworn off Xinjiang cotton. Will you?
But, hey, what the Hell do I really know anyway? I’m just a Big Red Car. Tomorrow early voting starts in Georgia. Go vote.
