Capitalists know no borders

Natalia 2022-01-18 08:01:11

This is the most memorable scene of this documentary after watching this documentary. After a grand "vibrant" annual meeting, the US representative cried. He said, "We live on a big planet, a world, a little bit Split, but we are the same world." But, why is he crying? What does this sentence mean? Are the Chinese and American people a family?

I didn’t actually know Cao Dewang before, but from seeing his dazzling collection of portraits and sculptures to the business management model of factory workshop group reporting, I think he should be a very traditional township entrepreneur, old-fashioned, revolutionary, and pragmatic. , Sleek and leadership, but it works very well for the business itself. I have been thinking about why he chose to set up factories in the United States. American workers may not be able to control them. Did he really conquer American workers with four self-confidence? Then help Americans realize the American dream? snort! man! He just wants to make more money, just adding some nice modifiers before the final goal. But he was not wrong.

Cao Dewang said, "Don't hang too many things in China, don't irritate them." This sentence sounds a bit funny, because reality is so cruel, cruel to the Chinese is also cruel to the Americans, and it took the Chinese only 70 years to make "Chinese laborers" have become "Chinese bosses", and this kind of role change is too rapid, and the American people who believed in them are a little daunted. At this time, it would be too exciting to "go to the village and do what the customs do". But this seemingly understanding sentence is full of ridicule. Because he is a successful entrepreneur, he is confident enough, and he is not wrong.

The Chinese say that having money can make ghosts grind, which is very ingenious. He can make Americans say that they are bad. I think this is the essence of human beings! In fact, I don't know if he really thinks he is bad, or he said this for money. In fact, it is possible, but with his fluent Chinese with almost no accent, it shows that he himself should be a very hardworking person, so he should agree with the reason that love fighting will win. After all, his boss is Fujian. people. And I believe he must also understand that Chinese people always despise people who eat and throw bowls, so everyone can experience this broad and profound Chinese culture of sophistication. But he is still not a smart manager, because he forgot that Americans do not need military training when they start school. The Chinese militarized management system may not be effective if you put it in a real American military camp, let alone a factory. , So in the end only the bitterness of embarrassment across the screen is left.

This scene is really embarrassing for him

But in fact, I have seen more Americans’ worries, and their dependence on society and others may actually be more serious than we thought. I don’t want to comment on the level of labor efficiency of Americans, because after all, there is a social relationship between China and the United States. The environmental gap is too great, and the cultural difference is also huge. American workers advocate that we should "organize trade unions." It sounds like demonstrations, strikes, and demanding human rights appear to be "free." The boss treats them better, but he may not actually do much, and he can be completely replaced. Of course, this is American culture. There is no right or wrong, but shouldn't people work hard to be themselves first? If you don’t go to work every day, you just strike, you go to work and you have unlimited conditions, but you can be replaced at any time, and finally until you are fired, you continue to enter the hesitation, and then you are looking for a job. If you are dissatisfied, you will continue to strike. , In the cycle, is the time of life wasted on these things, and is this true freedom? After all, global capitalists are essentially squeezing surplus labor. This has nothing to do with which nationality your boss is. Once the squeeze fails, they invented automation. This is the most suffocating. Of course, in the face of automation, even if you are an honest American who works silently, you will still be replaced in the end, but think about it, at least you are a person who has worked hard on your own hands. And thinking a little more, you need to think about how you will not be replaced, after all, anyone can wipe the glass, but not everyone can invent the glass wiper.

The scariest thing about this movie is that it reminds us of the real future. In the face of an automated future, how can we ordinary people solve their livelihoods by relying on trade unions? Rely on strike? Depend on the boss? In fact, no matter where you are born or what skin color, you must live first. I now understand why he cried and said that we are in the same world, because we are all in the same difficult world, but each has its own difficulties. .

"Money is hard to make shit and unpalatable" is my high-level summary of the film and today's society. The working people of China and the United States fight hard for their own livelihoods every day, one relying on demonstrations and the other by desperate efforts; but in fact, capitalists do not know national borders and rely on painting and flicking! Trump does not beat all the American people on TV every day!

View more about American Factory reviews

Extended Reading
  • Adolf 2022-03-19 09:01:08

    Economic depression, even the United States will inevitably stage cannibalism again. Nationalists will be impressed by the narrative logic of Chinese capital saving the U.S. economy in the role of savior in this documentary. Seeing that Chinese employees are more diligent and efficient, the left will find that Fuyao America’s essence is anti-human rights militarized management. The output of sweatshops is as hypocritical as the legendary Cao Dewang. How did American leaders become accomplices of exploiters driven by the recognition of their interests? How did the Chinese management sneer cruelly with the 36-carrot-and-stick trick. Disintegrate employee support for the union and finally, how ordinary employees bow to capital. Of course, the irony is that whether it is a Chinese worker who is willing to explain the exploitation or even cheering for the collapse of the union, or an American worker who surrenders in tears because of their jobs, whether it is defending or fighting against it, everyone ends up being ordered to be terminated. The man’s almost sluggish robotic arm replaced it and became a loser. Even the hardworking workers who work overtime are weak in the face of the mechanical revolution. This is ironic.

  • Obie 2022-03-27 09:01:18

    Cao Dewang said a few years ago why he went to the United States to invest: land costs are 9 times that of the United States (the ones that are omitted from the following are Midea); logistics costs are 2 times; bank borrowing costs are 2.4 times; electricity/natural gas costs are more than 2 times; steam costs 1.1 times; 3.2 times the cost of accessories; tax cost: the United States has strong tax incentives, customs clearance cost: the United States does not need to pay import and export customs clearance costs; labor cost: China's cost advantage is weakening; depreciation cost: 1.7 times that of the United States; 4 times in . //In the film, Fuyao just arrived in the United States, making American workers who have been unemployed for a few years and then cheered. In the middle of the film, Fuyao began to fight the American labor union. At the end, because of the brainwashing meeting, the young people were afraid for a while. The opposition is overwhelmingly outnumbered by the pro-union faction, and with full automation coming online, more workers are about to lose their jobs. As for this film, what do you think, don't listen to what others say, just watch it yourself.

American Factory quotes

  • Himself - Fuyao Safety Director: Everybody at every level will say that we really, really want to be safe. But safety doesn't pay the bills.