Anything to Make a Yuan

quanta and I often have discussions about the state of the world. Usually they begin because I am upset about another news story where a company lays off people because their profit (meaning they are actually making money) isn’t as high as they would like, or some other news story to do with people trying to make money at the expensive of others. I’m of the opinion that it isn’t always about making money, sometimes it really should be about making your customer happy or making a great product, even if that means cutting your profit or losing money. Obviously my opinion is in the minority.

This morning I came across a news story that makes me so angry and sad: CBC Newsworld – Chinese babies die after fake formula feeding. And why did this happen? The consumer protection laws in China are all but non-existent, so companies often pirate products and sell them cheaply and/or make a huge profit. We had a couple of software CDs, which quanta picked up when he was in Hong Kong a few years ago, floating around here for the longest time. They held a few thousand dollars worth of programs, but I believe he paid less then $10 for them. Another example would be the faux Harry Potter book that was being sold in China a few years back. (To say nothing of my SailorNoon [yes, Noon] pencil boxes.) These acts of piracy are almost excusable. Software is expensive in China, and can be hard to get. And hey, wasn’t J.K. Rowling really taking to long to write that book anyway? But the people who made this baby formula, using one gram of protein per 100 grams (an 1/18th of the requirement) put babies lives in danger just to make a buck, uhhhh… just to make a yuan.

I hope that this tragedy will stir some action in China, and that we will see the customer protection laws improved. I also hope that these people are found and charged with 50 counts of murder. Because, to my mind, they knowingly murdered these babies. What mother would question the food she feeds her child if it seemingly came with the proper seals? Yet the manufacturer knowingly failed to provide the proper protein to keep these babies alive.

Really, this just makes me so sad. I hope some action will be taken, and I also hope that these news story gets some air time today on the big news stations.