The Origins of Snowboards

Should you care which country supplies your snowboard gear? Shayboarder has some thoughts.

Here’s a comment I left:

As for China, well, yes, there are some serious problems there. Consider though that more people there have left extreme poverty in a shorter amount of time than in any other era in history.

As for environmental standards, they cost money. In the early industrial history of the US, we were desperate for development (as are most Chinese today), so we put up with stuff (air pollution, for example) that we wouldn’t put up with today. So we’re willing to suffer a bit. China is already feeling the need to clean up the air.

As for human rights, we should press for China to follow agreements they have made, but also keep in mind that, say, we had child labor well into the 19th century (sort of where they are, economically). So press the point but don’t be self-righteous about it.

Resist the temptation to feel bad about buying gear that isn’t made in the USA. Money you save by buying stuff made elsewhere is money that you spend on stuff and services that employee people here in this country.

As for what’s in my gear bin, the most interesting thing I’ve found is that my board (Salomon Special) has “Made in Tunisia” imprinted on the base. China, I would expect. Tunisia, not.