Americans take many things for granted, like: appliances that will 'always' work, cars that will 'always' run, food that is 'always' safe. Our expectation level is the highest ever for the human race. Sometimes the system breaks down, accidents happen, products don't work as well as we intended but overall, our track record with safe, clean production of almost everything is excellent. Our tolerance for error is very, very low.

Stateside, when we discover something wrong, we react with recalls, repairs and adjustments, quickly. Overseas, that is not always the behavior.

After the publicity on the breakdown in the safety of Chinese toy exports, the Chinese fired back at the US claiming that US soybeans contained pesticides, poisonous weeds and dirt. A trade official for the communist country said, "If we wanted contaminated soybeans, we'd just eat our own." (Pioneer Press, August 26, p. 3D)