The Chains of Consumerism: How China Is Winning a War Without Firing a Shot
“But when a long train of abuses and usurpations... evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government...”
I declare—a revolution similar to the one that began in the 1700s is playing itself out today. But this time, it’s not about taxes on tea. It’s about influence and infiltration. Instead of redcoats storming Boston, we’ve got apps storming our phones. Instead of colonizers in uniforms, we’ve got algorithms dressed up in bargains, convincing us to surrender our values in exchange for convenience and cheap prices.
Violence was on the horizon last week. Not the kind that comes with bullets and bombs, but violence just the same. We saw it in the brutal attacks by far-right media on young Black boys. We saw it when someone set fire to Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro’s home. But the most violent act wasn’t physical. It was digital. It came through the reaction to Trump’s tariffs and how Chinese companies are using platforms like TikTok to push back.
These companies, some of which have stolen American designs and branding ideas, are using our own airwaves to sell knockoffs directly to us. They aren’t doing it out of care or concern for the American consumer. They’re doing it because they need to save their economy, even if it means damaging ours.
And people are actually going along with it. Celebrating it. Justifying it.
They hate Trump that much. Saving a dollar means more than standing up for what’s right. I get it. I get that they hate Trump. But this isn’t about him. This is about us and what we’re willing to sacrifice just to get a cheap pair of leggings.
Let me tell you something. A few weeks ago, I ordered a few things from Shein. I got pulled in by a cute outfit I saw on TikTok. The prices were low, so after being mesmerized by the spinning discount wheel, I added a few more items to my cart. Six pairs of joggers in different colors—mauve, tan, jet black—for just $12.99. You just can’t beat that price; it’s cheaper than Ross.
When they finally arrived, I was excited. You know those packages you open carefully because you’re thinking about how you can reuse the bag? Unfortunately, once I opened them, I was disappointed. The leggings turned out to be tights. The outfit was so cheaply made, I couldn’t wear it in good conscience. The quality wasn’t just low. It was insulting.
I don’t share this to shame anyone shopping at Shein or Temu. Do you. Keep buying if that’s what works for you. I’m not trying to judge. I’m sharing this because we need to talk about what’s really happening with these tariffs and the global game behind them.
Trump’s not stupid when it comes to tariffs. In 2018, he hit China with a 30% tariff on solar panels. China responded by moving manufacturing to countries like Vietnam and Indonesia to dodge the tariffs. They’d build the panels in China, ship them to those countries, slap a new label on them, and send them here. All to avoid U.S. tariffs. Their low pricing was also influencing American businesses, which couldn’t compete with the speed and scale of Chinese manufacturing.
But when the U.S. caught on, it hit those countries with tariffs too. And what did China do? They packed up, shut down the plants, and left entire economies in shambles. People in Indonesia are still unemployed from those closures.
And while all of this is happening, American media outlets are fumbling the conversation. Take MSNBC, for example. The network recently made changes, and it shows. After canceling Joy Reid’s The ReidOut, MSNBC reshuffled its 7 p.m. hour. Joy’s replacements now include hosts like Alicia Menendez, Symone Sanders-Townsend, and Michael Steele as rotating voices on a new panel format. But these new hosts, right out the gate, embarrassed themselves. They took to the platform to argue against tariffs and even asked, “How do tariffs hurt economies?” The question alone was telling. It was as if Vietnam and Indonesia hadn’t already shown us what happens. These countries were hit with U.S. tariffs—46% on Vietnamese goods and 32% on Indonesian goods—after they allowed China to dump goods in their markets and relabel them for resale in America. The result was economic disruption in both regions. To ignore this is either a sign of ignorance or an unwillingness to connect the dots.
I know people are struggling. Rent is high, groceries cost more than ever, and sometimes a $5 shirt feels like a lifeline. But what feels like survival today may be setting us up for dependence tomorrow.
China is doing everything it can to maintain its grip on the U.S. consumer. Around 12% of China’s exports go to America. That may not sound like much, but for China, it’s a lifeline. Without American demand, China’s supply chain collapses. And TikTok is now their biggest weapon.
TikTok has turned into a global flea market. Anything and everything is for sale. Over here: games, furniture, cookware, bras. Over there: fake Louis Vuitton, knockoff Gucci, and Jordans without the swoosh. It’s their product, just without the name.
But let’s be honest. A pair of Nikes without the name is just sneakers. You can buy those anywhere. So what’s the point?
China is dumping low-quality goods into our economy because they know how we move. We are over-consumers. We buy, we hoard, we sell what we don’t use, and then we buy again. We send our secondhand clothes—many still with tags—to African nations just to make room for more. TikTok isn’t just an app. It is an open-air marketplace built to feed our appetite.
And what’s worse is that we’re helping them.
We talk a lot in this country about protecting intellectual property. We praise innovation and fight over who invented what. But then we turn around and buy knockoffs without shame. A copycat catsuit, a fake Birkin, or a bootleg movie might feel like a bargain. But it’s bad business. Not just for the original creators, but for our country.
And yet China has the audacity to use the American middle class to fund their empire.
We don’t see it. We see supposed savings. But they see strategy. They know that Americans, especially working-class ones, can’t resist a discount. So they bait us with $5 shirts and $20 speakers, all while continuing to steal, repackage, and resell the very culture we create.
And where are the American corporations in all this? Many of them are partnering with or profiting from these same supply chains, outsourcing ethics for the sake of quarterly profits.
China knows we are like hungry pigs. We eat, and eat, and eat, and then we throw up our own vomit and eat that too. No wonder the Bible says not to eat pork. This cycle is disgusting.
We are being used as pawns in Xi Jinping’s tariff game. While we swipe our cards and brag about deals, we’re funding a system that is using our own people against us.
And here’s where it really gets twisted.
When I hear Jasmine Crockett talking about picking cotton to condemn slavery, and she should, I can’t help but think of the Uyghurs in China who are forced to do that very thing today. Real slave labor. Cotton picked under surveillance, in camps, under threat. This is the same person defending Gaza but ignoring what’s happening in China. It’s either hypocritical or just plain stupid. Now it is okay for the Uyghurs to pick cotton, but it is clear, according to Crockett, blacks aren’t going to pick cotton anymore.
This is not speculation. The U.N. and multiple human rights groups have confirmed the use of Uyghur labor in Chinese cotton fields, under surveillance and threat.
Because here’s the truth. Chinese manufacturing is top-tier. It’s not a joke. It’s run by machines, AI, and a perfectly engineered class system. Their upper class runs the empire. Their middle class moves the warehouses. And their lower class, including the enslaved, fuels the production. It is communism dressed as capitalism. And we are the willing customers.
America was built on slavery. We know that. We have fought wars, both literal and cultural, to prove our humanity. We’ve battled racism, endured discrimination, and demanded to be seen. And while progress is still uneven, we are here. We are American.
And we are under attack.
Not with guns or tanks. We are under attack with algorithms and influencers. We are in a new kind of war. One that is not waged on battlefields but in digital carts. Not through invasions but through app notifications.
The American Revolution started over tea and taxes. People drew a line in the sand over sugar and stamps. And today, we are standing in a similar place. The weapon isn’t taxation this time. It is exploitation.
The first revolution began with a declaration. Maybe it’s time for another—one that defends not just our borders, but our minds, our markets, and our moral compass.
If we don’t wake up, we won’t have to worry about China invading America.
They will already own it.
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