Black Opinionated Woman

S5E17 My Daughter Trolled My Hair + China Exposes Luxury Brands to US Consumers

• Black Opinionated Woman • Season 5 • Episode 17

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Speaker 1 (0s): All right. Good morning bows and bow ties. Thank you for coming to my video, visiting my channel and the Black Opinionated Woman, also known as a bow. So let's get right on into it. I wanna talk about two things. One should only take about 15, 20 seconds, maybe 30 seconds. And then the other, the first, I'm gonna talk about my daughter trolling me. I got my hair done a few days ago. Well, it doesn't look the same now. And I thought I looked really good.

She's like, you were like, nana, you have nana curls. Why was I getting ready to kick her out of my house? I thought I was cute. She was like, yeah, you got Nana girls. I mean, I was like, I mean, I guess I had progressed to the nana girls. Like I thought I had some nice cutes, little loose ways. I can't even do it the way they did it at the salon. I also to a Dominican hair salon so I can get in and out. My hair is moisturized and conditioned and all that stuff.

But yeah, she was like, yeah, you have banana curls. I thought I had nice big, beautiful bouncy curls, loose waves. And as they fall, they turned into like loose waves. Yes, she trolled me. So she might be homeless now. Anyways, let's move on to the second topic. I wanna talk about China for a second. So, you know, I had some time this weekend in between sports and carrying on, and let's just say, you know how they wanted to ban TikTok because they thought, thought that there could be all kinds of things that could be used against us, manipulate us, right?

Kind of like what was done during the election, right? You know, like they used these apps to, to manipulate the American public, right? Well, now the Uno reverse has happened to us again, because now other people are manipulating us, right? So there has been this huge algorithm push that after all this tariff discussion, and now China has Uno reverse and check me, the us they were like, Hey, listen to me, lean in, lean on in, now check this out.

This was great. You know, it was like, you know what? The US has put all them tariffs on you. Not a problem. How about we peel back the onion and show you how these goods are really made and how much they really cost? So you don't even need to go to the, the brand, right? Why don't you come to us, the direct mark, the, the, the factory, go to the factory direct, the direct suppliers.

So you want that airman bag. Now, the problem, you don't have to pay 38,000, a hundred thousand. 20,000. Hey, you can just pay the tariff on the cost that we will sell it to you for, which is 1200 or whatever it is, right? They're showing you that some of these bags are probably only like a hundred bucks or whatever it is, or 20 bucks to make. But then there's this huge markup, right? So now they're like, come get it directly from the, the, the supplier. Now, there was, there were several videos where they actually, I'm gonna talk about air mass for a second, because they sell those birkins and the Kelly's and that type of stuff.

They showed how it was made, where it was like, how they do it, where it's made. They're like, you think that these products are made in Italy? They were like, no ma'am. No sir. You think the quality of Chinese goods are bad? They peeled back the onion. They were like, okay, let me tell you what you don't know. These products are made in China. We have like 42% of the artisans. Actually, they said in some cases it might be more, we're the ones who are getting all the leather, this, that, and the other.

We are, we're, we're stitching it. We're doing, and they're showing how it's done. They said, and you wanna know what else happens after we stitch it, sew it, and do all these things, and the, the, the outer edging or whatever it's that they do for the outer edging and all of the stuff, the hardware or whatever. They said, we shipped those bags to Italy. Yes. And what they do is they can say, made in Italy, because only the logo is sold onto the bag.

I was like, ah. They're like, yes, we, so they, they sold the logo And they put their brand on it. Now they can say, made in Italy, they can mark it up. It was like, let's be clear, these bags are made in China. And they showed all of it. They were like, this is the product. They, it wasn't just Hermes by the way. So they went after the luxury brand. The, the luxury brand community caught strays because China was mad day mad at the us.

They were mad day mad at the us. So now they're like, Hey us, let me show you how it's done. So now you got all the luxury brands. They're like, yo, don't listen to them. They're like, what? So remember, it was all that scandal around DHgate, for those of you who know, you know, for people, if you're buying from DHgate that the, the stuff is fake. I don't know how true that is. I've never bought from DHG, but apparently you can get these, these luxury brands for deeply discounted prices for a variety of reasons I haven't purchased from there, because I'm like feast or famine.

I'm kind of like fickle with when I wanna purchase any sort of luxury brand. But basically what they're saying is Restoration Hardware, let me show you have this. They, they, they clowned on Restoration Hardware, air mass, Lululemon, who else? There were so many people. Oh. And so now they're showing like you guys, they're prop. They look, the, the Chinese prop was za, I don't know who's running it, but they were like, oh, y'all think y'all are this, that, and the other.

They're running video after video after video showing the current president and people who are in this cabinet working the fields and showing goods. And they were showing them as big and fat and everything like that. They are poking fun at the us. And then they're getting out here saying like, you know what we did to you guys? You guys thought we were peasants, but we have been investing in playing in the long game of making our people better, investing in, in our, in infrastructure or in, in our education and all stuff like that.

I'm paraphrasing. They're like, in the meantime, meanwhile, your oligarchs have sold off your jobs and your, your manufacturing capability. They gave, they sold it off your, you can't get healthcare, you can't do this, you can't do that. In the meantime, our people can have affordable living this, that, the other. Now, let me just say this a couple things. Number one, I've been to China before, but it's, I haven't been since 1999. So a lot has changed since then.

That's been about 26 years. Let me just say this for one, the the beautiful thing about propaganda is, you know, they're gonna just show you all the good things. So on the one hand, yes, China has definitely come up. 'cause I, I've been to China, right? However, there's still problems over there, as in any country. So I wouldn't necessarily believe a hundred percent of everything what they're saying, but there is some truth in some of the things that they're talking about in terms of what they've invested in in the long term.

I watched them show a car, I cannot remember the name of the brand, it escapes me. But they showed a car, an ev, an electric vehicle car. And the capabilities, they were like, you wanna know why the U us doesn't want you? What our phones, they were showing people grabbing photos from the air and thrown it to other people's phones. Now, that could have just been, you know, scripted whatever. I don't know.

The point I'm making is they were showing some of the technology and their, their, their gadgets. They were showing the technology in their vehicles. I was looking at their EV vehicles and the capabilities and the stuff that they do. I was like, holy cow. Even the way their seats reclined and the one seat reclined. Now this thing, look, I was like, okay, they, they have receipts reclined. So that the way it reclines, it almost con, I don't wanna say connects with the backseat, but like, it can, it, it, it looks like almost like a full, like you can sleep on that because it was like a little, like a SUV type thing, but like their EVs this, like the capabilities and stuff.

But I was like, okay, now I, let me just say this. That's the hit with propaganda. They're gonna show you the good stuff as they should, but, but they're doing a phenomenal job of it. I would say the second thing is to be aware of making the enemy of your enemy your friend, right? Because I don't necessarily believe that the people of China care about people who look like me. I'll tell you why. Because of the shenanigans that's happening in Africa right now. The African continent, those nations, those different countries over there don't even have control over their own country.

So they're being ran rough shot over there too, by the rest of the world. So on the one hand, it's like they're, they're like, okay, well, like I would say like the African countries over there, they're trying to, you know, get from under French rule only to, I don't wanna say decolonized, but like colonized by another oppressor, right? Like, they have no control over what's happening in their countries. I think they're trying to do things differently, but let's be clear, China is over there running them up too.

So they're, they're so busy being mad at like France and everybody else in the west, which understandably so, but they're just going under another form of oppression. So I'm just like, all right, whatever. So that's why I say I'm kind of like, I'm just like, okay, well I, I, I try to look at this in a broad sense, right? So now let me tell you why I wasn't entirely surprised, but it's been still a, a, a, a nice eye awakening because I had been so far removed from China in a long time.

I remember when I went to Japan, you know, I wanna say it's about a decade ago. About, yeah, maybe a decade ago. I remember, 'cause my husband used have to go over there all the time for work. And so I wound up flying over there. He was, he was working. I was able to get somebody to watch my children for a little bit. I flew over there. 'cause normally we bring out children everywhere. But that was just for me to come over.

He picked me up in Tokyo and I remember he had to work one or two more days. I can't remember what it was, but I was at the hotel and I had refused to get on the right time zone for that particular trip. And I don't even remember why, but I remember we went to Aki Harbor, I, I can't say Aki Harbor or whatever, or whatever their electronics district, right? And I remember going into, now this was in Japan. They had like this huge building. It was just like gadget Central.

I was in mother loving heaven. 'cause I like gadgets and it doesn't make sense. And I know I need to get past it, but I like all the, the little gadgety type things I was in 10 years ago. And I was like, yo, the stuff they had over there that we don't have here. I remember when we left Tokyo and we were going to our hotel and I was looking at their vehicles and I was like, what the heck is that? And I'm looking at their regular old Hondas and, and Toyotas or whatever.

Those were like, I swear to goodness, they would cost like a bajillion dollars here. People were driving on the road with all the pool like heads up displays and stuff like that. No, I remember we were taking some sort of, what don't we think a commuter, but I don't even know what we were doing, but we were taking, oh, he, whatever we were taking, I was looking out the window and I was like, you have got to be kidding me. I'm like, why don't we have that? Why don't they export that over to the us the technology they have in these other countries. Like, I remember when I was at the hotel, I couldn't figure out how to flush the toilet.

I kid you not, I was in there for like, about five minutes. Like, I don't understand. Like, I was like, the toilets are smarter than me. So when we went to Aki Harbor, and I'm not saying this is about Japan, but the point I'm making was I was in their electronics district and I'm sitting up in there, it's like fourth floor is just like, just aisles of just wonderful goodness. And I'm like a child and my husband's looking at me like, 'cause he's not really big into gadgets.

But I I, I was enjoying that whole area. Like I, you could not have told me that it wasn't fun and it was easy to get around. I mean, like, don't speak a link of Japanese. The point I'm making is this, with China and all the things that they've got going on over there, I believe it. I don't think that part is propaganda. Okay? Like if, I'm not sure if you recall in previous videos, I talk about the systems out here and I always bring up systems.

I talk about their art systems, and that's why you need to be educated, economic systems, social systems, medical systems, computer systems. There's so many systems. And, and I talk about how like when you are exposed to other things, it changes your mindset. It changes your, on everything, on the possibilities. Because ev anywhere you go in the world, there are people who are going to tackle their en environmental concerns in a way that's unique for them.

And it doesn't mean that that way of living, that way of life, that way of innovation can't be used with someplace else. Okay? And where I was going with that was when I, now, okay, this is, I'm doing a really bad, bad job of explaining this. I'm like stuttering over my words. But I I, you probably recall some other videos I always talk about when I was sitting on that, I was on a seminar and I believe, I believe it was a Google, was it Google? I think it was Google. And they were talking about real diversity.

Now a lot of people gonna be like, oh, you're a DEI person, but check this out. They were like, the real diversity comes from not just, it's, it's like diversity is not just racial, right? It's even where you grab people from. So you don't wanna grab all of your all, like if you want a computer scientist, you don't want them to all come from like one type of school. You want them to come from different schools, right? Because that's how you get the innovation.

They're gonna have different ideas. You don't want just one methodology, right? There's science, but then there's art to science, right? So you want kids to come from different pockets. You want rich people, you want for people, you want black people, you want white people. You want black people who don't just come from HBCUs. You want them to come from other areas. You want. And the reason why is because like it, let's say you have a problem, like, like a supply problem is a bad example. Like look, and I'm know this is gonna sound messed up, but you've got people in urban environments who may or may not be doing things legally.

You have people in white non-urban environments who may or may not be doing things legal or illegally, but the way they solve their supply problem might be different. But it's a supply issue. I want you to look that one sink in for a second. How did it handle personnel? How do they handle supply for whatever that thing is or that service is, you know, and where, and I'm doing a really bad job of of, of explaining this. But the point I'm making is you talk about innovation and what that looks like is getting everybody together.

So when you look at what China and Japan and all these other places have done, they've taken some of the American ingenuity, right? Because we do have great ideas, but they also have great ideas. They also have been forced to solve different types of problems, right? Problems that we haven't faced. So we didn't have a solution for something maybe we didn't face. And I'm just talking off the top of my head. They, they solve different issues. I'm looking at their vehicles and their public transportation.

For years, they've been like years ahead of us. Years, decades. And the United States doesn't have us have robust of, of a system because we are car people and yet we won't even import the most technologically advanced vehicles. And we have such a huge markup on everything that ev they showed that Chinese ev don't ask me to remember the name because it escapes me. I was sitting there, I'm talking about mouth was a gaze.

I was like, that thing was actually able to, like, if you got stuck in water, it actually does stuff so that the wheels can actually propel itself in water. They say it only goes like two miles an hour or something like that. They get you about 30 minutes or whatever. So you can try to get to some sort of safety or whatever. But you will actually float in that car. They said don't go around like trying it for sport. But they were showing what it can do.

And I was like, yo, this, this car, it's like a freaking life raft that that car was like, you know, it was doing stuff and it turned into basically something that you can just float, float, float on. I was like, you know it, the stuff that they do inside that car, they were like, and so now you can actually float in that vehicle. It locks down certain things. I think it opens up a, a sunroof or whatever child.

I was like, oh, this is dope. All I'm saying is China put out the Uno reverse and checkmate. They were like, okay, so look, y'all do us, they wanna give you terrace. Not a problem. Go ahead, eat them terrace, right? But check this out, we're gonna sell you some stuff without the markup. You don't even need to go now to all these luxury brands come directly to us.

You'll get it directly from the supplier. And like I said, they were showing it. They're taking, they said, we can show you better than we can tell you. I was like, yo, yo. Oh my gosh. So like I said, I just wanna say China was mad day mad And they peeled back the onion. Now there, there's layers to this. But you know, this, this video is for entertainment purposes only because, you know, you never know who's watching. But I just want, you know, this is for entertainment purposes and I love the USA, well I do, but the point I'm making is they pulled back a layer And they were like, and and they're showing it.

They're, they're literally saying, we don't need the us We've been here before. We know we've been around for 5,000 years and we know how to play the long game and we don't need the us by the way. Cancel all the beef coming from the us we'll get it from Australia. I was like, yeah. You know, so China is doing a really good job. They're gonna go outta their way. They're gonna cripple the economy with the help of our current administration because they don't understand.

I think their approach and this from a very, like, the amount of hubris we have here in the US about, we're so great. We're so great, we're so great. And I always say to people like, until you leave the country, don't talk to me. You haven't seen anything. You don't know anything. You don't know anything. And the, the American hubris is so great that we think that there's no one else who can do anything better than us.

And being that I've lived around the world, I've traveled around the world, I've seen a lot of things. America is a great country, at least when you go based off what it's supposed to be. But because we've become so polarized due to our, excuse me, I have to center birth perfect. Same time, we, we've become so polarized based off of like this ridiculous hate we have for people and the color of their skin or their ethnicity or whatever. It's like we get in our own way. And I'm not saying the rest of the world is perfect, they've got their issues.

But I just wanna say that Americans don't understand that there is this whole other world out there. Many of the Americans haven't even left their state. They haven't left their state. They don't know anything, let alone the country. And so it's easy to give somebody information or either a cause like we make fun of people in the Middle East when they're going through the same thing. When you isolate them, they're going to think certain things. Well, you've got people here who selectively isolate, they self isolate And they don't see anything else.

They don't know that there is this whole other world out there and, and opportunities and capabilities. And then what happens is they, they think that this is the center of the world. And not everybody thinks like that. A lot of the world is like, okay, yeah, yeah, I'd rather have less money, have happiness and good health. And I get time off to raise my children. I get to do these things. And they're happy. They're happy, they're living a great life. And they're like, yeah, I don't, I'm not a bajillionaire.

And they have less stress than the people here who make a lot of money. They're out there in their hometowns, enjoying life, enjoying their home and their children and their grandchildren. They're enjoying food that doesn't actually kill them. It actually energizes them and, and, and helps them with their sustainment. They enjoy a more active lifestyle and not having to take drugs to help sustain their life.

Like, there's so much going on out there. Anyway, I digress back to China being mad. China is so mad at the US that they're like giving the us the F you. And really, if you think about it, the West now, they're gonna make deals with the west, I'm sure. But, but they're, they're like, f you spoke definitely to the us. They're like, we don't need you. We don't need you.

And by the way, we're gonna undercut you. They have been kicking the US behind for a long time now, Chad, GPT, because they were gonna make all this money. And they were like, no sir, no ma'am. Here's our, what is it called? The deep seek or whatever they call their, their their ar. It's like they are kicking our butts. So anyway, me personally, now this is gonna sound weird. It's always nice to be number one, but you don't wanna be number one in the wrong areas.

Number two, I don't even care if we're number one. We don't have to be number one. I just wanna live my life and raise my kids and do good things. That's what I wanna do. So for all of you out there who are like really like ridiculously ignorant to what is going on, I suggest you open your eyes. 'cause I am like, they keep telling these guys here, like how great they are. I'm like, you know, you guys are not the top of the, it's just not, you're not performing, you're not educated, you're not innovating, you're not doing anything.

All right. So look, don't be mad at me. Y'all better be mad at China. Don't be mad at me. China's the one that's got y'all all in the tizzy. They got me the tizzy because I'm like, I'm just entertained right now at how all this is gonna play out. I mean, I know it's gonna impact us for sure, but to watch people on these apps, like, oh, China's living a decent, like China's got all of this China manufactures that. Like there are people who are like genuinely surprised.

I was like, and I get it, when you isolate yourself and you don't even leave your state, let alone the country. Yeah. All this is eyeopening. They're like, oh my gosh. Oh yeah. So anyway, enough hee-haw about that. So you guys just go ahead and subscribe to my channel. Let's subscribe to my channel. It's probably the best channel out there. Alright, I'll talk to you later. Subscribe to my channel. Send this to all your aunties and everybody else. Okay.

And, and that's basically it. Y'all need to get off of these podcasts except, except for mine. Except for mine. Yes. It's hypocritical, but I'm admitting my hypocrisy. All right. Until next time. Yeah, it's, it's getting good out here.

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