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“Communism is not love. Communism is a hammer which we use to crush the enemy,” once said China’s Mao Tse Tung.  There’s no doubt, nearly thirty years since the Chairman’s death, the hammer Communism has used to crush the American economy has been in cheap consumer goods. Who’d a thunk it, Mao?

But it’s not just your exported firecrackers that blow up in American hands. Looking back over the first half of 2010, dozens of products you sold us to use in our homes have been recalled for fire risks or other potentially lethal hazards. 驚喜!

Here’s a review of voluntary recalls in 2010 for products made in China, courtesy of the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission.

Clandestine Eavesdropping Device

About 800 Levana Wireless Video Baby Monitors were recalled this year after distributor Circus World Displays received two reports of the cameras overheating and smoking.

Not So Succulent

Some 5,400 Chinese-made Succulent Plant-Shaped Candles in a Pot were recalled from Crate & Barrel this year after candle wax melted and overflowed into the pot, posing serious burn hazards.

I’ll Have the Fire Pot

Some 25,000 Bella Kitchen 5-quart programmable slow cookers were recalled by distributor Senseo following 60 consumer reports of models sparking, melting, and smoking, damaging fourteen countertops.

Leverage to the People

A thousand Chinese-made Powertec Workbench Leverage Gyms, 2010 version, were recalled after it was determined that the detaching bench created instability and potential risk to exercisers.

Crouching Tiger, Plopping Tookus

Some 7,000 White Tiger Outdoor Folding Chairs, distributed by Fred Meyer Stores, have been recalled after consumers reported “minor injuries, including back and shoulder pain, sprains and contusions” after the chairs collapsed. All apologies to Mao, these chairs were made in Taiwan. For those who don’t understand the difference, check out the Globe and Mail.

Hey, let’s all take a great leap forward!