Quote:
Originally Posted by
GQB 
I detested the Mike Daisy furor and believe that when you remove his lies, everything else he talked about was public knowledge and on Apple's radar.
That said, I'm even more disgusted by the commentors here who are saying that its none of our business. Nonsense. Its the ability of Chinese companies to exploit their workers (among all of the other 'externalities' that they are able to entice American companies with) that have decimated American manufacturing. Its in our interest to use every bit of leverage we have to force them in every way possible to improve not only labor conditions and wages, but pollution as well.
This is the best article and news I've seen in years.
Go Apple, even if it did take a bit of a kick in the pants.
And I'm disgusted by the ignorance of posters who pretend to understand the economics of the developing world, and the psychology of the people there. How do you people think the Us and the rest of the developed world got where it is? Don't you understand that working conditions here were as bad, or worse?
You really feel that sitting on your rear at home or at work, you know what people feel there? You don't. I have friends who revel to Asia regularly for business. It's a VERY different situation there. Even in Japan.
Do you feel as though you have to completely support your parents? They do. And they don't have social security, or Medicare, or anything of the sort. When you're too old to work in the fields, you're gone. These people support their entire family with this, in China, very high paying job.
The naivety of some of you people is astounding! You actually think that we even HAVE that much influence? Foreign companies don't have that much. It's even thought that Apple's problems with Proview are partly because of their actions in this.
I'll say it again. It's up to the Chinese government to not just make laws that affect this, but to enforce them. Because they refuse to enforce them, conditions, whether they are really bad, or not, will continue. There is no government in China, people have to understand this. There is the Communist Party. That's all that matters. And the Party is committed to growth. Growth, and their continued rule. Past that, there is nothing.
They allow melamine in baby's formula. They allow heavy metal pollution. They divert major rivers. They lie about the birds flu situation. They insist on burning coal in very old and badly designed piwer plants, and even in the backyard! All of this is far worse than workers working long hours.
So, should some working conditions be fixed? Sure. But are we the ones to do it? Not really. Even if Foxconn, not a Chinese company, by the way, does some things that are needed, that's just about 0.1% of the working population of China. Nothing will have changed.