The Price of Apple
Best from comments, by hekate_darkness:
None of this is easy to think about, that we may have been complicit in such awfulness. But we owe it to our basic sense of humanity and to future generations to look in the mirror and learn to get the monkey that is corporate (and materialistic) addiction off our backs for good.
The author of the article shows waaay too much of his own privilege, imo, and can’t quite reach the same conclusion as his reader. Here is the way his reasoning goes:
I’m sure that most of us already realized, on an intellectual level, that the stuff we buy is made by people overseas who, in general, have much less than we do and work harder than we do, under tougher working conditions. It’s harder to ignore, however, listening to Daisey talk about the long shifts (up to thirty-four hours, apparently), the crippling injuries due to repetitive stress or hazardous chemicals, the crammed dormitories, and the authoritarian rules. …
I have a MacBook Pro and an iPad (and an LG phone, and a Samsung monitor, …). While I think OS X is far better than Windows (or Linux if, like me, you’re not a power user), I would gladly switch back if I had confidence that my computer’s manufacturer was an appreciably, demonstrably better employer than Foxconn. And I would pay more, too, just like I pay more for free-range eggs and organic food (which I buy for the environmental impact, not the health benefits). …
Given that anyone buying Apple products is already paying a hefty price premium, you would think at least some of us would rather pay that premium for better labor protections.
[Emphasis mine.]
