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I said sardonically to a friend that with a strong authoritarian state, the protests don't occur or don't make the news, so thank you police state for our cheap

I said sardonically to a friend that with a strong authoritarian state, the protests don't occur or don't make the news, so thank you police state for our cheap gadgets. And yeah, our consumerist mindset traps us too: if faced with 2 phones of similar capabilities, 1 costs 500, 1 costs 200, which would you pick? (Even the more expensive product doesn't mean better working conditions for the factory workers, just for the Silicon Valley bug coders) Talking about exploitation, imagine condition of the miners of the minerals needed for the phones..

Learning2-2 6y ago
On cue China made a remark after the protest in India that these protests like these would not occur in Chinese factories...
- redis_mlc 6y ago
  Yeah, it's hard to protest after being a double-lung transplant donor.
- yorwba 6y ago
  That's not entirely true. The China Labor Bulletin catalogs a few hundred strikes a year, some of which turn violent, and I guess there are many that even they don't hear about: https://maps.clb.org.hk/?i18n_language=en_US&map=1&startDate=2020-06&endDate=2020-12&eventId=&keyword=&address=&industry=&parentIndustry=&industryName=%5Bobject%20HTMLInputElement%5D https://maps.clb.org.hk/?i18n_language=en_US&map=1&startDate... E.g. yesterday "Workers protest against wage arrears of an electronic factory after managers fled, in Yancheng, Jiangsu" https://maps.clb.org.hk/?i18n_language=en_US&map=1&startDate=2020-12&endDate=2020-12&eventId=2020122117142092977&industryName=%5Bobject%20HTMLInputElement%5D https://maps.clb.org.hk/?i18n_language=en_US&map=1&startDate... The Chinese government likes to pretend that they're in control of everything and Western media doesn't tend to question that. But authoritarian crackdowns are not a surefire tactic to prevent all protests, they can just reduce their frequency (maybe).
- csharptwdec19 6y ago
  Which is it's own form of dog-whistle; "Use our country; our government will help make sure the workers don't protest"
loeg 6y ago
> if faced with 2 phones of similar capabilities, 1 costs 500, 1 costs 200, which would you pick? People love to hate on Apple, but the $200 phone in your example is definitely an Android and definitely has same-or-worse manufacturing practices as Apple.
- cambalache 6y ago
  You are being all over this thread defending Apple, do you have something to disclose? Even if what you say it is true, it is less immoral because at least they sell the phone damn cheap.Apple is pocketing the huge markup all by itself (And yes their shareholders, 99% of them rich people), and these Indian guys are paid 6 dollars a day.
  - loeg 6y ago
    No; I don't have any meaningful relationship with Apple.
- 5560675260 6y ago
  A better example of what OP probably meant would be $200 iPhone vs $500 Librem 5 USA.

Learning2-2 6y ago

On cue China made a remark after the protest in India that these protests like these would not occur in Chinese factories...

redis_mlc 6y ago
Yeah, it's hard to protest after being a double-lung transplant donor.
yorwba 6y ago
That's not entirely true. The China Labor Bulletin catalogs a few hundred strikes a year, some of which turn violent, and I guess there are many that even they don't hear about: https://maps.clb.org.hk/?i18n_language=en_US&map=1&startDate=2020-06&endDate=2020-12&eventId=&keyword=&address=&industry=&parentIndustry=&industryName=%5Bobject%20HTMLInputElement%5D https://maps.clb.org.hk/?i18n_language=en_US&map=1&startDate... E.g. yesterday "Workers protest against wage arrears of an electronic factory after managers fled, in Yancheng, Jiangsu" https://maps.clb.org.hk/?i18n_language=en_US&map=1&startDate=2020-12&endDate=2020-12&eventId=2020122117142092977&industryName=%5Bobject%20HTMLInputElement%5D https://maps.clb.org.hk/?i18n_language=en_US&map=1&startDate... The Chinese government likes to pretend that they're in control of everything and Western media doesn't tend to question that. But authoritarian crackdowns are not a surefire tactic to prevent all protests, they can just reduce their frequency (maybe).
csharptwdec19 6y ago
Which is it's own form of dog-whistle; "Use our country; our government will help make sure the workers don't protest"

loeg 6y ago

> if faced with 2 phones of similar capabilities, 1 costs 500, 1 costs 200, which would you pick? People love to hate on Apple, but the $200 phone in your example is definitely an Android and definitely has same-or-worse manufacturing practices as Apple.

cambalache 6y ago
You are being all over this thread defending Apple, do you have something to disclose? Even if what you say it is true, it is less immoral because at least they sell the phone damn cheap.Apple is pocketing the huge markup all by itself (And yes their shareholders, 99% of them rich people), and these Indian guys are paid 6 dollars a day.
- loeg 6y ago
  No; I don't have any meaningful relationship with Apple.
5560675260 6y ago
A better example of what OP probably meant would be $200 iPhone vs $500 Librem 5 USA.