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By this logic, just about every job in early-development countries (e.g. and relevantly: large parts of China and India), is slavery. If we accept the colloqui

By this logic, just about every job in early-development countries (e.g. and relevantly: large parts of China and India), is slavery. If we accept the colloquial gross misuse of "slavery" to mean "crappy jobs that the workers depend on for survival", then I'm inclined to agree on principle, but I feel similarly about food service workers in the US and subsistence farmers everywhere.

cultofmetatron 5y ago
in many countries, people count themselves lucky if they have a job making $10/day. It very much is slavery, just with extra steps.
vorpalhex 5y ago
There's a difference between making federal minimum wage and the indentured servitude these workers find themselves in. McDonalds workers are free to go home at the end of their shift and eat whatever they want. These workers sleep 8 to a room with no temperature control, no privacy, shared bathrooms and rations that we literally would not feed to prisoners. We aren't talking about 100 or 200 people. We are talking about 1 million as of 2011. Foxconn's solution to suicide jumpers was.. netting. There's shitty working conditions and then there's.. this. https://www.wired.com/2011/02/ff-joelinchina/ https://www.wired.com/2011/02/ff-joelinchina/
- quesera 5y ago
  Foxconn workers are free to go home also. Those living conditions are pretty awful, but not unique. Regionally, it's just on the bad side of ordinary. Obviously tainted food is always serious, and it sounds like the oversight there was abysmal. Remember that Apple shut the plant down until it's fixed. 1 million employees, not 1 million exploited suicidal wastrels. San Francisco's solution to jumpers from the Golden Gate bridge was ... counseling services, cameras, and nets. Just like Foxconn! What would you suggest instead?
- martin8412 5y ago
  The US has forced labor where they are literally not allowed to leave? See some weeks back where workers were killed due to bad weather.
  - xboxnolifes 5y ago
    They weren't physically unable to leave. They were not given permission to leave the work day early. Nothing stopped them from terminating employment to leave.
lnsru 5y ago
Why can’t be these extreme expensive devices be a positive example? Adding 2$ for manufacturing cost would be less than 0,2% of retail price, but give somebody meal without worms. Ok, poor shareholders earning less is an argument. My friend is Burger King worker in Germany. He has some vacation days, low but stable wage and can go home after his shift and cook his special body building meals. Not much slavery.

cultofmetatron 5y ago

in many countries, people count themselves lucky if they have a job making $10/day. It very much is slavery, just with extra steps.

vorpalhex 5y ago

There's a difference between making federal minimum wage and the indentured servitude these workers find themselves in. McDonalds workers are free to go home at the end of their shift and eat whatever they want. These workers sleep 8 to a room with no temperature control, no privacy, shared bathrooms and rations that we literally would not feed to prisoners. We aren't talking about 100 or 200 people. We are talking about 1 million as of 2011. Foxconn's solution to suicide jumpers was.. netting. There's shitty working conditions and then there's.. this. https://www.wired.com/2011/02/ff-joelinchina/ https://www.wired.com/2011/02/ff-joelinchina/

quesera 5y ago
Foxconn workers are free to go home also. Those living conditions are pretty awful, but not unique. Regionally, it's just on the bad side of ordinary. Obviously tainted food is always serious, and it sounds like the oversight there was abysmal. Remember that Apple shut the plant down until it's fixed. 1 million employees, not 1 million exploited suicidal wastrels. San Francisco's solution to jumpers from the Golden Gate bridge was ... counseling services, cameras, and nets. Just like Foxconn! What would you suggest instead?
martin8412 5y ago
The US has forced labor where they are literally not allowed to leave? See some weeks back where workers were killed due to bad weather.
- xboxnolifes 5y ago
  They weren't physically unable to leave. They were not given permission to leave the work day early. Nothing stopped them from terminating employment to leave.

lnsru 5y ago

Why can’t be these extreme expensive devices be a positive example? Adding 2$ for manufacturing cost would be less than 0,2% of retail price, but give somebody meal without worms. Ok, poor shareholders earning less is an argument. My friend is Burger King worker in Germany. He has some vacation days, low but stable wage and can go home after his shift and cook his special body building meals. Not much slavery.