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I think The New Yorker said it best. http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/newsdesk/2012/03/iphone-factories-chinese-dreams.html http://www.newyorker.com/onlin

by ahelwer 15y ago

I think The New Yorker said it best. http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/newsdesk/2012/03/iphone-factories-chinese-dreams.html http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/newsdesk/2012/03/iphon... Choice paragraph: "The simple narrative equating American demand and Chinese suffering is appealing, especially at a time when many Americans feel guilty about their impact on the world. It’s also inaccurate and disrespectful. We must be peculiarly self-obsessed to imagine we have the power to drive tens of millions of people on the other side of the world to migrate and suffer in terrible ways. China produces goods for markets all over the world, including for its own consumers, thanks to low costs, a large and educated workforce, and a flexible manufacturing system that responds rapidly to market demands. To imagine that we have willed this universe into being is simply solipsistic. It is also demeaning to the workers. We are not at the center of this story—we are minor players in theirs. By focussing on ourselves and our gadgets, we have reduced the human beings at the other end to invisibility, as tiny and interchangeable as the parts of a mobile phone."

joe_the_user 15y ago
Even choicer: "Chinese staff are generally very grateful for the work they are doing..."
Joeboy 15y ago
> To imagine that we have willed this universe into being is simply solipsistic That's a straw man though. Even the most woolly-minded liberal hippy consumer doesn't imagine that their purchasing choices are the sole driver of events in China. The word "solipsistic" doesn't make the possibility of effective consumer activism disappear.
- ahelwer 15y ago
  This isn't something that I can provide statistics for, but it seems to me that most news stories take the heavily American-centric angle on the topic. The New Yorker article provides valuable perspective. Of course I support slow and steady pressure on the American corporations involved, but paternalism should be avoided.
  - Joeboy 15y ago
    Well, I'm European and completely up for critiques of American imperialism. I've never felt any of the criticisms of Apple / Foxconn were specifically aimed at Americans though. I mean they might talk about dollars and relate things to American incomes etc, but I've never felt they gave me license to buy a guilt-free iPhone.

by ahelwer 15y ago

joe_the_user 15y ago

Even choicer: "Chinese staff are generally very grateful for the work they are doing..."

Joeboy 15y ago

> To imagine that we have willed this universe into being is simply solipsistic That's a straw man though. Even the most woolly-minded liberal hippy consumer doesn't imagine that their purchasing choices are the sole driver of events in China. The word "solipsistic" doesn't make the possibility of effective consumer activism disappear.

ahelwer 15y ago
This isn't something that I can provide statistics for, but it seems to me that most news stories take the heavily American-centric angle on the topic. The New Yorker article provides valuable perspective. Of course I support slow and steady pressure on the American corporations involved, but paternalism should be avoided.
- Joeboy 15y ago
  Well, I'm European and completely up for critiques of American imperialism. I've never felt any of the criticisms of Apple / Foxconn were specifically aimed at Americans though. I mean they might talk about dollars and relate things to American incomes etc, but I've never felt they gave me license to buy a guilt-free iPhone.