Linked by David Adams on Wed 17th Dec 2008 17:15 UTC, submitted by Michael
In a muckraking Spiegel.de article, suppliers to well-known computer manufacturers are accused of mistreating workers and violating Chinese labor law: "According to a Hong-Kong based human rights organization, working hours total up to 370 hours per month, workers aren't receiving the legal minimum wage and in the run-up to Christmas, days off are cut out entirely." One of the reasons that high tech hardware has become so widespread and useful is because it's so inexpensive. As this article demonstrates, this affordability can come at a price.
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Member since:2006-03-30
By buying something from these countries or practicing our usual over-consumption, we silently ignore the problems and participate in the acceptance of poor working conditions.
Thank you, thank you, for a word of truth. I was starting to feel sick to my stomach and was worrying that everyone on this site was really that simple minded and selfish.
Member since:2005-11-13
By buying something from these countries or practicing our usual over-consumption, we silently ignore the problems and participate in the acceptance of poor working conditions.
Thank you, thank you, for a word of truth. I was starting to feel sick to my stomach and was worrying that everyone on this site was really that simple minded and selfish.
Thank you, thank you, for a word of truth. I was starting to feel sick to my stomach and was worrying that everyone on this site was really that simple minded and selfish.
I suppose there is a handy list somewhere on the web of every company that has plants in China with inhuman working conditions. So, every time I go to buy a piece of electronics, a t-shirt, or whatever else, I could check this list and buy from one of their competitors that aren't guilty of these things (assuming there are any who aren't). Then I could write letters to all these companies and tell them why I didn't buy from them.
To those of you who came here to voice your dissatisfaciton about the situation, are you going to be willing to do the above? Yeah, me neither. I suppose you can find 1001 different reasons to boycott these companies, but I have decided that the only way I am going to boycott one of them is if they end up screwing me over personally. (For example, Time Warner is currently on my sh*tlist for a bait and switch move they tried with a special offer for digital cable.) Otherwise, I might as well just move into a log cabin in the woods, because if I refused to do business with companies who were up to no good, I wouldn't be able to purchase anything.
If something is going to change in this regard, it has to be from the people who are being mistreated. Their problems are not mine, and vice versa. As soon as they refuse to not work for those wages, then the companies are going to pack up shop and relocate to another country where people will.
Perhaps the US government should step in and do something about this, but don't sit there and try to make me feel guilty about it, especially if you're not doing the above. It's easy to come on the web and talk sh*t about what 'people' should be doing, but if you're not walking the walk, you need to STFU.
Member since:2008-06-26
Worst of it all isn't that China is some sort of communist hell or something like that--it's been actually the capitalists' paradise for a few decades now. Absolutely no restrictions on the market at all.
And guess from where comes 90% of the capital invested in China?
From the US.
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Member since:
2005-07-26
By buying something from these countries or practicing our usual over-consumption, we silently ignore the problems and participate in the acceptance of poor working conditions.
China (government and companies) isn't stupid. If it turns out that Western consumers don't want their products because they mistreat their workers, then China will act in one way or the other... I'm not being naive. You are, by stating that we're basically just helping their economy. We've been 'helping' foreign economies grow ever since Columbus.
So go and consume wisely, vote wisely and do whatever other duty that's implied by your world citizenship.