CSotD: Core Values
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Steve Breen on an issue a lot of people wish would simply stay in the closet.
But I started hearing about the conditions under which iPhones and iPads are made in China a little over a week ago, and have since seen the story in the New York Times and echoed elsewhere.
It's not the first time this has come up, but there were details lacking before.
There's nothing new about the fact that overseas workers make less than American workers would. But the common response is that, well, yes, but the cost of living is so much lower over there that, while they're not living an American middle-class lifestyle, they are able to live in a way that is appropriate for their world.
This is way beyond comparisons of living standards. We're talking basic human rights. Human, mind you.
We're talking about double-shifts of 12 hours each, of people living in dormitories that resemble the crew quarters of a 19th century merchant ship, of people — not animals — dying from overwork and unsafe practices.
Apple claims to be responding.
Me, I think they're gonna need a bigger closet.
It may prove to be a hard sell, after years of programming people to believe that music and art and information all want to be free, to make them turn 180 degrees and suddenly recognize the link between their economic choices and the lives of those who produce the things they want.
As the fellow in that last linked article says, "Apple already has a premium price, you'd think they should be doing something on their end of it to make it right, you know? It isn't like they're passing on a huge savings to us compared to other PC makers."
We've promoted Moron Economics throughout the nation.
On the right, we've got Moron Macroeconomics, in which the national budget is the same as your family budget, but with more zeros, and in which hard times are resolved by simply not buying things.
Never by increasing revenue by working overtime or taking a second job or, in the more-zeros case, by raising taxes. Perhaps the family can make things work by turning the thermostat down to 55 and by cutting the food allowance for the children and not taking them to the doctor or dentist anymore.
On the left, we pitch Moron Microeconomics, which is basically "how to justify on-line shoplifting," based on the idea, as stated above, that the stores make too much money anyway, but, on a more sweeping level, that artists and musicians and writers should produce that stuff for free, perhaps after coming home from their real jobs.
Are there ways to sensibly rein in the nation's budget? Absolutely.
Are there models for music and art that don't include major corporations acting as middlemen? You bet.
Are those practical, reality-based solutions what anyone is talking about 90 percent of the time? Come on, now — 90 percent is too harsh. Make it 80 percent. And, no.
So the iPad2 sells for $499.
Would you pay $699 for it? Or, say, $574?
Or is it someone else's responsibility to find a way to fix things without costing you more money?
Which brings up this question: If artists shouldn't be paid, and musicians shouldn't be paid, and Apple shouldn't make money and Chinese factory workers shouldn't be paid, who the hell is paying you? And why?
Okay. Back off. Deep breath.
How about this solution:
The iPad2 will still sell for $499, but, when you buy one, you'll be offered the opportunity to donate another $75 that will go to fund better working conditions, shorter hours, better pay for the people who make the device.
(Yes, I know, but I like to include an element of humor each day.)
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