Apple and other big manufacturers must swap less-deadly chemicals for the cancerous ones poisoning their Chinese workers.
True Lies About Apple and Foxconn
Apple, the most profitable company in existence and one of the most popular brands ever created, has gotten used to being the glowing center of attention. The release of the next iPhone or the new iPad invariably stirs an orgy of conspicuous consumption. Recently, however, a series of exposés have shifted some attention to the darker side of Apple, shining a light on the working conditions at the Foxconn factories in China where its products are made.
Apple’s iEconomy a Veritable Labor Dystopia
Thanks to Mike Daisey’s appearance on “This American Life,” denial about Apple’s labor abuses has become impossible.
The Apple Connection
Ever since the beginning of the current global economic crisis, the focus of both critical analysis and public odium has been speculative capital. In the populist narrative, it was the breathtaking shenanigans of the banks in an atmosphere of deregulation that led to the economic collapse. The “financial economy,” characterized as parasitic and bad, was contrasted to the “real economy,” which was said to produce real goods and real value. Resources flowed into speculative activities in finance, resulting in a loss of dynamism in the real economy and eventually leading to credit cutoff at the height of the crisis, causing bankruptcies and massive layoffs.
An Alternative Eulogy for Steve Jobs
Jobs may have been an exceptional designer, but when it comes to the multifaceted corporate malfeasance that has come to characterize the global electronics industry, Apple is exceptional for its profit margins alone.
Apple: Crown Jewel of Technology or Human-Rights Abuser and Tax Cheat?
The path an ore for Apple’s batteries takes to the marketplace is roughly analogous to that of “Blood Diamonds.”