Tuesday, February 14, 2012
Buying Electronics is Not a Sin
The working conditions at some of the factories in China that produce electronics truly
are deplorable, and something needs to be done. However, it is an overstatement to claim that consumers are inherently to blame for the situation. Any decent human being would be willing to pay extra for gadgets if it meant a better quality of life for someone else. The truth is that we as consumers have relatively little that we can do to affect the working conditions in the factories because there are larger, more complex economic forces at work. Given that our actions, however well-intended, cannot guarantee a direct improvement in factory working conditions, much of the recent media hype isn't necessary.
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You're right - just because there is a demand for a product, doesn't move responsibility of company decisions (like manufacturing cheap in China) from the company onto the customers.
ReplyDeleteI think too we are often led to believe there exists some sort of scandal. If Apple were bankrolling terrorists i would absolutely agree that boycotting Apple products would be a positive thing. In this case, however, the decision is not as black and white. Reports after the scandal have suggested that Apple workers have better working conditions than most Chinese electronics workers, that they are improving their workers' quality of life.
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