I Before E

dyfl:

I’m really, really glad that the Times is writing this series about manufacturing conditions in China; it’s one of the most significant human-rights stories in the world, and it’s one of those things Americans truly do not like thinking about. I know I generally don’t, but a part of me is glad to have it rubbed in my face.

I sort of worry that the focus on Apple is counter-productive — every company that manufactures goods for the American market is engaged in this sort of behavior, and Apple as a company is cast in the role of “shit-magnet” far too often and out of proportion to their actual conduct, I think.

That said, I do acknowledge the narrative advantages for a journalist of focusing on Apple — and I do have to say, their insanely gigantic cash hoard starts to look a little bit obscene in this context. It’s naive to say, I’m sure, but with a pile of reserve cash that gigantic, what kind of changes could be made to working conditions among their suppliers if even 20% of that was earmarked as required to go to programs to improve living conditions? It would be fundamentally anti-competitive in some ways, yes, but maybe having the resources to do things like that would make Foxconn even more attractive as both an employer and a supplier. Who can say.