Conquer Club

Would you boycott products from these companies due to working conditions at Foxconn... relevant links below (and idea stolen from The Daily Show): Amazon, Apple, Barnes & Noble, Cisco, Dell, Hewlett-Packard, Intel, IBM, Microsoft, Motorola, Netgear, Nintendo, Nokia, Panasonic, Philips, Samsung, Sharp, Sony, Toshiba, and Vizio...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foxconn#ci ... Foxconn-11

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldne ... ctory.html

http://www.theatlanticwire.com/technolo ... ork/47193/

relax dude, they are addressing the problem like any responsible company should:

In the aftermath of the suicides, Foxconn installed safety nets in some of its factories

see? no more messy bodies to clean up.

It is worth taking a look at the Daily Show segment on this.

john9blue wrote:relax dude, they are addressing the problem like any responsible company should:

In the aftermath of the suicides, Foxconn installed safety nets in some of its factories

see? no more messy bodies to clean up.

Which resulted in them laying off several "body collecting staff" at those plants.

2dimes wrote:

john9blue wrote:relax dude, they are addressing the problem like any responsible company should:

In the aftermath of the suicides, Foxconn installed safety nets in some of its factories

see? no more messy bodies to clean up.

Which resulted in them laying off several "body collecting staff" at those plants.

gotta break a few eggs, man.

Yuppers, if you start treating them like people they'll want to make a fair wage. How do you think they'll generate the re inherit that? Up goes the price on iPhone5!

I don't hear the Chinese government complaining.

This reminds me of the time the UK press got their panties all twirled up into a bunch because CHILDREN in Ivory Coast were WIELDING MACHETES and working for LESS THAN TWO POUNDS A DAY.

Then you ask the locals, and they think that's good pay, that it's good for the children to work and that they have no problem whatsoever with children using knives.

This commercial practice has received the barackattack Certificate of Ethics.

thegreekdog wrote:Would you boycott products from these companies due to working conditions at Foxconn... relevant links below (and idea stolen from The Daily Show): Amazon, Apple, Barnes & Noble, Cisco, Dell, Hewlett-Packard, Intel, IBM, Microsoft, Motorola, Netgear, Nintendo, Nokia, Panasonic, Philips, Samsung, Sharp, Sony, Toshiba, and Vizio...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foxconn#ci ... Foxconn-11

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldne ... ctory.html

http://www.theatlanticwire.com/technolo ... ork/47193/

f*ck WalMart!!!!!!

(Oh sorry...it's my nervous tic that acts up when this subject is broached.)

Woodruff wrote:f*ck WalMart!!!!!!

Too late, North America is absolutely the catcher in that relationship. No lube either.

2dimes wrote:

Woodruff wrote:f*ck WalMart!!!!!!

Too late, North America is absolutely the catcher in that relationship. No lube either.

Indeed.

barackattack wrote:I don't hear the Chinese government complaining.

This reminds me of the time the UK press got their panties all twirled up into a bunch because CHILDREN in Ivory Coast were WIELDING MACHETES and working for LESS THAN TWO POUNDS A DAY.

Then you ask the locals, and they think that's good pay, that it's good for the children to work and that they have no problem whatsoever with children using knives.

This commercial practice has received the barackattack Certificate of Ethics.

Because the Chinese government totally represents the people, and shit.

These conditions also beg the question as to whether Americans actually want to bring manufacturing jobs back to America.

thegreekdog wrote:These conditions also beg the question as to whether Americans actually want to bring manufacturing jobs back to America.

You hit on something there.

I the 1950's and 60's we had an ethic that said that workers should expect reasonable hours, relatively safe working conditions and benefits. But, even as the profits of major companies were soaring in the 1980's, it became popular to blame all the rules and regulations for failures in business and lack of profits. The irony is that the very workers who should have objected (who did object in many cases) decided that those issues just were not as important as promoting the socially conservative agenda.
Or, to be more correct, the language of poli-speech began to change significantly. Suddenly, instead of workers being the foundation of the country, it was those at the top who needed to be supported so the incomes could "trickle down".. or, in today's vernacular, we have to support the "job creators".

Things will only change when, as you note, folks begin to realize that purchases, not investments are what really and truly fuel our economy AND, though you did not say it, I will add production that is sustainable and NOT damaging the environment. The environment is not some esoteric thing for hippies, it is the literal world in which we live. We ignore that, and we all will be in even more dire straights.

I'm not that outraged.

What alternative occupations do these workers have?

What portion of their salary would are they willing to dedicate to safer worker conditions?

BigBallinStalin wrote:I'm not that outraged.

What alternative occupations do these workers have?

What portion of their salary would are they willing to dedicate to safer worker conditions?

Such a fatcat...

thegreekdog wrote:It is worth taking a look at the Daily Show segment on this.

a link? I did not see it above, unless I goofed somehow.

For me, the real answer is that things are so intertwined its essentially impossible to avoid those products and still have any kind of electronics. I HAVE tried, but when not having a computer will cut out most of our income, its not an effective choice. I do buy used items, so these companies are at least not benefitting directly. I was actually was given this computer (it was a throw-away for a business because of a small glitch with which I can live).

I went down the list, the only companies I'm involved with are Microsoft and possibly Barnes & Noble. Other than being too poor to buy anything ever, I don't know what I'm supposed to do about this. I gave up on everyone but Barack Obama a while ago anyway.

Juan_Bottom wrote:I went down the list, the only companies I'm involved with are Microsoft and possibly Barnes & Noble. Other than being too poor to buy anything ever, I don't know what I'm supposed to do about this. I gave up on everyone but Barack Obama a while ago anyway.

There are two problems here:

First, the mistreatment of workers in China, a country that, given its rhetoric and type of government, should be glorifying workers.

Second, the people and government in the United States have a problem with "sending jobs overseas." This would be a perfect rallying cry for Americans to stop gross abuse of workers and, at the same time, bring jobs back to the United States. The corollary to that is we'd have to decide how well to try the U.S. workers who make these products and live with the potential increase in price of such products.

thegreekdog wrote:First, the mistreatment of workers in China, a country that, given its rhetoric and type of government, should be glorifying workers.

The People's Authoritarian Capitalist Party?

spurgistan wrote:Because the Chinese government totally represents the people, and shit.

I meant that it's the business of the Chinese and not anyone else. I hate when hippies stick their noses into another country's affairs.

And how is the Chinese government any less representative than, say, the governments of the US, UK etc.? And yadda yadda.

thegreekdog wrote:[
Second, the people and government in the United States have a problem with "sending jobs overseas." This would be a perfect rallying cry for Americans to stop gross abuse of workers and, at the same time, bring jobs back to the United States. The corollary to that is we'd have to decide how well to try the U.S. workers who make these products and live with the potential increase in price of such products.

But that's the thing. This has never been about average, working Americans getting jobs. This is ahout those at the top getting wealthy.

Just look at the evidence.

Walmart shows us that most Americans really don't truly care about jobs. If they did, they would not buy from Walmart. Yet, it is now the largest retailer in the US and employs more people than any other US company.. and largely at not much above minimum wage, with very poor benefits. If you want a summary of what is wrong with America, THAT is it!

barackattack wrote:
And how is the Chinese government any less representative than, say, the governments of the US, UK etc.? And yadda yadda.

You have obviously never done an internet search in China (I haven't either) or talked to people who have (that, I have done!).

Our countries may be less than perfect, but they don't interfere in our lives to the extent of China.. at least yet, at least until the social conservative agenda gets more power.

(a quick capstone: still represses most religions, allowing only officially designated representatives to go unharassed; comes down on anyone seriously opposing the government be they artist or whomever; One child policy -- relaxed a tad, but only a tad; limits access to many websites, including anything that legitimately discusses Tibet).

Juan_Bottom wrote:I went down the list, the only companies I'm involved with are Microsoft and possibly Barnes & Noble. Other than being too poor to buy anything ever, I don't know what I'm supposed to do about this. I gave up on everyone but Barack Obama a while ago anyway.

If you carry it out to the companies these companies supply, etc then it is truly hard to avoid them. You CAN buy used, which at least means the person getting your money is not those places directly. However, we are not likely to see PCs at our local "farmer's market" cooperative any time soon.

PLAYER57832 wrote:

thegreekdog wrote:[
Second, the people and government in the United States have a problem with "sending jobs overseas." This would be a perfect rallying cry for Americans to stop gross abuse of workers and, at the same time, bring jobs back to the United States. The corollary to that is we'd have to decide how well to try the U.S. workers who make these products and live with the potential increase in price of such products.

But that's the thing. This has never been about average, working Americans getting jobs. This is ahout those at the top getting wealthy.

Just look at the evidence.

Walmart shows us that most Americans really don't truly care about jobs. If they did, they would not buy from Walmart. Yet, it is now the largest retailer in the US and employs more people than any other US company.. and largely at not much above minimum wage, with very poor benefits. If you want a summary of what is wrong with America, THAT is it!

You're looking at 10% of the exchange while missing the remaining 90%.

today i went to a hugeass wal-mart. they had underground parking, cart escalators, a food court, and a strip mall built into the side of the building. i bought a month's worth of food for $100. shit got out of hand.

hooray for capitalism

edit: by "today" i mean "yesterday", been up all night lol

thegreekdog wrote:It is worth taking a look at the Daily Show segment on this.

Pretty scary actually. Its more or less what anyone at the top of a corporation aims for, even if they dont know it. Its actually the ultimate conclusion of pure capitalism, and no labor unions, and Im amazed at the number of people in this country, who dont realize they are arguing and voting for the same kind of treatment in the future here, or how close that reality really is.

And keep in mind, Im not suggesting some kind of grand conspiracy either, just wealth, greed, power and corruption, working towards what it always achieves if allowed to flourish unchecked, as it has been increasingly allowed to do so.

I sometimes feel as though the pains of history, have been in vain, since so few learn from them.

They instead use up the rewards so hard fought, and piss on the memories that sacrificed to gain them.