There are other bad apples besides Apple

Somebody named Tony Shin e-mailed me a link to an infographic about the abuse of Chinese sweatshop workers who make components for Apple Computer.  It is well-done and accurate, and that is why I reproduce it below.

[Added 3/15/12.  Perhaps I should have been a little more suspicious.  Click on Mystery of the Infographics for why.]

But I don’t want to single out Apple as if it were greatly different from the world’s other electronics companies or, indeed, any company that outsources to China.  As I type this, I am wearing a shirt “Made in Cambodia”; I doubt the Cambodian workers enjoy better conditions than Foxconn workers in China.

Now the fact that other companies engage in bad practices doesn’t mean that Apple management is not responsible for their own company’s practices.  What it does mean is that nothing is to be gained by boycotting Apple if it just means shifting to Microsoft or Sony or some other company that uses the same suppliers.  In fact, if I were more cynical than I am, I would suspect that some of the campaign against Apple is being orchestrated by Apple’s competitors. [Added 3/15/12.  Maybe I ought to be more cynical.]

As you look at the infographic below, keep in mind that what it depicts is more than the moral blindness of just one company.  It is a whole system of production and distribution that encompasses many companies besides Apple and many nations besides China and the United States.

Click on iEmpire: Apple’s Sordid Business Practices Are Worse Than You Think for background on Apple Computer and Chinese sweatshops.

Click on Critics Question Record of Fair Labor Association, Apple’s Monitor for why organizations that monitor labor practices should not be funded by the companies they monitor.

Tags: Apple Computer, Chinese Sweatshops, Globalization