Sunday
Mar182012
by 
Bishop Hill
Bishop Hill Theatrical works
Mar 18, 2012 Ethics This story is not climate-related, but is somehow very resonant with the issues we return to again and again here at BH. Josh points me to this retraction of many of the most scandalous details about Apple's Chinese subcontractor, FoxConn. It appears that the source of the disinformation, Mike Daisey, was a well-meaning chap who just wanted to make people care.
Sound familiar?
Daisey says he stands by his story "as a theatrical work".
Reader Comments (54)
Socialist environmental totalitarism is a death cult, with one difference. They want us to Drink the Kool Aid.
A metaphor commonly used in the United States and Canada that refers to a person or group's unquestioning belief in an ideology, argument, or philosophy without critical examination. The phrase typically carries a negative connotation when applied to an individual or group. The basis of the term is a reference to the November 1978 Jonestown Massacre, where members of the Peoples Temple were said to have committed suicide by drinking a "Kool-Aid"-like drink laced with cyanide. Wikipedia.
Describe China in one sentence
Anything that can be made in a factory they can make it the cheapest
@Geronimo: if Foxconn is so fantastic, why did they have an outbreak of suicides? To be fair to them they took practical measures. The publicity was damaging their business so they put up nets to catch the people who were jumping off. I do feel sorry for Foxconn - they are not a bad employer in the local context and there are a very great many that are a hell of a lot worse.
For those insisting that all this is simply a natural consequence of industrialisation at pace/capitalism at work and so on, I would like to point out that many foreign owned factories, such as Nokia, Siemens, Bosch, Motorola, Sharp, Samsung and so on and one or two Chinese enterprises such as Huawei, employ people on terms and conditions which compare very well with the West - which shows it is possible to produce things cheaply in China with decent standards for the workers. Apple could do that too. They choose not to.
It turns out it is climate related...
http://grist.org/media/mike-daisey-climate-and-greater-truths/
James