Apple and many others have components that were manufactured by forced Uighur labor whos workers were bought and sold by factories and labor brokers

[RejZoR]

58 minutes ago, Sauron said:

Weren't you saying earlier that demand creates supply? Obviously it can't be an instantaneous process where companies simultaneously just choose another manufacturer, but if there was any shared will among these companies to do so it would get done. We're talking about entities with hundreds of billions to work with.

Samsung makes a lot more devices and does so in house. Now that's not to say Samsung is innocent in all of this, in fact they're on the list - but let's not pretend Apple couldn't meet Foxconn's capacity if they wanted to.

Samsung makes everything from smartphones, washing machines, fridges to cars and construction machinery, semiconductor with own design and foundry, battery manufacturing, computer components like SSD and optical drives, they used to make HDD's too, but they sold off that division. Their portfolio goes wide and deep. Apple has a very narrow business and they just can't do such things on their own.

[Sauron]

2 minutes ago, RejZoR said:

Samsung makes everything from smartphones, washing machines, fridges to cars and construction machinery, semiconductor with own design and foundry, battery manufacturing, computer components like SSD and optical drives, they used to make HDD's too, but they sold off that division. Their portfolio goes wide and deep. Apple has a very narrow business and they just can't do such things on their own.

Apple is the single most valuable company in the world, if they wanted to do it they most definitely could - it just wouldn't be as profitable as having Foxconn do it for them. They could just buy from Samsung if Samsung were committed to doing things more ethically though.

[suicidalfranco]

> china

> human right violation

> imagine my shock

> more at 10

now to wait for Hollywood and the media to come defend china's honour 

[Engineer.AI]

13 hours ago, Jack_of_all_Trades said:

 

One, because it's easily the biggest company of all these, and secondly because - Apple and China have this relationship, where Apple administers sweatshops in the country, where the conditions are despicable, at best. They also have been called out by the media, who have wholeheartedly condemned the conglomerate, only to be fed a ton of cash to shut up later on.

And also because its peak clickbait

[FunkmastaFlex]

Big suprise... Damn Humans.

[williamcll]

Might as well make good use of criminals, assuming this article is legit.

16 hours ago, suicidalfranco said:

> china

> human right violation

> imagine my shock

> more at 10

now to wait for Hollywood and the media to come defend china's honour 

Well as far as twitter is concerned I'm seeing the other way around.

[thechinchinsong]

22 hours ago, Master Disaster said:

Why single out Apple in the headline? They were far from alone and its entirely possible Tim Cook had no idea the workers were modern slaves, I mean if you were a modern slave would you tell anyone right at the place of your work infront of the people who are holding you?

Since Apple is one of the most valuable companies in the world and many companies attempt to (try to) emulate Apple in some ways. Also it makes for more eye-catching headlines since having Apple in the headline is certainly going to generate more interest than if any other company was in that headline.

[ravenshrike]

20 hours ago, Sauron said:

All of them? No. These in particular? Yes. Well, not "the west" - western capital interest.

You're right, I'm sure that these people would find themselves dead in a ditch, stuck in a mine, or forcibly parted from their organs if there weren't more lucrative ways of using them. The Chinese motive for removing these people from their homes would still exist without western capital interest.

[Sauron]

1 minute ago, ravenshrike said:

You're right, I'm sure that these people would find themselves dead in a ditch, stuck in a mine, or forcibly parted from their organs if there weren't more lucrative ways of using them. The Chinese motive for removing these people from their homes would still exist without western capital interest.

Hmm, just harvesting organs from their citizens doesn't seem like a viable economic strategy... not nearly as viable as meeting the western request for factory work where the workers are treated humanely. Also, who would be buying those organs or those minerals?

 

And regardless, I don't think the potential for the Chinese government to do harm anyway is reason enough to be complicit.

[ravenshrike]

31 minutes ago, Sauron said:

Hmm, just harvesting organs from their citizens doesn't seem like a viable economic strategy.

Given that their motive is to utterly destroy the culture and religion of the people in question, viable economic strategy doesn't enter into it. Anything that even partially offsets the cost would be considered to be useful.

[Sauron]

Just now, ravenshrike said:

Given that their motive is to utterly destroy the culture and religion of the people in question

This doesn't take into account the worker abuse that isn't part of a genocide. Also again, acknowledging that this is a genocide that could happen anyway isn't a good reason to finance it. And economic threat is actually a good way to force a nation to stop a genocide.

[Devin92]

Am I angry, yes, is it gonna make me start researching every company that I buy product from if they are using forced labor, probly not.

That's the harsh truth of the society now. heck, not all of the Canadians are standing up asking Tim hortons to raise their minimum wage on their workers, let alone ppl in other country that they dont interact with everyday.

Damn human beings are doomed.

[SpaceGhostC2C]

2 hours ago, Devin92 said:

That's the harsh truth of the society now.

That's the harsh truth of any society ever. However, things like this don't currently happen everywhere to the same extent: that's part of the achievements of our democratic societies. Granted, we outsource exploitation offshore now - as long as we can find places without our/better institutions.

And that's also why no, this won't "self-regulate" through bad PR or anything like that. Companies will always feel the competitive pressure (even monopolies will feel the shareholder pressure) and squeeze everything they can get away with. Human rights can only be enforced as a matter of public policy, and that can only realistically happen under a set of institutions. Even Western societies are institutionally imperfect in this sense, but China is light years from having a government that can play the "arbiter" role needed. One can only hope that China, through economic development, will develop the same social forces that brought about change in the West as it developed.

[Ridska]

This actually saddens me

[Jotoco]

I don't the use of the terms workers and laborers. They should straight up said slaves. 

 

Slaves working for the Chinese communist party. 

[ne0tic]

On 3/4/2020 at 4:27 PM, Master Disaster said:

Why single out Apple in the headline? They were far from alone and its entirely possible Tim Cook had no idea the workers were modern slaves, I mean if you were a modern slave would you tell anyone right at the place of your work infront of the people who are holding you?

Because putting Apple in the headline always draws more attention lol

[Zando_]

4 minutes ago, ne0tic said:

Because putting Apple in the headline always draws more attention lol

LTTers when LTT clickbaits their videos:


LTTers when they clickbait their news threads:

[williamcll]

Now that I look at the source the article is using it honestly look more like it's just one government agency copying news to another.

[dizmo]

China, really, is at the head for a lot of the world's problems right now, including pollution. They're destroying large parts of their own nation, yet it's largely left alone because they give us the shiny new things we seem to think we need. They have concentration camps, yet we turn a blind eye. Nations really need to grow a backbone before all that can simply be said is "yes sir" as they do whatever they please.

 

On 3/4/2020 at 8:21 AM, Sauron said:

In case anyone needed a reminder that corporations - all of them - not only don't give a fuck about human rights but actively encourage abuse.

Encourage is a bit much.

On 3/4/2020 at 8:31 AM, minibois said:

What the hell is wrong with the world we live in and why do I literally not have a way to stop this

There is. Stop buying products from said companies until they change.

But you won't. None of us will. So it will carry on.

On 3/4/2020 at 9:32 AM, RonnieOP said:

Tbh hows this new?

 

Was anyone really under the impression that these factories were paying people a good salary with paid vacations?

"Good salary" is a term that's often mistaken as being a "Western salary." Why should they get paid vacations? Apparently even a lot of American's don't have such things.

On 3/4/2020 at 11:55 AM, RejZoR said:

Samsung makes everything from smartphones, washing machines, fridges to cars and construction machinery, semiconductor with own design and foundry, battery manufacturing, computer components like SSD and optical drives, they used to make HDD's too, but they sold off that division. Their portfolio goes wide and deep. Apple has a very narrow business and they just can't do such things on their own.

Don't forget tanks, military hardware, aerospace, shipping...they're in everything. Pretty good for a grocery store.

On 3/4/2020 at 12:00 PM, Sauron said:

Apple is the single most valuable company in the world, if they wanted to do it they most definitely could - it just wouldn't be as profitable as having Foxconn do it for them. They could just buy from Samsung if Samsung were committed to doing things more ethically though.

Well, second. Amazon is larger.

On 3/5/2020 at 7:10 AM, Sauron said:

Hmm, just harvesting organs from their citizens doesn't seem like a viable economic strategy... not nearly as viable as meeting the western request for factory work where the workers are treated humanely. Also, who would be buying those organs or those minerals?

 

And regardless, I don't think the potential for the Chinese government to do harm anyway is reason enough to be complicit.

Yet, it is done anyway. It's a $1billion+ a year industry, and organs are something that is in high demand. It's also not just an idea that he thought up, it's documented, and it's been openly talked about by Chinese government. It was prisoners of conscience, not just random citizens.