Indeed.

The whole thing makes my head hurt. I mean, are there any even reasonably exploitative corporations anymore or are they all straight up Montgomery Burns enterprises? It's feeling like most things I buy has a social cost that's way too high.

Geez...

I think ethics in modern day society have been severely eroded, especially in first world countries. There seems to be confusion between legality and ethical responsibility.

Similar actually happened with media coverage of Apple. They were in fact better than other smartphone makers.

I think you're right. :(

It seems the only way around it is to buy the best we can afford and then stay on top of the maintenance, increasing the lifespan of the product. I'm a big fan of restoring and repairing rather than replacing, just from a quality standpoint. As was mentioned already, it's especially difficult to avoid when living in the first world. Most of us don't want to know where our hamburger comes from.

I read an article the other day that made me want to stop being a consumer of new electronics...scary...

http://www.bbc.com/future/story/2015...place-on-earth

Truth of the matter is, nothing has changed. 100 years ago, it was the railroad. 100 years before that, plantations. Now? Its mass produced consumer items.

There's plenty of product out there that's 'ethically' made. But the majority of those products are typically expensive, and/or produced in low quantities.

Mass produced items, unless done by machine, are frequently going to have some dubious labor practices. Doesn't matter where its made. Look at all the sweatshops that exist/have existed in the US. We go on and on about US made quality, but bad labor conditions can, and do exist here too.

Sadly, they'll continue to exist until consumers as a whole demand products be made differently. And today, most consumers only care about price.

I am so spoiled in the decadence of the world I live in, I can visualize destroying a perfectly good car for entertainment purposes :(


I had a heated discussion about slave labor last week when I was accused of purchasing China products. I swiftly told the accuser that's not true. In fact, when I have time I go out of my way to find out what's ethically manufactured. With the exception of a $300 shirt and my Blackberry(last month someone stole my phone from me while I was listening to live music!) I don't remember buying anything from China in the last 20 months.


In regards, to the Nepalese worker; there really is no choice. An article, a bit after the earthquake, reported an estimated cost of rebuilding could be more than the entire annual GDP :( So, assuming nobody gets hurt, every little contribution helps from 'home' or abroad!


Some young college grad asked me that day if I could donate money to help "girls?" that particular afternoon. I told her the details of the disaster, declined, but offered her meeting with her over lunch or dinner. She never called me back:(


Back with where I'm from, the odds of some manufacturing locally and domestically doesn't look good. I used to live very near the poorest parts of the neighborhood and will personally say many, I would not hire. With wages inevitably going up, a certain window of opportunity is just too risky. I will still take it like a man, nonetheless.

Fixed it for you.

-alex

Consumers only want the most for the cheapest price. Trickle down economics and outsourcing jobs has only made this worse. When the CEO of a company gets paid 500+ TIMES more than the average employee, that's ridiculous. Its not a matter of "no one should be paid that much" its an issue of "its not ethical to make that much money while you're employees can't even live above poverty." And its happening everywhere.

You sure you aren't a pinko??

I am actually shocked o hear an American say that stuff.

It reminds me of Target stores, opening in Canada, then failing miserably and closing in less that 2 years, losing several billion dollars and laying off tons of employees in the process. And so poorly mismanaged and planned that it seems like it was engineered to happen as a tax write down. The severance deal also included a 62 million dollar payout for the CEO.

Not to be political, but believe it or not, there are a LOT of us down here in the States that think the same way. It's just that the hardcore capitalist types have a hundreds year old culture and political machine that knows how get people to vote and speak out loudly against their own best interests. Those people are actually in the vast minority here, but they know how to be shocking and newsworthy enough to make it seem like their group is bigger than it is.

So you pick Hillary over the Donald??LOL

If it ends up being either one of them, Im moving to Canada lol.





But that's a different discussion.

These major manufacturers ie. Subaru, Toyota, Nissan and Honda cannot be absolved of the responsibility. They knowingly buy parts from these suppliers with full knowledge of why they are cheaper. In a lot of cases, they own major stock in the supply companies also. Often it is even controlling interest. There is a reason why Japanese companies have been so competitive in the US market for the last 40 years. Korean companies have used the exact same blueprint to establish themselves. Same for the Chinese. These companies do not have to deal with the UAW. I am not a big fan of big union because I feel they have overstepped their bounds and gotten ridiculous with their demands . However, they have provided the workers in the auto industry with a good living and great benefits.

I still love my Toyota. US companies have never built anything like it. If they did I would buy it.....but they don't and won't.

And always has and always will. This is not new by even the remotest stretch of the imagination.