Getting green and happy by exporting pollution and misery

BY DAVID ROBERTS
24 MAY 2011 3:56 PM

Two things I've seen recently have got me thinking about how the Western world solves its problems by exporting them.

First, over the weekend I saw The Agony and the Ecstasy of Steve Jobs, a one-man theater performance from Seattle's own Mike Daisey. It's an absolutely brilliant show, at turns laugh-out-loud funny and heart-wrenching. It combines two concurrent narratives. One is about the history of Apple, the unique design genius (and personal ruthlessness) of Apple CEO Steve Jobs, and -- most amusingly -- Daisey's deep and authentic love of tech gadgets generally and Mac products specifically. (There's a bit about how the new router makes the old router look unbearably slow that had me in tears. It's like he knows me!)

The other narrative is about how Apple's gadgets are made. And oh, man, is it worse than you think. They are made by the huge and secretive Chinese firm Foxconn, which makes 52 percent of all global electronics. Foxconn employs over a quarter-million people, most of whom work in a single gigantic compound in the Chinese "special economic zone" of Shenzhen. Daisey asks the audience to picture a cafeteria that can accommodate 10,000 people. (Think about it for a minute.) Now think about 25 of those cafeterias. Boggling.

The workers at this compound work anywhere from 12 to 16 hours a day, doing the same thing over and over again. At one point Daisey ironically notes the Western affectation of "handmade goods," pointing out that everything in your pockets is handmade. iPads and iPhones? Handmade. Why buy machines when labor costs are effectively zero? These workers perform these repetitive motions until their hands are mangled and ruined, at which point they're summarily fired. They sleep in tiny dorms. They're watched by cameras 24 hours a day. They are, effectively, indentured servants.

And oh yeah, they're f*cking miserable. ..

more
http://www.grist.org/article/2011-05-24-getting-green-and-happy-by-exporting-pollution-and-misery-not-co

the Foxconn model is a template for the future of all low-wage workers, including here in the US.

It is a working model based on exploited, disposable people who are tossed like used Bic lighters. The financial model of profit as all that matters could make this look very appealing if we continue to traverse this path of predatory capitalism -- call it what you will.

What price profit?