Tag Archives: rich motherfuckers

No Clean Touchscreens

Slashdot asks: Are Any Smart Phones Made Under Worker-Friendly Conditions? As pointed out by one of the commentors there, the answer seems to be no.

But smart phones aren’t a special case. Many of the products we use every day are manufactured by workers laboring under bad, sometimes horrendous, conditions, and from time to time we actually talk about it. Remember the hubbub over Nike’s sweatshops, back in the 90′s? Or Kathy Lee’s? Why do you think that somebody had to invent Fair Trade coffee?

It seems to be a fact of life that if you are a Westerner in a fairly affluent country, it seems there is almost nothing you can buy that is not the product of ethically dubious labor practices (or environmental depredation, come to that).

This creates something akin to the idea of original sin: We of the affluent West are born into a situation where we cannot help but support these questionable practices, because we give the people who employ them our money; because it is difficult to find someone to give it to who doesn’t employ those practices.

It’s inescapable. You will buy things that are not produced ethically, no matter how hard you try not to–sheer volume and lack of transparency ensures that something will slip through the cracks.

This current controversy is just the latest peak in the cycle, where we are all suddenly intensely concerned about global labor practices; but soon enough, the people linking to these stories on Facebook will come to discover how there are mistreated workers behind almost every single consumer product; they will realize how entrenched these foul business practices are; they will grasp the difficulty of trying to be an ethical consumer; they will decide to stop feeling guilty about all of this, and go back to ignoring the issue, until the next time.

One hopes that during each peak of the cycle, some small fraction of the populace becomes permanently attuned to this issue, while the rest of their comrades slough away into complacency. If that is the case, we may yet be able to make the effort required to truly address workers’ rights in a meaningful way.

For now I suspect that by this time next year, this whole issue will be back down to a low murmur amongst many.

Morality Doesn’t Pay!

Does Science Teach Us to Eat the Rich? Well, no, as it turns out–but read the link anyway, it’s all pretty interesting. (I think so, anyway. This is the second time I’ve linked to a post that references the same study.)

Next question: What the heck is Motörhead’s “Eat The Rich” all about? Oh wait, it’s about Lemmy telling somebody to put their mouth on his schvantz. Some mysteries are not as tough to decode as others.

The One Percent Strikes Back!

The high and mighty aren’t going to take it any more! Out of the boardrooms and into the streets! And then to the restaurants! Where they’ll leave tiny, symbolic tips and rude comments! Oh my god, we’re so fucked!

It’s a good thing that these same bankers aren’t responsible for one of the single largest criminal operation in decades, which even if they were to be caught, would only incite the government to grace their wrists with the lightest of taps. That would really teach the rest of us a lesson, eh?

UPDATE: And, it’s all a hoax! The tiny tip thing, not the lack of consequences for corporate perjury thing. Outrage quelled!

They’re Not Sorry

“‘Whitney Houston product was mistakenly mispriced on the U.K. iTunes store on Sunday,’ said a statement issued by Sony, via Rolling Stone. ‘When discovered, the mistake was immediately corrected. We apologize for any offense caused.’” {From: Sony Apologizes For Accidentally Capitalizing On Whitney Houston’s Death With UK Price Hike – The Consumerist}

“Mistakenly?” I mean, MISTAKENLY? Really and truly? There was some terrible accident by which, wholly coincidentally, somebody at Sony stumbled into the switch that raised the price of Whitney Houston’s music? Honest mistake, right?

I’m sick to the teeth of these kinds of responsibility-dodging apologies. These things don’t just happen by magic–someone at Sony, whose act proceeded from will and intent, made it happen. It was not an unavoidable circumstance meted out by the universe.

If this “apology” was anywhere near honest, it would read thus: “We apologize for getting caught trying to take financial advantage of a tragic event, but we never for a moment dreamed that anybody would catch us. We promise to be more nefarious and underhanded in the future.”

Money Makes The Pols Spin Round

There once was a U.S. Representative who spoke out in favor of a free and unregulated Internet, who then received massive campaign donations from businesses who don’t really like that sort of thing. And then, in what is probably just a HUGE COINCIDENCE, the Representative turned an ideological 180, and is now vowing to basically ruin the Internet.

Don’t you wish you could buy a congressperson?

Do police officers accept campaign contributions? That would be grand. I bet a lot of them would COINCIDENTALLY reverse their positions on more than a few speeding tickets here and there, if only we humble citizens were allowed to contribute to their re-election funds.

From The “Nice, But Completely Irrelevent” Department…

Journalists And Key Engineers Who Built The Internet: Completely Opposed To SOPA | Techdirt.

Hey, that’s cute. Quick question, though: How many congresspeople do these guys own? None? Or maybe one, perhaps? Oh. Well then let me ask th-WHATGODDAMNDIFFERENCEDOESITMAKE?

You think smarts is gonna kill this thing? Smart people are against SOPA, and they’re getting nowhere. Think it’s just about money? Google can’t even kill this thing.

If you want to stop this, get out there and start buying up lawmakers.