The Foxconn Reality: “Better” Is Still Bad

March 1st, 2012 - 64 views

[...]criticize the working conditions for those who put your iPhone together, tiny piece by tiny piece, and it’s likely you’ll get hit with some variant of this threadbare counterpoint: Well, by Chinese standards, it’s actually pretty good. Did you know they get free housing? And they’re sure better off than they are back in their village.

We’ve already established that “by Chinese standards” doesn’t mean much. And the Workers could always have it worse! fallacy, that it’s somehow acceptable to cheer a man sleeping in a slum because he isn’t sleeping in the mud, might go back farther in time, but it was put forth in its most racist, salient form 236 years ago, by Scottish philosopher and OG factory cheerleader Adam Smith:

Compared, indeed, with the more extravagant luxury of the great, [a common 's] accommodation must no doubt appear extremely simple and easy; and yet it may be true, perhaps, that the accommodation of an European prince does not always so much exceed that of an industrious and frugal peasant, as the accommodation of the latter exceeds that of many an African king, the absolute masters of the lives and liberties of ten thousand naked savages.

The Foxconn Reality: "Better" Is Still Bad.

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The Buddha on Food Stamps. | elephant journal

February 28th, 2012 - 62 views

So how did I feel standing in that Whole Foods line?

I felt naked, raw and at the same time, dignified. I felt in my element but sensed the deep unknown beyond, as if I were a fish swimming at the edge of my school. I felt lonely, facing unfamiliar space, where no signposts, ground or structure are evident. I felt vulnerable, entering vast, unknown territory. But a big smile was dawning, a smile of compassion. As Trungpa Rinpoche and Pema Chodron had taught me, I can smile at fear, rather than cringe.

The Buddha on Food Stamps. | elephant journal.

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How Target Figured Out A Teen Girl Was Pregnant Before Her Father Did – Forbes

February 27th, 2012 - 58 views

Every time you go , you share intimate details about your consumption patterns with retailers. And many of those retailers are studying those details to figure out what you like, what you need, and which coupons are most likely to make you happy. , for example, has figured out how to -mine its way into your womb, to figure out whether you have a baby on the way long before you need to start buying diapers.

via How Target Figured Out A Teen Girl Was Pregnant Before Her Father Did – Forbes.

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Dispatch: Rethinking Meaningful Work at the Bluegrass Frat House»

February 23rd, 2012 - 30 views

To ask Tice whether he’s passionate about playing the guitar misses the point. Contentment in his world does not come from following , but instead in deploying it, day after day, in a quest to produce work so good it can’t be ignored.

Lesson Learned: There seems to be something deeply satisfying about turning your focus from what the world can offer you and onto what you can offer the world. This craftsman mindset might provide an effective and meaningful alternative to the passion mindset (i.e., worrying whether a is your true calling) when navigating your .

via Study Hacks » Blog Archive » Dispatch: Rethinking Meaningful Work at the Bluegrass Frat House.

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Not Being a Troll Isn’t Enough: A Handbook to Being a Model Internet Citizen»

February 21st, 2012 - 38 views

The gives us all a platform to make our voices heard. That’s incredibly powerful, but with that power comes responsibility. That’s right, like any citizenship, your privileges carry with them responsibilities. “But I’m no ,” you say. That’s not enough; there’s more to being an upstanding citizen of the internet than just not trolling. Here’s how to embrace the responsibilities of your citizenship and become a model internet citizen.

Not Being a Troll Isn't Enough: A Handbook to Being a Model Internet Citizen.

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Apple’s iPad and the Human Costs for Workers in China – NYTimes.com»

January 28th, 2012 - 51 views

In the last decade, has become one of the mightiest, richest and most successful companies in the world, in part by mastering global manufacturing. and its high-technology peers — as well as dozens of other American industries — have achieved a pace of innovation nearly unmatched in modern history.

However, the workers assembling iPhones, iPads and other devices often labor in harsh conditions, according to employees inside those plants, advocates and documents published by companies themselves. Problems are as varied as onerous work environments and serious — sometimes deadly — safety problems.

Apple’s iPad and the Human Costs for Workers in China – NYTimes.com.

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Apple, America and a Squeezed Middle Class – NYTimes.com»

January 23rd, 2012 - 61 views

Why can’t that work come home? Mr. Obama asked.

Mr. Jobs’s reply was unambiguous. “Those jobs aren’t coming back,” he said, according to another dinner guest.

The president’s question touched upon a central conviction at . It isn’t just that workers are cheaper abroad. Rather, ’s executives believe the vast scale of overseas factories as well as the flexibility, diligence and industrial skills of foreign workers have so outpaced their American counterparts that “Made in the U.S.A.” is no longer a viable option for most products.

via Apple, America and a Squeezed Middle Class – NYTimes.com.

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Things Apple is Worth More Than | 45 Days Worth of Global Oil Consumption

January 23rd, 2012 - 50 views

from @hassankhan:

“ is more than 45 days of worldwide consumption – Roughly $7 billion per day assuming 86 million barrels a day at $83 per barrel (Nymex Crude)”

Things Apple is Worth More Than | 45 Days Worth of Global Oil Consumption.

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Microsoft Pushes Washington to Legalize Gay Marriage»

January 20th, 2012 - 63 views

, along with and , believe ’s failure to recognize has gone on long enough. So they’ve called out the state government, pushing for legislators to pass the two gay bills currently circulating through their chambers.

According to the Atlantic, Microsoft, citing the need for equality in order to attract the best employees to their company, issued the following statement on their blog:

As other states recognize marriage equality, Washington’s employers are at a disadvantage if we cannot offer a similar, inclusive environment to our talented employees, our top recruits and their families. Employers in the technology sector face an unprecedented national and global competition for top talent. Despite progress made in recent years with domestic partnership rights, same-sex couples in Washington still hold a different status from their neighbors. Marriage equality in Washington would put employers here on an equal footing with employers in the six other states that already recognize the committed relationships of same-sex couples – Connecticut, Iowa, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York and Vermont. This in turn will help us continue to compete for talent.

via Microsoft Pushes Washington to Legalize Gay Marriage.

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“Keep Giving Them You, Until You Is What They Want”»

January 16th, 2012 - 44 views

The point of the story is this: you’re going to be rejected a lot if you have lofty goals you want to achieve, but often times that will have nothing to do with you. Many of us take a single as an opportunity to focus on what we can change and how we can improve, but what good is change if we have no concrete reason for it? When you don’t know why you were rejected, don’t bother to speculate. Let it go, and continue being yourself. Who else are you going to be, anyway?

via “Keep Giving Them You, Until You Is What They Want”.

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