Group items tagged

"The Story of Catherine's iPod"

The disconnect here is so weird. It begins with people digging in the mountainside with sticks, and ends with a tiny, sleek, lightweight computer that makes images flick past at the swipe of your finger and makes music. It's like magic, except instead of the instead of using "toe of newt and eye of frog" the world is making these products by allowing people to be greatly mistreated. Beyond educating people, as Arshia and Alison said, it seems we must either: find other materials to make electronics out of (although that doesn't strike me as very likely?) or pressure companies (who have the money and the leverage) to enforce better regulation. To follow up on Catherine's video, I put three t's into google and got an article about an investigation into the mining in the Congo (maybe Catherine has already seen this): http://africarising2010.blogspot.com/2009/11/tracing-3-ts-from-congo.html. It says: "Even though they found that it is relatively easy to determine the source of minerals based on different coloration and texture based on the source mine, there is insufficient regulation to make this work....Export companies are required to register with the government, but their method of determining the source of minerals they buy is to merely ask the seller whether their goods are from conflict mines. There is no system of confirming what the seller says."

This presentation kept shocking me. I was surprised to hear that basic parts of the iPod (the Three Ts) originate in the Congo rather than China. I was then shocked (and horrified) by the rape statistics. I had heard the statistics before, but not in relation to the acquisition of the Three Ts and production of products that we use. The story about the woman whose brother was ordered to rape her and then stabbed to death when he refused was particularly awful. I was also In summary, I was appalled at all the crimes that took place in the Congo- before the Three Ts even got to the factories in China that Catherine talked about. When Catherine started talking about the factories in China, I was again shocked at the working conditions- 100 workers sleeping to a room and clothes locked in a bucket with no visitors allowed (to protect the secrecy of Apple's product plans) while workers worked 15 hour days. The suicide reports from the FoxCon (spelling) factories were also shocking, as was the revelation that workers make just half of what they did in the 1800s. It was sad that the factory earns only $4 per iPod sold- while Apple earns $80. This presentation was very thought provoking- I had never assumed that Apple would be one of the "bad" companies with very questionable labor and humanitarian practices (a la Wal-Mart). Thanks for bringing it up, Catherine. I'm now thinking about it in a whole new light.

I think its interesting that piracy is increasing throughout the world. Personally, I feel that its good that other countries are working to counter this threat.

I found it interesting that American-made American flags are lower quality than those made in China. It struck me as very similar to the situation faced by the speaker who came to talk to us about her bag business: how she had to outsource because she couldn't find a quality producer in the U.S. Something that bothered me is that many of the flags are synthetic; if the government is going to hand our hundreds of free flags that might just get thrown away, it seems as though it would be better to at least make them out of renewable materials like wood and cotton. However, I suppose that may be more expensive... Also, I visited the Jinteng factory website because I was curious if they specialized in a certain type of flag or not. It turns out that they make all different types of flags depending on the order, just as the jeans we saw in China Blue varied order by order. I suspect that although some workers feel frustrated making other countries' flags, their catalog indicates that they make flags for many countries, not just one, so any anger would perhaps be less likely to be directed toward a specific country due to constantly producing their flag.

I thought that it is sad (and ironic) that, as Matthew said, our symbols of freedom and patriotism are being paid for with people's rights (in China). I had never considered how 9/11 would have caused a drastic increase in demand for American flags, and though it shouldn't have, it surprised me that the low price of American flags from retailers such as Wal-Mart does not cover the production costs of the flags. Like Larkin, I found the juxtaposition of the symbols of the flag and where it is actually made notable. I also had the same question as Alison about whether any flags are actually made in the United States. I thought that Matthew did a nice job pointing out the odd juxtaposition and talking about the production cycle of the flag.

"The agreement reached in September would have allowed workers to take time off up to three times each year for a routine medical appointment without risking disciplinary action, but many workers said that the concession was insufficient and that it did not address the deeper issue underlying their concerns: a business model that seeks to minimize labor costs and results in chronic understaffing."

Qatar, which is non-democratic and run by monarchs, has been widely criticized for its many human rights violations and its exploitation of workers. However, this is being ignored by other governments in the world who seek to become allied with Qatar. Geopolitical goals are prioritized over human rights.

It's not really surprise considering Qatar's history surrounding human rights issues. I know that right now I believe the kafala system is still in place, which in principle deceives workers and gives a great amount of control to people over these workers. Basically increases cheap labor for migrants. Furthermore, though I the ILO keeping stressing that the workers welfare is being taken care of, it is clear that this is untrue seeing that there are plenty of injuries. Frankly, I don't think the ILO ever thought they could stop anything.

I'd love to know more about the "kafala system." What's "the ILO," Nicole? International Labor Organization? What is that? A UN body?

This "Room for Debate" article is about workers' strikes in China. The second response by Yasheng Huang is particularly interesting because it touches on something that we came across in our country jigsaws - even though a country may have an enormous GDP and growing economy, the average citizen is not necessarily well off. Huang writes: "Job creation is one thing; who gains from it is another…Many Western economists are cheerleaders of 'the China miracle,' but for the average Chinese the miracle is far less than what meets the eye." American companies profit from Chinese labor wages being so cheap, but how will things play out on the international stage if wages increase in Chinese factories?

(For people that are having difficulty finding the article for homework, I already posted it on Diigo)

After a previous failed vote, the Retail, Wholesale, and Department Store Union charged Amazon with illegal misconduct and called for a do-over. A hearing officer from the National Labor Relations Board confirmed the decision.

This article not only suggests that education in excellent public schools is beneficial to end poverty, but learning comes in the form of new ideas in jobs. Workers are able to learn on the job and apply these skills to an even better, more qualified job. Furthermore, the article says that equality is another key to economic success.

Terrific article, Sophia. Did you watch the accompanying video? Pretty darn inspiring!

Bullet services to 'stay slow' during checks-investigation of "I've also learned from the investigation of the (Wenzhou) accident that many workers were actually working 24-7 (to meet deadlines), and multitasking can cause a series of problems," he said.

In order to remedy Ebola, Nations most affected by the virus, namely Guinea, Liberia, Nigeria and Sierra Leone, must allow their leaders to calm and heal the general public. If political and social leaders fail to eradicate the disease, the number of people infected will quickly rise from 3000 to 20,000. So far, several countries have mismanaged the outbreak. Governments quarantined rural and urban areas of aforementioned African countries; a slum in Monrovia, the Capitol of Liberia, was one of the blocked off places. Instead of helping the people, as intended, the quarantines trap people. These people feel disregarded and sentenced to death. Fear causes people to run from the spaces and further spread Ebola, defeating the purpose of the quarantine. Even if African governments take necessary steps to prevent the spread of the disease, Western aid is still essential. Western countries should not supply weapons to help contain quarantines, but rather provide medicine and experienced medical personnel. Unfortunately, the pay is not high enough for many medics to risk their lives treating a disease that is the highest risk to doctors and nurses. The solution to Ebola is not an obvious one; the entire process is experimental. However, U.N. experts say a medical center need be established in West Africa where representatives of every African country can convene to discuss the disease.

Very interesting article. It is interesting how psychology must be considered in giving aid to African countries infected with Ebola (for example, the article mentions that soldiers shouldn't brandish their weapons so Ebola patients won't be afraid of the quarantine). The quarantines seem like an extra cause for panic. Imagine a Liberian seeing a quarantine being set up. Do you think they would act calmly and happily admit themselves to the quarantine, or just simply run away and spread the virus further?

Great analysis--see quotes below--but my question is, can the widespread response that is needed actually be pulled together? Especially, can it be pulled together fast? "Most agreed on many basic principles. All, for example, were sure the outbreak could be stopped without experimental drugs or vaccines. None expected it to take less than six months." "Pay is also an issue, experts said. Health workers taking huge risks must be compensated, and so must their families if they die." "Also, this outbreak is like SARS in that doctors and nurses are in the highest risk group. Training must be extra-thorough - especially in taking off protective gear that might be smeared with virus. Nigeria, for example, does not let anyone near victims without three days of training on wearing protective gear, said its health minister, Dr. Onyebuchi Chukwu." "The new W.H.O. road map calls for 12,000 local health workers and 750 expatriates." ""There's no part of this you can't break down and make work," Dr. Aylward said. "But it took us 20 years to build the polio response, and this has to be done in 20 days."

The title says it all: this document describes the nature of the US's pension problem. This document defines many important terms, visualizes many important statistics, and highlights key areas that must be improved upon and the magnitude of improvements necessary. A good (terrifying) quote, "Why must the system increase net receipts by $13.6 trillion if it is already requiring current and future workers to pay in more than they will receive? The answer relates to the system's generosity to early birth cohorts-generations of workers now either retired or deceased. Social Security paid these previous cohorts benefits that exceeded their lifetime contributions by more than $13.6 trillion. In order to finance this gap, later birth cohorts must receive benefits whose value (relative to the value of the taxes they pay in) is lower by the same amount-that is, they must pay a net tax (again, the difference between the present value of taxes and benefits) of more than $13.6 trillion. Under current law, a portion of this net tax is being levied already; in order to make the system solvent, the net tax needs to be increased by an additional $13.6 trillion." Another good quote: "There is no escaping the budget arithmetic."

https://diigo.com/016scf An interesting opinion piece that argues Obamacare will not hurt the job market. Instead, it could potentially boost entrepreneurship and worker happiness.

https://diigo.com/016s4p I found it particularly shocking how over half the states have rejected the ACA, and so jeopardize the health of "68 percent of poor, uninsured blacks and single mothers. About 60 percent of the country's uninsured working poor are in those states". Many of the states are in the South, and while the states' congressmen insist their opposition is solely economic, and not racial, it raises some serious questions. Also in question is whether cases like Mr. Carter's are anomalies, or whether they will snowball into significant rallying-cries for these 26 states to accept Medicare expansion, or introduce policy to solve eligibility issues.