Nightline has an interesting story that fails to mention a few things. One of them is that if you build a computer in China that sells for $1500 in the USA, the labor cost per unit is about $9. The labor cost per unit of the same product made in the United States is roughly $24. So why does Apple have its factories in China and not in the USA if the cost difference per unit is not all that much?
The Nightline story isn’t going to tell you that Steve Jobs could have his Chinese factory employees working 12 to 16 hour shifts on a moments notice, and they couldn’t and can’t do anything about it. The story isn’t going to tell you that the workers could be fired for just about anything. Nor are they going to tell you that it is very difficult for employees to quit. The story isn’t going to tell you about the environmental hazards workers toil in. It does tell you of the numbers of workers that preferred to commit suicide rather than work for Apple. But these are the reasons why the jobs are there and not here; labor and environmental standards are higher in the USA. Steve Jobs wanted virtual slave labor. Sounds like a nice guy, a visionary. Right.
By the way, the jobs aren’t here, so the iPads are imported into the United States from China, helping to swell the US trade deficit, which is technically with China, but in reality with Apple Inc., as well as the rest of US corporations doing business there. Wall Street and the rich are the primary beneficiaries. The difference in compensation from the jobs that should be here (higher wages) but are over there (lower wages) goes into the pockets of the rich, year after year. That includes savings from lower environmental and labor standards over there. That’s one of the major reasons the rich are getting richer and the rest of us US citizens are descending into third world status. Your government officials are legislative whores of the wealthy.
When you’re reading the story, remember you’re really reading about how income is being redistributed from the 99 percent to the rich.
