The Problem is Us

Apple is weathering a hailstorm of bad publicity after reports of worker abuse and sub-standard conditions in manufacturing plants in China making its popular iPhone and iPad devices. There have been a couple of high profile suicides, and a number of safety accidents which have led many to question whether Apple has prioritized profits over the well being of people. Predictably, this has led to call for a penalties, government intervention and consumer boycotts to pressure the company to make changes around its labor practices.

In the same spirit as the boycott, the question is being raised about consumers' own personal responsibility in these abuses. Or as a recent column on CNN.com stated: "Should you feel guilty about buying your iPhone?"

I tend to agree with the article's premise that a boycott would be futile, because history shows that consumer demand and compulsion tends to overwhelm personal indignation and conviction. Or put another way, the vast majority of people are not going to deprive themselves of a highly desirable superior product given the weight of their dismay about these accusations.

I've heard stories many years ago of a generation of Korean adults refusing to buy Japanese cars because of abuses during World War II and Jewish adults refusing to buy German cars for the same reason. The sad reality is that most people aren't going to stop buying iPhones because some guy in Chengdu was worked to death. There's simply too much distance from the abuse and the point of decision for the sale for most people's outrage to change their purchasing habits. That probably says a great deal about the allure of Apple products as well as the self-centeredness of the consumer in the Western world.

The article astutely points out that at the end of the day, the concern for money outweighs the concerns for the workers:

In a poll from the Times that ran with its Foxconn story last week, most consumers thought companies such as Apple should make products in the U.S. but still absorb the added manufacturing costs.

In other words, consumers don't want to pay more for iPhones and iPads than they already do just to ensure factory workers get better working conditions. It's all about money.

So even if Apple moved production to the U.S. or managed to heavily invest in China and improve working conditions there, it would likely result in higher prices for consumers. For a profit-driven company such as Apple, there's almost no chance it would want to absorb those costs itself.

That's telling. Consumers essentially want their cake and eat it, too. Consumers want more American jobs and best-in-class worker conditions, but we want the best things at the cheapest prices. We're not willing to spend $50 more per iPhone to enable broad societal benefits to happen. Instead, customers believe that Apple should just eat those costs and screw their employees and shareholders, and there's no chance that's going to happen.

But that's the nature of our hypocrisy, isn't it? It's easy to rail against outsourcing and worker conditions and the evils of giant corporations, but at the end of the day, the collective individuals which form the customer base of these companies which enable their actions. People who want government to step in are essentially conceding that individuals are incapable of doing the right thing, and thus a large heavy hand must step in, which, in part, is seen in the heavy taxation and regulation of things such as cigarettes.

• People lament the societal impact of drugs, but are against taking serious action in reducing the demand of drugs (and for those of you who think that legalization is the answer, read one of my earlier posts.)

• People lament the loss of manufacturing jobs, but can't get enough of cheaper goods that are made outside the United States.

• People lament the loss of the "mom and pop" store and the overrun of "big box" retail chains like Target, Best Buy and Barnes & Nobles, but people still come in droves, delighting in their prices, wide selection and convenience.

To be clear, I'm not an trade isolationist and I have no problem with buying items from Target and Wal-Mart. I just think that rhetoric and purchasing actions need to be consistent. I may not necessarily agree with everyone who call for boycotts against companies that offshore or have questionable labor practices, but I'll respect more the person who uses their Canadian-made Blackberry as opposed to their Chinese-made iPhone to organize that rally.

Companies are at best amoral (not immoral) entities which will maximize profits based on customer behavior, adjusting for costs, a good price point and lost sales for people who won't buy the product on principle. If the optimal profitable scenario is for them to utilize some degree of "barely legal" labor recognizing that any lost sales won't outpace the savings of that cheap and sketchy labor, that says a great deal about us. And it's not good.