Apple and Ethics; What is an iPhone Worth? Part 4

When I said blatantly immoral described the decision making at play here, there’s no other way to describe the behavior of these companies. Going back to my earlier point, the media and our politicians are unwilling to call any of these companies on their shady business practices, and it ultimately robs Americans of the chance to see the full picture. It's disheartening to think that becase a massive company throws a lot of money at a news outlet it makes them exempt from harsh criticism. Your average person isn’t going to care if their representatives and the news don’t seem to.

Everything is phrased in terms of cold numbers and forecasts. The financial moves of the Apples and Samsungs of the world are portrayed as nothing more than “business decisions” when in reality they’re helping shape the lives of millions of people. These companies don’t exist in a vacuum, and though they have every right to run their private ventures as they see fit, I don’t believe that makes them above being asked hard questions about their ethics.

At the end of the day, all these companies care about is how much profit they make, and I ask why that’s an acceptable excuse for all the problems they continue to cause for people both here and abroad. Americans left jobless and countless Chinese workers forced to labor away like it’s 1910. Though it is absolutely true that the US can’t survive without the money all these companies generate, it’s reached a point where the bad is far outweighing the good. It’s 2012 and there’s just no way that we can all survive as a country if the only question a giant corporation has to ask itself is how much money it can make. The “how” and “why” of it all has become more important than ever.

I think the biggest action we can take is to not buy from companies that make these morally bankrupt decisions. Realistically though, in a world so defined by the devices these companies make, that’s easier said than done, and I honestly don’t have any way of reconciling the issue. But we can at least call on our news outlets and politicians to be more forthcoming and honest about situations like these and stop giving so much slack to people that don’t deserve it. Most important of all, stay informed about stories like these, and don’t let fluff writing mask the true nature of these companies. Whether here or across the world, no one should be able to put their profits ahead of the people that make their success possible.