WARNING: SERIOUS STUFF AHEAD
If this might get your dander up, perhaps you should close this thread now. I have been following this for a short time.
A majority of high-end electronics which are consumed in this country and worldwide (by a majority of American brands, however) are manufactured in China by a company called Foxconn. This company employees 800,000 workers in one large facility, and Foxconn has created an entire city on-site to accommodate its employees.
Employees earn an average of 31 cents per hour, and can work up to 35 hour shifts, if you believe the news now coming out about this company. Employees live in dorms, eat in the company restaurants and shop at company stores, and are separated from their families for extended periods. Conditions are so bleak, according to some news sources, that suicide is such a problem, Foxconn has installed safety nets -- literally -- between buildings to catch workers who try to leap to their death. Any attempt or movement to form unions can be punished with up to 12 years in prison.
And these are the folks who make many of the world's electronic products.
I am including a link to only one news source about this company, but there is a lot out there on google about these problems. Essentially, American manufacturing companies are just now starting to do some soul-searching (well, if you believe corporations are people). And, I am including a video by comedian Jon Stewart, where he pokes fun at the conditions there, to bring awareness to the problem.
Before anyone goes and pounces me for including a Jon Stewart video, I will point out that he has interviewed some of the highest profile politicians on all sides of the political spectrum, and his interviews I find to be very respectful and insightful, IMO. He actually takes time to read books, before interviewing authors, something very rare these days.
So this thread is not to inflame passions, and if it does, I will be the first to ask the moderators to lock this thread down. My intent here is to raise awareness of what it takes to satisfy the hunger for consumable goods, worldwide, and that sometimes, there may be a human toll.
Here's an article to get started: The future of Foxconn: Problems
And here's Jon Stewart's video, both funny, and sad all at once