You might consider it heartless to attack a dead man so soon after his passing, but I consider it heartless to ignore the thousands of workers who built your iPhones in sub-humane working conditions and in some cases committed suicide, as Reuter’s reported.
Think about it. Really think about it: some poor Chinese man decided to end his life rather than continue at his terrible job making you an iPhone. And you want to mourn Steve Jobs? You want to celebrate his life? He needs nothing from you, from me, from anyone; less now than ever.
No, we don’t need to remember Jobs but we should all remember the hundreds of thousands of faceless victims who suffered for his legacy. To create an iPhone, Apple needs minerals to turn into wires and circuitry. Jobs himself admitted Apple couldn’t guarantee those minerals didn’t come from conflict zones like the Democratic Republic of Congo where women have their vaginal tracts shredded beyond any chance of reproduction and warlords fund their armies by selling valuable minerals like gold and tin to first-world countries. The New York Times reported in 2009 more than $1 billion in illegal gold comes out of Congo with much of the money going straight to these rebels.
We could try to explain this away by stating it’s just the sad truth of the world. There isn’t any way to guarantee cell phones, mp3 players and other electronic devices aren’t made from minerals that did not perpetuate these horrific acts of violence, and that is true. But all we say by thinking that way is our cell phones are more important than the human rights of the Chinese, the Congolese and all the other exploited peoples halfway across the globe.
Jobs revolutionized gadgetry with sleek looks, perfectionism and a marketing campaign that made Apple the name for technological individualism, but he put hardly any effort into being responsible for the manufacturing process. He went on making money and inventing flashier iPhones. Every day of his life, Jobs condemned workers and innocent bystanders to pain and suffering by creating the products the American market gobbled up like pigs at feeding time. Was Jobs a success story? Absolutely. Is Job’s life deserving of celebration? Absolutely not.
Look at the business world, and most of American life, after Jobs infected it with his useful gadgets. As soon as I don’t have my cell phone handy for a callback, I don’t get the job. When I don’t get the job, I don’t eat and I die. Or I beg for food.
We can thank Jobs for our dependency on mobile connection to the entirety of the world. Of course, we can’t blame him for all of it; and yes, if he didn’t do it someone else would have and no single person could possibly be responsible for the technological age. But does that mean we should celebrate one of the guys who did make it? One of the guys who helped put that electronic shackle on our legs? No.
Should we thank Jobs for helping our lives require all these minerals that are drenched in vaginal blood and fund genocide? Should we thank Jobs for advancing our dependence on little buzzers and blinking lights whose manufacturers commit suicide because their working conditions –which make the products affordable– are deplorable and isolate workers from social interactions with other people? No, absolutely not.
Jobs made billions of dollars by giving the ravenous American Market the shiny electronic toys our society is now dependent on; the products of horrific violence and inhumane working conditions. The man deserves no mourning.
anonymous • Oct 26, 2011 at 10:21 pm
http://www.businessinsider.com/steve-jobs-jerk-2011-10
Cozy • Oct 24, 2011 at 9:50 pm
Any “rant” “opinion” or passive reader can at least agree…a dialogue was started…in this world of tech….reaching out human to human can only help matters whether we agree or disagree….communication is the key. Kudos to an instigator that attracts conversation amoung those willing to give an opinion…..we all win
Leigh • Oct 24, 2011 at 8:44 am
Mr. Gruey,
Please do your research before posting an editorial piece that is well just plain ignorant. You are using a dead man as a scapegoat for your self-righteous indignation. I applaud your enthusiasm. I deplore your use of the deceased to promote it.
I would suggest researching the effects of decolonization on traditional structures of the Tutsi and Hutu ethnic groups. Actually, you might want to start with a basic Cultural Anthropology course. I would follow that with a class on African history, and possibly and economics course for good measure. I can assure you that the issues in both the Congo and the U.S. economy are not a direct result of Steve Job’s innovations.
If you want true indignation, you might also want to research a flower. Try looking up the links between pyrethrum, environmentalism, and the Democratic Republic of Congo, Burundi, Uganda, Kenya, etc. By the way, although I shouldn’t be doing your homework for you, this little flower is used in your insecticides. Those insecticides are used not only for personal domestic use, buy by professional pest control companies as well as on food crops.
Given that the DRC’s largest source on economic inflow comes from agricultural products, NOT mining, you might want to look at your pest controlled environment as a reason to be outraged before blaming a dead man who is no longer alive to defend himself. But then again, if you are too cowardly to attack a man when alive, then I don’t expect you to really give any credence to truly researched opinion.
tracer • Oct 24, 2011 at 3:03 am
To the editor,
As a human being I mourned the loss of Steve Jobs as he was one of the top pioneer’s in his game, Do you own a mac, iphone, ipod, have you bought music using itunes? if so then you are a hypocrite and just as guilty
Mike Drayton • Oct 16, 2011 at 5:31 pm
I agree it’s important to understand the implications of our actions as citizens, including the consequences when we consume goods and services. However, the editorial I read reads more like a rant than a considered opinion, based on historical and current fact.
Steve Jobs did not make us dependent on mobile technology; his company made the cell phone, which was already capable of texting, web browsing and picture taking, into a more advanced instrument which enjoys success in the marketplace, but not to the exclusion of competing products. Jobs did not invent the internet, nor the cell phone, nor portable, wireless computing, nor the digital music player. Furthermore, the company you cite without naming, Foxconn, manufactures for a large number of U.S. and other companies.
That doesn’t make Steve Jobs blameless, but he is not the sole culprit. We, the consumers, bear significant responsibility. The editorial should have emphasized that, rather than placing the blame on a dead man, absolving us, the living, of all our economic sins.
“Anonymous,” above, says that the solutions to these problems will not be created by human hands, but I say that we bear the responsibility and are the only ones who can influence this situation toward the good. Does anyone see the connection between the worker oppression in China and the situation in the U.S. currently being protested by the Occupy movement?
This is way bigger than Steve Jobs.
anonymous • Oct 17, 2011 at 11:39 am
This is way bigger than Steve Jobs…. and bigger than we can handle as a society of humans who has failed over and over again. Almost all forms of government systems that have a direct influence on our economic systems have failed repeatedly….. feels very much like Rome right now…
Veronica • Oct 14, 2011 at 4:17 pm
Well written 🙂 I wouldn’t consider these hate words, but rather words that should be said that no one wants to write. I applaud thee
Donna Jones • Oct 13, 2011 at 2:18 pm
Could not have said it better myself. You are a great editorialist. Cudos.
anonymous • Oct 13, 2011 at 9:12 am
I understand your reasoning and I agree that Mr. Jobs is being held as a saint or a dead pope. But wow…. I see allot of anger in your writing. It must be frustrating for you to realize that nearly all consumer goods (including food and toilet paper) are created at the disadvantage and expense of the less fortunate. The real solutions to these social inequities will not be created by human hands….
Teresa • Oct 13, 2011 at 7:58 am
How old are you? Are you kidding me? “Thank Jobs on our dependency on mobile connections? Every person who choses to use one should take the responsibilitie. Before the modern day of technology if one wanted a job they were home and when you are out of a job this is the place one was unless out at an interview. If you are the lucky candidate to receive the job the employer will wait for you to reply. Now how about minerals. Have you done your research? Minerals have been before man. Man has always sought and used these to acquire and seek wealth and power. So Blame Society. No one puts a gun to your head to use the lastest technology. Rebels will be Rebels and will obtain anything they can get regardless of what it is for. In your words “There isn’t any way to guarantee cell phones, mp3 players and other electronic devices aren’t made from minerals that did not perpetuate these horrific acts of violence. Well then do you sew your own clothes? I doubt that!!The only guarantee in this world is death and taxes. .
So how about today in this recession who employees thousands of US Citizens? Maybe you were turned down for a job at Apple? Disgruntled?
Youngster take responsibility for your own actions…This article you wrote was put on a website….Technology you just used!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Grow Up
donkeyliver • Oct 11, 2011 at 6:22 pm
affordable?