I believe that two of my teacher-unionist friends of mine were advancing the argument that if they really, really love a product (Macintosh), then the politics of the company (or its founder/spokesman) are irrelevant.
I have taken this stance with Coca-Cola.
Can we all agree that we should all get a one-product exemption when it comes to politics and products? What's your exemption?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
7 comments:
Well, I don't quite agree with your characterization of my position, but have I burned my exemption on my Mac? 'cos I'd like another one for McDonald's french fries.
i'm not so sure i was saying that because i love macs i'll give anti-unionism a pass. steve jobs is admittedly powerful (some would say dictatorial) at apple, but i don't have any evidence that his personal views about K-12 teachers' unions directly translate into apple policy. (then again, i have not looked into this; that, i would argue, might be evidence of my mac love causing a blindspot.)
if i did have such evidence, i might "think differently" (sorry, couldn't resist)--although i doubt i would go so far as to ditch my mac and buy a new computer as a result.
this gets to a problem with the politics and prodcuts thing: dumping a brand-new laptop and buying a new one as an act of "labor solidarity" would, in this case, be wasteful and environmentally unfriendly. and what is the deciding factor--should i stop supporting apple because steve jobs is an anti-union asshole? should i look into the views of the board of directors? most corporations are problematic in some way, which means we're all making unsavory compromises all the time. i'm definitely not saying we shouldn't care or shouldn't try...then again, i honestly don't feel all that guilty because the CEO of the company that makes my laptop said some bonehead shit about K-12 teachers.
But we do factor in a company's politics when we're making purchasing decisions. I don't shop at Circuit City because all their political money is donated to Republicans. We don't shop at Wal-Mart because they are anti-union and/or we object to their business practices. And I imagine that most of you don't drink Coke because of their unfortunately habit of killing union organizers in Columbia.
I took both of your declarations that you (heart) Macs to mean that your love carried on, despite Jobs' open hatred of teacher's unions.
Of course, we all have more than one exception in our lives and I was just tweaking Mac fans because I have never understood Mac's status as cool lefty totem. I guess they can still be cool (they do have the cute colors!), but "lefty" should no longer apply.
but see, i feel like there is a difference in the examples you cited: circuit city GIVES MONEY to republicans; wal-mart is ACTIVELY anti-union and has bad business practices; coke KILLS people...whereas the issue at the heart of this discussion is that steve jobs made some idiotic comments. if there's more to it than that--if he's bankrolling anti-union campaigns, etc., that might be different.
also, i love macs because i think they are great computers. i don't really use them as status symbols or to make a statement.
(but i am, of course, aware that the company positions itself this way)
Apple isn't the world's greatest employer. Leaving aside whoever actually makes the stuff in Ireland, China, and South Korea, in the United States the company has a tendancy to cull employees as their salaries increase. What's possibly worse is that the whole obsession with secrecy means that a lot of management time is spent controlling and monitoring employees, and its not uncommon for somebody to be fired for the express purpose of scaring his or her coworkers.
okay, i am convinced.
i guess that one-product exemption will come in handy in this case...
Post a Comment