Right. Everything from the third paragraph forward wasn't a defense of Foxconn. Right.

You put a lot of emphasis in your nondefense on relative improvement in the lives of Chinese workers. But in actual terms, the lives of those workers have been raised just high enough to live in a bunk in company barracks, eating company rations, wearing a company uniform.

As opposed to working on a farm in the country and living in a hut on a straw mat eating rice wearing the peasant uniform pajamas.

Ever worked on an electronic production line, TB? I have. After twelve hours I'd prefer the fresh air and physical exercize of farm life. Twelve hours in a factory chained to a workstation under flourescant lights breathing molten lead fumes and other carcinogens under the whipful eye of an overseer will take a toll on your health.

Stepping back, it's pretty hilarious that I'm having a debate in which a conservative is crafting arguments based on improving the lives of a bunch of foreigners. The whole reason that this situation has come about is because we don't give a shit for anybody's welfare if there's money to be made. This is perhaps the most stark illustration of the conflict between profits and people I've seen in my lifetime. Our capitalists are trashing American workers by brutally exploiting Chinese workers, playing us off against each other; and like any good arms merchant, profiting handsomely from the pain and suffering of both sides.

It's a moral issue, TB. Don't waste your breath touting the profitability of the arrangement. I'll never look at an Apple product the same way again: I'll see it covered in blood, and be ashamed to own one.

There's a limit to how low I'll stoop to get a lower price on my trinkets.