At the risk of sounding whataboutist, you could say the same thing for pretty much everything you buy, starting with your gas, electricity, and everything that's manufactured using them.

It doesn't absolve Apple or other companies (or me), but it does make Apple an odd target to fix on.

If you want to make a point about responsible corporate governance it probably does make sense to focus on one of the largest companies in the world, especially one with an exceptional amount of cash that makes it better prepared than others to suffer the consequences of a conscience-driven, money-losing decision.

The reality is there's no way the company can make that change on the basis of "it's the right thing to do" without also being able to convincingly argue that it's better for long term shareholder value.

Hey, never said I didn't approve of China's shite privacy & labor laws. That's why I always thought any minimum wage or labor law needs an accompanying tariff, to prevent manufacturers from just making the situation worse by externalizing their shit overseas

I like that idea. After briefly searching for possible discussion/implementation of it I was unable to find any. Do you have any useful keywords or phrases I could use for such searches?

Unfortunately I don't; it's mostly a homebrewed concept after seeing too many arguments justifing outsourcing our everything because of high labor and environmental costs.

I don't care if your for or against those types of laws, but if we go through the legislative effort to give up the economical efficiency for the social good and pass those laws, than you damn well better contribute to said social good if you want to do business on our shores

Makes sense to me.