Design and Social Consciousness

Mouser.com Digikey.com Allelectronics.com /net ? etc..

Do you have a car, a TV, an MP3 player, a PC, a calculator? Clothes, shoes, bedding, tools? How did you research them?

John

Commit suicide. You've already proved yourself a leftist weenie, thus totally ignorant, without any socially redeeming value ;-)

...Jim Thompson

It depends on what your real goal is.

If your goal is to make yourself feel better even if doing so hurts those in the third world, keep on the path that you have chosen.

If, on the other hand, you ever decide to actually *help* those in the third world, open your eyes and realize that if the Third World adopts science, democracy, and capitalism, then they will get rich just like us, and purposely do the things that help them, even though your lying sack of shit professors call it "the economic >sabotage of a third world economy."

The solutions to third world poverty are well known. If the third world is ever to become prosperous, it must abandon dictatorship, socialism, communism, Islamism, pan-Arabism, statism, protectionism, tribalism, superstition, racism and corruption, and must adopt the western values of democracy, capitalism, science, free speech, freedom of religion, free press, free society, property rights, the rule of law, the ability to make binding contracts, free enterprise, minimal bureaucracy, minimal taxation, minimal state enterprise, and free trade. Of these, free trade is the one area that a first world engineer -- and you personally -- can influence the most.

Look here:

...and here:

"Jim Thompson" wrote in message news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com...

Ouch! That's gonna leave a mark.

Bob

This all sounds fine, until you get to the bit about free trade.

Back when the U.K. and the U.S. had third world economies they didn't believe in free trade, but once they'd developed serious manufacturing capacity and saturated their domestic markets, they were suddenly converted to free trade so they could sell off their excess production to less developed economies whose own manufacturers hadn't built up their production capacity enough to be able to exploit economies of scale to the same extent.

Nowadays, the U.S. and the E.U. claim to believe in free trade in manufactured products, but keep on subsidising their famers and dumping the excess agricultural production on the world market.

You are just parrotting economics for republicans, which is based on long exploded theories whose sole virtue is that their errors justify the sorts of economic practices that suit the people who have already made lots of money, and who want to maintain the existing inequitable distribution of capital and income.

Modern European socialism actually works better than U.S.-style minimal-taxation capitalism, but republican economists are good at finding misleading statistics that purport to show otherwise.

-- Bill Sloman, Nijmegen

I see you dilemma. I ask myself the same questions. However in the real world as it is now alomst every part comes out of China these days. Luckily the Chinese are also starting to become aware of the price they pay for their 'Wirtschaftswunder'. Assembly is something which is still difficult to get done well in China. Where I work we have all our stuff assembled in the Netherlands or in Europe. Prices are still reasonable due to highly automated assembly lines.

thanks, What indicates to you that Mouser, DigiKey, and Allelectronics can be singled out as socially and environmentally responsible ? it's appreciated

John, yes, I have several of those things, and much of it I purchased without doing my due diligence. That this is true is in no way a reasonable argument against becoming more responsible, after all, you used to need to wear a diaper, but you've since learned to control your nature so that you no longer have to. Similarly, as consumers we are in no way required to repeat the messy mistakes of our past. thanks, and best regards.

wow, that response was totally inappropriate. This discussion is about electrical design. A marketing strategy focussed around responsible corporate behavior requires that design incorporate certain philosophical decisions regarding the supply chain, thus, my request is appropriate here. Your response is not. Please, only dispassionate, informative responses are requested.

Please, if you don't have information regarding distributors who are socially and environmentally responsible, I'd rather not start a flame. Your intention seems good, but the truth is, this question is about being able to account for a supply chain, not really about philosophy. In so much as a corporation can account for it's actions as lawful, respectful of worker's rights, and careful about the treatment of their waste, they will do fine as a recommendation. Best Regards

Gary,

Your original post was asking to be poked fun at. Can't you see that?

Bob

Bob, I'm not upset when a monkey screeches at me at the zoo. Honestly, don't encourage the guy. Thanks

Yeah, but monkeys don't hug trees -- they climb them.

;-)

Bob

Seriously, you all seem politically savvy, I just need to be able to create a relationship with a company who is accountable for it's activities. Is it as strange a question as all that ? I can find shoes whose supply chain is responsibly handled, whose labor is paid well and treated legally, that are made in the good old USA. Does anybody ask these questions about electronics ? No flames please, honestly, this is a practical concern.

thanks Nick

See, that's poking fun! A little play on words, a little imagery about hippies, I can laugh at that.

Get good at electronics, then save the world.

John

We have about 5000 different parts in stock, close to 2 million pieces. They come from the US, Asia, Europe, the Pacific islands, Mexico, even Canada! There's no way we're going to research the history of each part. The best thing is for us to build good electronics and donate some fraction of our earnings to organizations who truly help the poor people around the world, which we do.

I could spend $15K researching resistors, or send that $15K to Doctors Without Borders. Which should I do?

As I said, get good at electronics, then you'll have the clout to do good.

John