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Comment by amichail | Hacker News Reader

I think it's no secret that one of the reasons Apple products appeal to many people is that Apple promotes a left-wing political worldview.

When I am looking for a product to buy, I don't wish to have a political debate or have someone make any assumptions about where I stand on various political issues.

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How exactly is stating that a product has less impact on the environment in any way political? Is there a brand of politics I'm not aware of that says that building piles of toxic waste is a good thing?

It's sad that something as fundamental as cleaning up after ourselves is made into a partisan issue.

The people in Ghana who work on the e-waste must think it's a good thing (good meaning better than their alternatives) else they wouldn't be doing it.

We might not like the thought of them working with e-waste but until we provide them with a better alternative it's not right to remove their best opportunity to earn a living.

That's kind of like saying we should keep crime high so demand for policemen stays high...

No it's saying don't be so concerned with local pollution in a place that's so poor that they may starve if you make them live as cleanly as we do.

That's certainly an interesting take. Would you say the same thing about poor people that are earning their living as a result of war or other things that negatively impact the planet as a whole?

People should be allowed to engage in dirty, risky behaviour if it's their own choice. That covers the act of working in e-waste individually, as for any pollution it causes it's up to the authorities in Ghana to deal with that, but it could be that they feel the decrease in poverty of those engaged in e-waste outweighs the problem of pollution. That's for Ghana to decide though not us.

I am very much not a left winger, but I have no real problem with any company that advertises how easily recyclable their products are. I simply look at it as a selling point, because (eventually) I will need to dispose of the item and being easily recyclable will make it cheaper on me.

I think a reasonable philosophy is "clean up after yourself". I see no problem with advertising a product being able to easily meet that goal.

They're providing information about their own products on their own website. How is that "a political debate"?

you know, i tried conservatism once but had to stop because of all the crappy products my political worldview was causing me to buy

Hrm. Real conservatives don't buy crappy (new) products, they prefer to wear out old good ones.

Your prescription may have been switched ;-)

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