Good on them. It was about time they really put their money where their mouth is. Apple is a huge employer, but there was only so much they could do within the confines of the company itself. Branching out into sustainable philanthropy with far-reaching goals (unlike the laughable efforts by Amazon at patching up the vey much avoidable problems they created in the first place out of sheer greed) is the right course of action considering how filthy rich they became over the last few years in great part thanks to a middle- and upper-class that has benefited from the status quo across the globe (even where I live, yes; this is a global issue, so their initiatives should eventually go global, too, once they have the networks and systems in place to scout for the best stewards and recipients for their contributions and to hold them accountable), and how deeply entrenched these issues are.
Everyone with a pair of eyes and a brain knows racial tensions are the reason why the US is so FUBARed right now (and has always been to varying degrees for centuries, but that’s a discussion for another day). And everyone who’ve ever cracked open a history book knows how easily those were and can still be exploited for the evilest of deeds; any decent European will tell you that’s a road down which you definitely never want to go, it always ends in tears and everyone but the richest of the rich (the smart ones who either pick/turn to the winning side or manage to save their necks on wit alone, and the lucky ones who don’t get caught up on the wrong end of a gun barrel and manage to flee in time to another continent with a decent loot, that is) loses out in the end. Everyone.
And no, don’t ever even attempt to bring the “mid/postwar economic boom” argument to the table; emotional, physical and political scars never properly heal for generations, you’ll just have to drop the exceptionalism for a moment and trust your European brothers and allies on that assessment. It’s not something you want at your doorstep, and your past and current issues with vets are complete child’s play in comparison. Heck, I’d say even your past experiences with domestic conflict – which, uhh, should be a massive red flag, though I’m just referring to full-on war, the actual tally of the ongoing grind is something I don’t even want to get into – pale in comparison with what happened over this side of the pond and might still make an ugly comeback pretty much any and everywhere in the world. A collective chill pill is what we need right now, and I believe Apple execs really get that (they’re very adept at identifying and meeting needs years before their customers even realize it, so I have no reason to think they’re not smart enough to do the same on the social issues camp).
This, IMHO, is a step in the right direction, and I very much don’t care for the political sensibilities of those who think this is “socialism” (errr, sure bud) or that affirmative action is unfair or any of that crap; anything that creates opportunities – remember, economics and the job market, even considering the physical impossibility of perpetual growth, aren’t exactly as much of a zero-sum game as many believe it to be –, levels the playing field and lowers tensions in the long run is a win for everyone involved and even those watching from abroad. Want a little taste for what staying indefinitely on that current path of total inaction entails? Look no further than a bit south, at Brazil. Yeah, that’ll do just about right. In some cities there, you can’t even leave home with your iPhone visible, or even looking like you might have one in your pocket, because you’ll get mugged and/or shot without fail. That’s what equity measures strive for and succeed at preventing.
And I happen to speak from personal experience, as I come from a country with a lot of shared DNA (figuratively and literally speaking, as for all intents and purposes we “created” what would become Brazil) and quite a few parallels in recent history, and we managed to drop the shackles of tyranny (by the way, to all those privileged white people who complain about supposed “tyranny” in the US: that’s rich! Try being ratted on, tortured and killed by some socio- and psychopath equals over political divergences and sheer greed for almost 50 years and then come back at us) and immediately go down a path of increasing equity (the operative difference here being “immediately”; Brazil only started that process very recently, and sadly saw it halted and completely derailed over a succession of scandals). We still have our own set of issues, very much echoing theirs and yours (yes, over race, join the club!), but I do think we’ve struck a bit of a healthy-ish balance for the time being (again, I know the status quo is still utter crap for those getting the raw of the deal, and from them I ask to please bear with me while I talk from privileged person to equally privileged people, as that seems to be the only way to reason with some). There’s fear, and violence, and crime and whatnot over here, sure (as everywhere else, duh), but almost no one lives in constant paranoia over our domestic affairs and our physical integrity when leaving home in the morning, and we do have a strong legal and political framework, critical mass and ally contingent which we can improve upon.
What Apple is proposing would be a great follow-up, and actually many poorer countries also grappling with these issues, like my own, would stand to benefit immensely from such programs if there’s anything left after Apple deems the US properly, erm, dealt with; I, for one, would feel emboldened and proud as an Apple customer for seeing my continued investment in the company revert for those initiatives, much like I do as a citizen, voter and taxpayer when it comes to similar public ones, and don’t care as much for the path said help takes than for its recipients and the results. In a nutshell, it’s “caring for thy neighbour”, only with added steps. Apple knows that I’m not alone in this line of thinking and that this is a relatively risk-free stance for them to take, as they have all the data they need and did the math, like they always do. They know most of their customers either applaud this, don’t care either way or, in the worst case scenario, aren’t willing to put up with sub-par products over some stupid, politically incorrect grudge (those who do are a minority of a minority, and Apple never cared much for world domination in marketshare numbers anyway) and will eventually go silent and cave in even if they threaten staging a boycott or some other shenanigans at first. Again, good on Apple for doing the right thing at such a tense moment!
Now, I would also expect Apple to do the same, except for the environment and the supply chain, and soon.
And no, iPhone disassembling robots and questionable decisions on pack-in accessories are not even close to even making a dent. Look, I fully stand behind the initiative they just announced, and this isn’t whataboutism (far from it, and this issue is actually related in a very roundabout way, as I’ll explain in a moment); it’s just that Apple does have a greater degree of control and a huge head start in that camp, and it will affect pretty much everyone in this planet. If there’s any company in the world that could do it, that would be Apple, the vertical integrator extraordinaire. But they can’t buy out suppliers outright, IMHO; they really must help set up fair, equitable and sustainable systems everywhere they go (and yes, even if that benefits their competitors, but keeping those systems in place even for those should be a prerequisite for being able to do business with Apple in the first place).
I’m not one to defend businesses encroaching on this kind of thing, but seeing how that’s the world we live in now and that we don’t have much time to fix it, any help is welcome, whether it comes from grassroots movements like Extinction Rebellion, local governments, supranational organizations like the EU, the EPA, or what the eff ever. And yes, that includes global conglomerates like Apple, which seems to be playing the role of a modern enlightened despot (and even though they are largely responsible for or at the very least complicit with the crossroads we find ourselves in, they at least seem to be the only ones who truly give a damn, honestly attempt to do the right thing and take real pride when they do); as long as they don’t just greenwash themselves, or become outright evil black holes for local economic activity (like Amazon et al.), at this point of utter despair I’m very much okay with it and with some making a neat profit from it. Screw it. We can deal with any issues that may arise from some companies having achieved and kept too much power for so long later on.
It’s just that this is as much of an existential threat than the former, and not only can they both come to a head at the same time, they can also enter a very dangerous and unprecedented (at least in scale) feedback loop, on account of forced, mass migrations due to climate change and whatnot. Let us not forget that many of the atrocities – whether racially or politically targeted on the surface – committed during the 20th century were, deep down, also motivated by perceived resource scarcity which luckily got solved in the interim thanks to nuclear power and modern agricultural technologies. The last thing we ever need or want is the same kind of conflict over the resources needed to sustain the comforts of our modern, digital life, and we seem to be running out of time here. You can educate people not to be racists all you want, and create opportunities all you like, but in a scenario of scarcity – whether trumped up or true, but especially if true – and fear, all that can be undone in an instant (relatively speaking). It has been done in the past, which is scary because not only was it proven to be possible, there are also entire textbooks written on it which can be used for evil instead of good (again, that’s also a known, proven and recent fact). Leave no stone unturned and touch on the basics as well, I say!
