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Forum Post: Should we consider a boycott on Apple products?

Posted 12 years ago on Oct. 3, 2011, 11:38 p.m. EST by occupiedwallstreet (105)
This content is user submitted and not an official statement

Given this information we should probably stop using Apple Products during our time in Liberty Park.

It's hard for us to ask others to change, if we can not do so ourselves.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2011/apr/21/apple-least-green-tech-company

48 Comments

48 Comments


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[-] 2 points by ImhotepIsInvisible (52) 12 years ago

are you occupying wall street or the EPA?

[-] 0 points by marsdefIAnCe (365) 12 years ago

+1

funny and to the point

[-] 1 points by americanboy (48) 12 years ago

Life should be boycotted!!!!!!!

[-] 1 points by americanboy (48) 12 years ago

Boycott life!!!!!!

[-] 1 points by CancelCurrency (128) 12 years ago

Apple is the most caring company I ever deal with. It should be supported and made an example for others. If government would have Apple attitude US would be in much better shape.

[-] 1 points by americanboy (48) 12 years ago

How about GM and all Co...

[-] 1 points by Sanchez (76) 12 years ago

I suggest, instead, that we approach Apple with respect and ask to meet to discuss this aspect of their industry. Let's see if a corporation will listen to the people. Let's test it out. We need to know whether a corporation can do the right thing, change and improve.

[-] 1 points by tspasch2001 (1) 12 years ago

How about a BOYCOTT list of products/corporations/banks, noting rationale as to why the product/corporation/bank is specifically targeted for BOYCOTT. This allows people to pick and choose and may possibly change the behaviours of the target. Or not.

[-] 1 points by occupiedwallstreet (105) 12 years ago

This is a good idea as well. We should also boycott any politicians that helped out with this mess as well. GW Bush, Barney Frank, Obama, Chris Dodd, etc.

[-] 1 points by tr289 (916) from Chicago, IL 12 years ago

I have been boycotting Apple products since the beginning. I know I'm going to get flamed for this lol... I have yet to come across an Apple product that is not an over priced piece of ** so i wont buy any Apple products. =)

[-] 1 points by Uguysarenuts (270) 12 years ago

I would wager 99% of this forum was created on apple products

[-] 1 points by BoycottChina (2) 12 years ago

We should boycott all products made or assembled in China. That will bring Wall Street to its knees in short order. Occupying Wall Street will not hurt them. They are exporting our jobs and they expects us to by the very products that have contributed to our job loss. We are idiots if we allow it to continue. There would be no violence, just passive resistance.

[-] 1 points by jcibme (15) 12 years ago

That is very true, China and Japan started buying up wall street back in the mid to late 80s. OWS is already hurting them because they are now seeing faces and can not hide from them forever!!!

[-] 0 points by agnosticnixie (17) from Laval, QC 12 years ago

I would note that all laptops, most phones, etc, are assembles by the same three companies in china.

[-] 1 points by BoycottChina (2) 12 years ago

We should boycott all products made or assembled in China. That will bring Wall Street to its knees in short order. Occupying Wall Street will not hurt them. They are exporting our jobs and they expects us to by the very products that have contributed to our job loss. We are idiots if we allow it to continue. There would be no violence, just passive resistance.

[-] 1 points by oneofninetynine (4) 12 years ago

I don't know about boycotting Apple, but you come off a bit hypercritical if you are not using a Linux based OS.

[-] 1 points by oclisa (74) 12 years ago

.... and the alternatives pollute how much less? Lots or just a little? All the electronic tools OWS depends upon is polluting, no two ways about it. Can't put that genie back in the bottle. Let's get realistic here kiddos...some of these messages are so naive and immature that your potential beneficiaries are going to dismiss you ... real quick.

[-] 1 points by occupiedwallstreet (105) 12 years ago

I thought we were seeking over-all change? If we as a group are ok with not protesting the tech company most detrimental to the environment, then I guess I will have to go a long with that.

Apple is clearly just doing this to save money. Are we stating that is ok? Feel free to ruin the earth, so Apple can make a few extra bucks? I thought we were fighting greed?

[-] 1 points by oclisa (74) 12 years ago

Okay... so what are you going to use to get out your message? carrier pigeons? or do you think that because other manufacturers of electronic equipment pollute just a bit less, they are okay?

[-] 0 points by agnosticnixie (17) from Laval, QC 12 years ago

In fact, pretty much every tech company has ultimately the same practices, since almost everything they make is assembled by the same companies in the end.

[-] 1 points by SaintMuno (1) from Ridgewood, NJ 12 years ago

if you think is bad that apple pollutes look at transport for all the people squatting in a park making garbage from wrappers and signs and whatever.

[-] 1 points by Brandon (1) 12 years ago

Just heard about occupy wall st, But I don't see the point of yelling and scrambling around the city. Why don't all these people just put there money together and start up a co-op and get real power. After all they all have the same goal. There should be a more sophisticated approach to dealing with powers. people have to realize if they can put there wealth together they can accomplish more, I say get rid of individualistic attitude and show some intellect.

[-] 1 points by Student (94) 12 years ago

I have a mac and an iPad ,both I saved up for, and I love them but no i regret getting them. I am trying to be less consumerist and less of a capitalist tool, and if you think about it how good is it supporting a company that has driven many workers to commit suicide in the factory

[-] 2 points by Dirt (22) from Abilene, TX 12 years ago

You should be standing up against China for making it so difficult for workers to get different jobs in their socialist economy, not Apple for using the only type of labor they can afford. If American labor was used to make their products, they would be out of business in a few years due to the cost of providing healthcare, benefits, profit sharing, and outrageous union wages. And if Apple were to go out of business, imagine the impact on America. No more jobs for the thousands of people they employ. No more products given to schools through grants to teach children. And not to mention the impact that it would make on Average Joe's 401k. It wouldn't just hurt the Wall Street tycoons, it would devastate many regular, middle class Americans' retirement that they busted their butts for.

It's unfortunate, but foreign labor is what you have to go with when you have employees and shareholders who depend un the success of your company. Chalk it up to living in a country where economic fascism runs rampant. Maybe if America didn't have laws that were so hostile to employers, foreign labor wouldn't be necessary.

[-] 1 points by OneVoice (153) 12 years ago

The American workforce can compete with global corporations which utilize cheap labor rates in other countries. The fact is that foreign labor is not a necessity to build a highly profitable corporation or small business. Shareholders want double digit yearly returns. These returns are not sustainable anymore and manufacturing jobs are already returning back to the United States from China. Why is that? American workers are 4 times more productive. Chinese labor costs are rising and the quality of the products manufactured in the United States puts the Chinese to shame. You were sold the idea that a globalized workforce is good for our economic base. That was a lie. It is only good for CEO's and shareholders.

[-] 1 points by occupiedwallstreet (105) 12 years ago

I'm going to try and get make a suggestion tomorrow that at least some of us destroy our Apple products. Can we get donations of computer's that are more earth friendly?

Student, will you join in destroying your Apple products if we go forward with this?

[-] 1 points by glooskap (64) 12 years ago

Boycott Electricity...47% comes from coal fired plants. Boycott Priuses...lithium battery production is extremely toxic. Boycott electric cars, charging them shifts energy generation from petrol to coal. Boycott windfarms, they kill on averagr 400,000 birds per year in just the US (many endangered). Boycott all pladtic products...its petrol-based. Boycott all meats and farm-grown food. Boycott anything made by a corporation as the profits go straight to the Hamptons. But pls dont make us boycott Apple or i wont be able to post any more from my iphone...

[-] 1 points by occupiedwallstreet (105) 12 years ago

But you have to charge your Iphone. How can we ask the world to change, when we are selves will not?

[-] 1 points by glooskap (64) 12 years ago

I charge all my personal devices via a stationary-bike-driven generator.

[-] 1 points by occupiedwallstreet (105) 12 years ago

The problem is every time you make a post, it draws more energy from their data servers and that is what is causing the problem. Better to switch to a smart phone from a company other than apple. Are we will to sacrifice to make the world a better place? If not, why are we even here?!

Greenpeace's report, How Dirty is Your Data? reveals that the company's investment in a new North Carolina facility will triple its electricity consumption, equivalent to the electricity demand of 80,000 average US homes. The facility's power will be supplied by Duke Energy, with a mix of 62% coal and 32% nuclear. On Wednesday, Apple posted a large boost in quarterly earnings, which grew by 95% to $6bn (£3.65bn).

Gary Cook, Greenpeace's IT policy analyst and lead author of the report, said: "Consumers want to know that when they upload a video or change their Facebook status that they are not contributing to global warming or future Fukushimas."

[-] 1 points by glooskap (64) 12 years ago

North Carolina is land-locked.

[-] 1 points by glooskap (64) 12 years ago

Meant NC reactors are landlocked. Language like Fukushima is inaccurate and is what allows the 1% to brand us as extremists who react with gut not facts...which of course is gross mischaracterization.

[-] 1 points by occupiedwallstreet (105) 12 years ago

That's true, but it doesnt change the fact that we are supporting the least environmentally friendly company every time we post using an Apple Product.

We need to boycott these products are run the risk of not being taken seriously if this information gets out to media organizations only interested in painting us as hypocrites.

[-] 1 points by Dirt (22) from Abilene, TX 12 years ago

You fool! When you use the bike it causes you to breathe more heavily, thus making your personal emission of carbon dioxide larger!

A better idea...BOYCOTT BREATHING!

[-] 1 points by glooskap (64) 12 years ago

Now youre thinking. Thats the only way really to save the planet and vex the corporate monster is to die. No people, no profits, greed, nor global warming all at once. Can we add "collectively hold breath" to the Manhattan agenda tomorrow, then if it works we expand it to the other cities. After lunch, though. Would like one last cheese steak from that food truck on Broad St.

[-] 1 points by Dirt (22) from Abilene, TX 12 years ago

So we've reached an agreement. We both drink the kook-aid on three.

ONE...

TWO...

THREE!

[-] 0 points by agnosticnixie (17) from Laval, QC 12 years ago

My apartment runs on hydropower...

[-] 1 points by occupiedwallstreet (105) 12 years ago

Covering up the logos would only get us halfway there. We should make a show of destroying any Apple Products we have. We need to be able to show that we are serious about this movement.

[-] 1 points by MountainmanGlen (47) 12 years ago

You want to destroy products that work and you already own?

[-] 0 points by Frankie (733) 12 years ago

And then there's this...

2011 Itemized Lobbying Expenses for Apple Inc Firms Hired

Apple Inc $1,810,000 Franklin Square Group $180,000 Capitol Tax Partners $160,000 Fierce, Isakowitz & Blalock $160,000


And this:

"Protesters target Apple as a tax cheat

06.03.11 - 1:53 pm
By Oona Robertson

Tomorrow (Sat/4), the economic justice organization US Uncut is protesting Apple Computers for trying to avoid paying $4 billion in federal taxes and for joining a corporate tax cheat lobbying group. Ironically, it is Apple's good corporate reputation that has made it a target, as protesters hope the attention might shame the company into doing the right thing.

Apple has kept billions of dollars in profits in offshore tax havens and low-tax countries such as Ireland and the Netherlands. Through an organization called WIN America that Apple belongs to along with Google, Microsoft, and other large corporations, it is lobbying Congress for a tax holiday to bring $1.2 trillion in profits back to the U.S. to supposedly invest in the economy. Apple’s share of this tax break, $4 billion, would equal salaries for 90,000 teachers..."

[-] 0 points by mediaauditr (-88) 12 years ago

Also, I hate to break the news to everybody, but the margin Apple makes on their products average 40% - 50% on each item. To compare that to a hated industry, the oil industry makes an average of 4% on each gallon of gas. Apple marks up their items by 40% to 50%. Does anybody realize how evil this is? Charging $300 extra bucks for $2 worth of RAM in your new IPAD? Hate Apple and Oil company's. Why is Apple such a sacred cow for us?

[-] 1 points by FreeRadical (157) 12 years ago

An asking price for a manufactured product that was created through direct investment is supply and demand.

What does that have to do with the criminal institution of fractional lending that engages in counterfeit? http://occupywallst.org/forum/ows-objective-1-fractional-reserve-lending-is-a-cr/

[-] 0 points by mediaauditr (-88) 12 years ago

Besides forced government subsidies, oil company's supply a manufactured product created through direct investment, with supply and demand, yet oil company's are considered the most vile entities on this earth, according to many in these forums.

[-] 1 points by FreeRadical (157) 12 years ago

I do not consider them vile. The financial institutions that invest in oil futures and hyper-inflate the price through artificial demand are vile - http://oilgeopolitics.net/Financial_Tsunami/Oil_Speculation/oil_speculation.HTM

"Persons within the United States seeking to trade key US energy commodities – US crude oil, gasoline, and heating oil futures – are able to avoid all US market oversight or reporting requirements by routing their trades through the ICE Futures exchange in London instead of the NYMEX in New York.

Hedge Funds and Banks driving oil prices

In the most recent sustained run-up in energy prices, large financial institutions, hedge funds, pension funds, and other investors have been pouring billions of dollars into the energy commodities markets to try to take advantage of price changes or hedge against them. Most of this additional investment has not come from producers or consumers of these commodities, but from speculators seeking to take advantage of these price changes. The CFTC defines a speculator as a person who “does not produce or use the commodity, but risks his or her own capital trading futures in that commodity in hopes of making a profit on price changes.”

Perhaps 60% of oil prices today pure speculation

Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley today are the two leading energy trading firms in the United States. Citigroup and JP Morgan Chase are major players and fund numerous hedge funds as well who speculate.

In June 2006, oil traded in futures markets at some $60 a barrel and the Senate investigation estimated that some $25 of that was due to pure financial speculation. One analyst estimated in August 2005 that US oil inventory levels suggested WTI crude prices should be around $25 a barrel, and not $60."

[-] 0 points by RantCasey (782) from Saginaw, MI 12 years ago

The people jumping out there windows in china would appreciate the support. I think that it would be good to address the issues of near slave labor in china. But that is up to the 99% to decide.

[-] 0 points by Dio (12) 12 years ago

Never owned any, but you should at least cover up commercial brands or logos of any kind