thetechpete:You’ve heard of “blood diamonds,” now learn what “blood minerals” are :(Found via newsweek.tumblr.comThe sad truth :(Still, it’s not the consumer’s fault that Apple and friends get use “blood minerals” in the gadgets we lust for. Big electronics companies could try finding alternative sources or alternatives, charge a little more and make a big deal about why the price is higher. Guilt the public into being OK with spending more money.OR, electronics companies could make less money and still do the right thing… ;)Nah, I doubt they’ll do that.This speaks to the greater exploitative character of capitalism. Essentially, there’s only one moral way for you to get rich using the capitalist system. You must be able to produce a product or provide service that allows it’s source (or your employees) to make a decent living and still allow you to hike the price up enough so that you’re making a profit while not ripping off your customers.Unfortunately, that’s not how it’s done these days. The “smart” business person finds a person who is willing to work for as little pay as possible—even if the business person knows it’s a pittance. Then, the he does his or her best (usually, his best) to spend as little as possible in the process of making the product or providing the service. Then, he hikes up the price as high as it will go without charging so much that no one is willing to buy it—he doesn’t want everyone to buy it right away—he wants to be able to expand sales over time. Charge too little now and you cannibalize future sales. ALSO: he makes sure some features are left out of the product/service (even if they are cheap or inexpensive to implement) so that when they are added, more sales and even upgrades can occur.The goal is NOT to create a perfect product or service, but to create the illusion of approaching perfection—if he creates a perfect product or service, people would buy it and then sales would level out—the “smart” business person can’t let that happen!With modern capitalism, everyone gets exploited—some more than others, of course. Isn’t that great?>_