Human rights, taxes and Apple (Reading response for 11 February 2015)

Apple and many other corporations have been able to avoid billions of dollars in taxes through the creation of subsidiaries across state and international borders, Naturally, local governments in California who have been financially defunct in recent years are upset.

Another symptom of this financial strategy seems t be a disconnect from the local people themselves. Google has created WiFi for their local community while Apple, when asked, stated that that they paid taxes for that and the government should provide that service.

I am not personally sure that I agree with either side on this. I think that companies should work with their local governments in order to create a better community and  do this through charitable donations, which Apple does through their matching gift campaign. And they brought jobs to the local area and employees spend money in the local economy. A community should not have the ability to bully any company but conversely  these companies should also help local schools  through donations of technology or partnerships that benefit both groups.

My father owns a small business in the R&D technology industry and our company often donates to the local school systems while we also give individual donations.


The tax strategy that Apple Employs  is now called Double Irish with a Dutch Sandwich, because Apple created two offices in Ireland and through the Irish branch have ties to Luxembourg and the Netherlands.

This is also frustrating for small businesses in the technology industry because these large businesses are able to pay a comparatively less percentage on taxes which leaves individuals and these small businesses on the hook for deficits.

However, California, unlike other states, does not have a balanced budget amendment. Which means that the state borrows money in order to improve while not bringing in the money for these improvements. They are attempting to run a government like a business and it doesn't work because governments are fundamentally different.

We also have to look at how Apple and their companies manufactures their goods.

Apple outsources production of their products to places like China where treatment that we consider cruel and unusual, as well as often a violation of the human rights of workers,

This includes work weeks that are excessively long along with the treat of being let go if you don't go to these long shifts; unreasonably bright light levels to facilitate 24 hour shifts; safety protocols aren't followed in many cases; high enough suicide rates that many companies have started to put in suicide nets to stop people from successfully jumping to their deaths without addressing the root cause of the issue.

Foxxconn is the most infamous of these companies and they make or have made products for:

(Source of list: Wikipedia on Foxxconn)