Mike Daisy is less important than thousands of workers

I just have to say, the glee that has erupted over the revelation that Mike Daisy fabricated large parts of his case against Apple says an awful lot; it just doesn't say what people think it does. The fact that Daisy lied (and it certainly appeared he did) doesn't mean that Foxconn's factories and other parts of Apple's supply chain are good places for workers. On the contrary, the facts still tell us that these are hellish, despicable conditions and that Apple's enormous financial success  is predicated on enormous human suffering. That's the important story, but it will of course be lost in another self-congratulatory circle jerk on Twitter. The fact is that criticism of Apple is always going to be subject to far more scrutiny, and far more desperate efforts to undermine it. That's how powerful the attachment is, and given what little things principles are, they don't stand a chance.

You should all watch this story, because it is absolutely perfect for the savvy blogging generation: it is about personality rather than materiality, it highlights the meaningless metanarrative rather than the actually important story, it exculpates that savvy blogging set from their considerable and well-deserved guilt at subsidizing these shameful conditions, and it lets them engage in judgment (a condition they are decidedly comfortable with) rather than sit in judgment themselves (a condition they are decidedly not comfortable with).

The reality is that for most of us who use fancy electronics (like the laptop I'm using to write this post), that use is in direct conflict with a desire for healthy, safe, and empowered workers. For most of us, that's just your typical daily petty hypocrisy, of the kind capitalism makes inevitable. For most Apple people, given their total refusal to accept even the most anodyne criticism of the company-- now perhaps the most powerful in the world-- it's something worse.

Update: Commenters are about unanimous that I'm wrong here. So.