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The poetry and brief life of a Foxconn worker: Xu Lizhi (1990-2014)

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Re: The poetry and brief life of a Foxconn worker: Xu Lizhi (1990-2014)

#5

The poems is heart breaking. Read them, even if they put a dent in your day.

《我一生中的路还远远没有走完》 "My Life’s Journey is Still Far from Complete"

这是谁都没有料到的 This is something no one expected

我一生中的路 My life’s journey

还远远没有走完 Is far from over

就要倒在半路上了 But now it's stalled at the halfway mark

类似的困境 It’s not as if similar difficulties

以前也不是没有 Didn’t exist before

只是都不像这次 But they didn’t come

来得这么突然 As suddenly

这么凶猛 As ferociously

一再地挣扎 Repeatedly struggle

竟全是徒劳 But all is futile

我比谁都渴望站起来 I want to stand up more than anyone else

可是我的腿不答应 But my legs won’t cooperate

我的胃不答应 My stomach won’t cooperate

我全身的骨头都不答应 All the bones of my body won’t cooperate

我只能这样平躺着 I can only lie flat

在黑暗里一次次地发出 In this darkness, sending out

无声的求救信号 A silent distress signal, again and again

再一次次地听到 Only to hear, again and again

绝望的回响 The echo of desperation.

Re: The poetry and brief life of a Foxconn worker: Xu Lizhi (1990-2014)

#6

The poems is heart breaking. Read them, even if they put a dent in your day.

I mean...

《一颗螺丝掉在地上》 "A Screw Fell to the Ground"

一颗螺丝掉在地上 A screw fell to the ground

在这个加班的夜晚 In this dark night of overtime

垂直降落,轻轻一响 Plunging vertically, lightly clinking

不会引起任何人的注意 It won’t attract anyone’s attention

就像在此之前 Just like last time

某个相同的夜晚 On a night like this

有个人掉在地上 When someone plunged to the ground

...fuck.

Re: The poetry and brief life of a Foxconn worker: Xu Lizhi (1990-2014)

#7

Time for another facile PR stunt, Apple! Alternatively, how about sowing 0.01% of your cash back into these workers and demanding that the factory improve working and living conditions?

My understanding is that the only reason these jobs aren't automated already is because labor is cheaper. Unfortunately I think the alternative to a terrible job like working for Foxconn is no job at all for a lot of folks.

Re: The poetry and brief life of a Foxconn worker: Xu Lizhi (1990-2014)

#8
Does anyone else think that it is rather sad that the comments at the bottom of the article are bickering about the the licensing issues of the poetry? Although, it is an important issue, this article is probably not the most appropriate forum for the discussion.

Re: The poetry and brief life of a Foxconn worker: Xu Lizhi (1990-2014)

#9
post #2

It's hard to remember sometimes that all the people in the world that live lives so much worse than ours still have their own hopes and dreams, their own aspirations and imaginations. This article made me quite sad, despite the great poetry.

I agree in every respect, but also hesitate to say lives "worse" than our own. Different indeed, but I don't have an inkling of how to understand any of the varied Chinese cultures or social classes. Nor can I fully appreciate what would be required to compare the quality of those lives, with such different belief structures and goals.

I can only see a beautiful soul snuffed out and wonder why he chose that route. But then, even that is skewed by my culture of freedom and my religious beliefs.

Re: The poetry and brief life of a Foxconn worker: Xu Lizhi (1990-2014)

#10

Time for another facile PR stunt, Apple! Alternatively, how about sowing 0.01% of your cash back into these workers and demanding that the factory improve working and living conditions?

It's not at all clear that Foxconn is worse than the rest of China, as far as suicides go.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foxconn_suicides

Foxconn is poor quality compared to (what's left of) USA labor, and that is a fair point to address, but Foxconn is not poor compared to Chinese economy.

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