Cook urges businesses, governments to address social problems

In comments made at the BoxWorks conference, Apple CEO Tim Cook said he believes businesses should work to address social problems when governments are unwilling or unable to do so, Computer World reports. Apple’s push to move itself and members of its supply chain toward renewable energy has proven more successful than government actions aimed at the same goal, with Apple holding a substantial enough sphere of influence to push others to comply and a willingness to undertake the effort despite the underlying financial costs. But while he may understand why governments have a difficult time making decisions that will have an economic impact, Cook said government has plenty of opportunities to affect change that don’t cost anything. “Equality is free. There’s no cost to it, and so it’s not – this week there’s a big budget crisis again and everybody’s yelling at each other about money – but to give people a basic level of human rights and dignity is free. And yet, over 200 years after we said ‘all men are created equal,’ it’s still not the case today.” Since coming out as gay last year, Cook has become a vocal advocate for the LGBT community, calling for passage of an Employment Non-Discrimination Act to prohibit employers from discriminating based on sexual orientation and gender identity.