There are no ethical large computer manufacturers. Framework, like its competitors, financially supports unethical people, and projects, and there’s no such thing as an end-to-end ethical supply chain right now.

People want Framework to be ethical because they champion repairability, and on a relative scale, you could do a lot worse. But that’s also the problem. Most people buying a new MacBook or ThinkPad never think about ethics. Framework puts ethics front and center, then drops the ball the moment you dig deeper than repairability.

If you want to buy “ethically,” your best option is used. The device was still made unethically, by a company that funded abhorrent causes, and the seller will likely reinvest your money into the very ecosystem you’re trying to avoid. But at least you kept something out of a landfill a little longer, and put one more degree of Kevin Bacon between yourself and the worst of it.

To keep things in perspective, Framework is probably less unethical than most manufacturers, and they’re doing more for repairability than most. And even Doug Forcett wasn’t good enough for the Good Place, so you know… you have to draw your own lines.