Posted on 01/30/2023 7:46:16 AM PST by hillarys cankles
For years, big tech companies like Apple and Tesla have assured the customers of their glossy stores and showrooms that all their goods are ethically sourced and sold.
But a new series of images taken from inside mines in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where 90 percent of the world's cobalt is mined and used to make the batteries that power our tech-led lives, raise uncomfortable questions.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
The World don’t need no stinking World Forums
shocking...
Don’t forget, folks! Liberals are the “compassionate” ones. They are morally superior! They are saving the earth! You evil normal people are beneath them. Only the liberals can virtue signal!
Swept under the rug. I don’t know why you posted this here though. No one here cares about those kids. Only the Anti-Green activism because the source is Democrat.
And what else, pray tell, would they be doing, and how much would they be earning doing it, if they weren’t making $2 a day mining cobalt?
Are you really trying to justify this? What, do you have tesla and an iPhone and well, someones gotta pay for your luxuries, right?
This is something the DRC should fix at the source of the problem. If they don’t want to fix it, we should not interfere with their domestic policies.
I think he is saying that if not for cobalt they would starve to death. But cobalt is poisonous and will also kill them. It is a lose-lose, only the privileged win...
But get ready for the “So what... They are inferior 3rd world trash anyhow” crowd to show up here.
This article is factual-however Tesla has committed to eliminating Cobalt from their batteries. About half of all Tesla cars now use lithium-iron-phosphate batteries. These batteries contain no Cobalt or Nickle. They are moving in the right direction. Tesla is also working on sodium-silicon ion batteries to eliminate the need for lithium.
Agreed. So long as people are desperate, they will allow themselves to be abused in exchange for a chance at survival. And as long as people are willing to let themselves be abused, there will be others willing to abuse them.
Figure out a way for them to make a better living outside the mines, and there will be fewer people willing to tolerate the abuse.
How? Good question. Groups like Kiva and Heifer International seem to be making some progress. Time alone will tell.
So China moves into Africa, finds the nearest warlord, pays him off for mineral rights, workers, etc. After a few years, China calls in the loans, i.e. pay up now or else so the warlord turns his people into slaves for China.
Look at every 3rd world country China moves into. People work like slaves, get paid next to nothing, poverty gets worse, but China has all the minerals. No environmental regs. No labor laws. No human rights. Only $$$$$ for China.
Ain’t this supposed to be illegal. UN please pick up the white phone!! Shhhhh, China bought the UN years ago.
While images of children working in a mine certainly offend our Western sensibilities the unfortunate truth is that the children working in these mines probably have better lives than their peers. The per capita gross National income for the Democratic Republic of the Congo is $580. This is an average value. Incomes in third world countries tend to be very unevenly distributed so it is likely that the vast majority of people there make less than this average.
Now consider a salary of $2 per day working 5 days per week. That would be a yearly income of $520, which probably exceeds the income of most Congolese people. Also further consider that the alternato working in a mine for these kids is NOT attending school, but rather working on a family farm or ranch. We may not like it, but the real truth is that these kids working in the mines are likely better off than the kids who are not.
They have other resources to mine or take advantage of. Labor being a huge one for manufacturing operations. Cobalt is a real issue because it is poisonous. The demand for cobalt needs to be squashed like the demand for fur was squashed. But we just can’t live without our “toys” can we? Toys are much more important than human life...
They have other resources... Cobalt is poison and a death sentence.
Ping
What say ye Colin Kaepernick and company about the status of African blacks vs American blacks? Get back over there if life here is so terrible.
*Now consider a salary of $2 per day working 5 days per week. That would be a yearly income of $520, which probably exceeds the income of most Congolese people.*
Solution: Pay these folks $2/day to quit their jobs. Get rid of American welfare. Send the welfare there there to pick up their $5/day checks provided they work in the mines.
Entry back in the US only if there’s no public assistance available. Paying $5/day would be inflationary so negotiate it down.
Hey lefties !
This looks more like slavery than you accuse our American Founders of doing !
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