SoylentNews is people
SoylentNews
You are probably reading this article on a tablet, smartphone, or laptop computer. If so, your device could very well contain cobalt from the Democratic Republic of Congo, an impoverished yet mineral-rich nation in central Africa, that provides 60 percent of the world's cobalt. (The remaining 40 percent is sourced in smaller amounts from a number of other nations, including China, Canada, Russia, Australia and the Philippines.)
Cobalt is used to build rechargeable lithium-ion batteries, an integral part of the mobile technology that has become commonplace in recent years. Tech giants such as Apple and Samsung, as well as automakers like Tesla, GM, and BMW, which are starting to produce electric cars on a mass scale, have an insatiable appetite for cobalt. But unfortunately, this appetite comes at a high cost, both for humans and for the environment.
The Washington Post has an in-depth story, THE COBALT PIPELINE - Tracing the path from deadly hand-dug mines in Congo to consumers' phones and laptops. It summarizes the situation:
The Post traced this cobalt pipeline and, for the first time, showed how cobalt mined in these harsh conditions ends up in popular consumer products. It moves from small-scale Congolese mines to a single Chinese company — Congo DongFang International Mining, part of one of the world's biggest cobalt producers, Zhejiang Huayou Cobalt — that for years has supplied some of the world's largest battery makers. They, in turn, have produced the batteries found inside products such as Apple's iPhones — a finding that calls into question corporate assertions that they are capable of monitoring their supply chains for human rights abuses or child labor.
How much culpability do regular people have when they do not have a choice of the source of the components that go into their devices?
(Score: 1) by khallow on Tuesday October 25 2016, @08:22PM
For one thing, a local industry not based on extracting wealth to enrich foreign owners won't have as much free capital to spend on bribery. When, say, 90% of the wealth generated goes out of country, then an industry that only produces 15% of that wealth but keeps it all in country will be a net win for the local economy despite having 85% less cash to potentially bribe local government.
I'll note various problems. First, generating almost a factor of seven less wealth is not a win by any viewpoint. That wealth doesn't vanish down a hole. It enriches other parts of the world which need enriching as well. Second, bribes are local economic activity which you choose to ignore. I can understand why, but given that you're focused only on wealth retained in the country, it is a glaring oversight. Third, more capital for bribing also means more capital for expanding or creating business, and hiring more people.
(Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday October 25 2016, @10:01PM
> That wealth doesn't vanish down a hole. It enriches other parts of the world which need enriching as well.
Yay! Autistic kallow joins the battle! Enriching other parts of the world is not the job of the locals. Especially when that enrichment is on the backs of their health and quality and of life.
> Second, bribes are local economic activity which you choose to ignore.
Jesus fucking christ, did you just argue that bribes are good for the local economy? Holy fucking hell you are an asshole.
> Third, more capital for bribing also means more capital for expanding or creating business, and hiring more people.
Hey DUMBFUCK when that capital is exported to another country it is not present for anything local.
Jesus fucking christ you are a total fucking dunce. Just delete your account already.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 26 2016, @12:04AM
Yay! Autistic kallow joins the battle!
Are you actually accusing him of being autistic, or are you just using that term as a generic insult? If the former, it's quite foolish to think you can diagnose people with such a thing when you're almost certainly not a psychologist or similar, and even if you were, it would be unscientific to try to do so over the Internet based on someone's posting history. If (and this seems more likely) the latter, then you're just an asshole.
(Score: 1) by khallow on Wednesday October 26 2016, @12:59AM
Enriching other parts of the world is not the job of the locals. Especially when that enrichment is on the backs of their health and quality and of life.
Not the case here, let us note. These people were working in a mine because they were desperate. At least they're better off than starving.
Jesus fucking christ, did you just argue that bribes are good for the local economy? Holy fucking hell you are an asshole.
The earlier poster threw away 85% of the wealth because it wasn't local. So yes, that argument is on the table.
Hey DUMBFUCK when that capital is exported to another country it is not present for anything local.
And when that capital is not exported, because someone decided to expand production in a cobalt mine or whatever, then it is present for local stuff. Funny how that works.