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posted by janrinok on Monday June 07 2021, @06:38PM   Printer-friendly

Electric Car Batteries Are Turning This Country Into an Actual Hellscape:

As the demand for gadgets and electric cars grows, so too are the mining operations that dig up cobalt to use in lithium-ion batteries.

And that's become a serious problem for the Democratic Republic of the Congo, The New Yorker reports, which sits atop about 3.4 million metric tons of the stuff — half of the entire planet's supply. A massive, gold rush-like mining industry was born after residents in poverty-stricken areas discovered ore deposits under their homes. But now, many are finding that digging up the valuable mineral has failed to lift them out of poverty. And meanwhile, dangerous conditions are killing miners as exposure to the metal is poisoning both people and the environment.

A lack of regulations and enforcement over the mines has resulted in the miners, who risk their health and safety for financial security, being exploited by officials and traders who are unscrupulously lining their own pockets, according to The New Yorker. One miner told the publication that he now struggles to pay his $25 monthly rent even as the value of cobalt continues to soar — and the only alternative was to work at a major corporation's mine for considerably less money.

Meanwhile, thousands of children have been put to work as well, according to The New Yorker, some of whom say they can't remember the last time they could afford a meal. In order to keep them working, the kids are often even drugged with appetite suppressors.


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  • (Score: 1, Flamebait) by Anonymous Coward on Monday June 07 2021, @07:41PM (41 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday June 07 2021, @07:41PM (#1142870)

    It's probably all Whitey's fault their country is so underdeveloped and dysfunctional that they can't sell a resource without all this bullshit. The legacy of colonial oppression, i'm sure.

    If you weren't so damn dumb you could have invented the necessary industry, lithium batteries, etc, mined it and turned it into batteries yourself without evil Whitey exploiting you. Sucks to be you, i guess.

    I suppose this story is to guilt gullible western whites into allowing themselves to be robbed to send "relief" over there that will just be spent to enrich opportunistic parasites. All while their white kin are murdered by invasive niggers in south africa for daring to turn a barren landscape into a viable country.

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  • (Score: 0, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Monday June 07 2021, @07:52PM (3 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday June 07 2021, @07:52PM (#1142872)

    Aww widdle wacist boopyboo is having a mweltdwown. Poor widdle depworabow!

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday June 08 2021, @02:36PM (2 children)

      by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday June 08 2021, @02:36PM (#1143139)

      Somehow I don't think that the GPP is having the meltdown here.

      Y'know, just going by the evidence on hand ... but I'm sure there will be a detailed, well-reasoned rebuttal explaining what I missed here.

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday June 08 2021, @11:35PM (1 child)

        by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday June 08 2021, @11:35PM (#1143317)

        "It's probably all Whitey's fault"

        ^ is a mental meltdown

        maybe breakdown would be more accurate? doesn't sound like they are emotionally flipping out which is more the image confured by meltdown

        either way, idiots get mocked, especially the ones that get mad about people pointing out their historic crimes and suggesting it might be a good idea to help people out

        fookin sociopathic douche nozzles

        • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday June 09 2021, @04:58PM

          by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday June 09 2021, @04:58PM (#1143588)

          "It's probably all Whitey's fault"

          just seems like sarcasm to me, based on the context of the post.

          Sarcasm != meltdown, mental or otherwise (but might induce it in readers)

  • (Score: 5, Interesting) by DeathMonkey on Monday June 07 2021, @08:11PM (33 children)

    by DeathMonkey (1380) on Monday June 07 2021, @08:11PM (#1142882) Journal

    The legacy of colonial oppression, i'm sure.

    Ya think! The DRC achieved independence from those colonialists in 1960! They were still making slave-rubber in 1908.

    So I guess it's right out of the salt mines and directly into the research labs!

    • (Score: -1, Flamebait) by Anonymous Coward on Monday June 07 2021, @08:15PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Monday June 07 2021, @08:15PM (#1142884)

      Always projection and blame. Conservatives wanna be USA NUMBER ONE without acknowledging how the US got where it is. Entitled narcissistic bullshit in this case with a heaping dose of racism.

      Fuck the racist assholes around here. Deplorable losers.

    • (Score: 0, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Monday June 07 2021, @08:17PM (18 children)

      by Anonymous Coward on Monday June 07 2021, @08:17PM (#1142887)

      How long is sufficient time? From 1908 to 1960 was 52 years. From 1960 to today has been 61 years. At least two generations, perhaps three. How many generations will it take?

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday June 07 2021, @08:30PM

        by Anonymous Coward on Monday June 07 2021, @08:30PM (#1142889)

        Don't know - how long can Germany send money?

      • (Score: 5, Insightful) by DeathMonkey on Monday June 07 2021, @08:34PM (16 children)

        by DeathMonkey (1380) on Monday June 07 2021, @08:34PM (#1142893) Journal

        How long will it take for people with no education and no money and no infrastructure to invent new cutting edge technologies?

        It's gonna be a bit longer than 61 years....

        • (Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Monday June 07 2021, @10:24PM (11 children)

          by Anonymous Coward on Monday June 07 2021, @10:24PM (#1142930)

          They never had a written language. That part of the world is PRIMITIVE. Don't expect them to ever "catch up" on their own.

          • (Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Monday June 07 2021, @10:51PM (10 children)

            by Anonymous Coward on Monday June 07 2021, @10:51PM (#1142942)

            Citation needed. Are you referring to Congo specifically, or to Africa in general? Wikipedia is certainly not an authoritative source, but they list several African writing systems, including Lusona for Angola, Zambia, and parts of the Congo.

            https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Writing_systems_of_Africa [wikipedia.org]

            • (Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Monday June 07 2021, @11:16PM (7 children)

              by Anonymous Coward on Monday June 07 2021, @11:16PM (#1142949)

              I looked up Lusona. It is nothing more than pictures. It is not a writing system. As I said, very PRIMITIVE.

              • (Score: 2) by linuxrocks123 on Tuesday June 08 2021, @12:13AM (6 children)

                by linuxrocks123 (2557) on Tuesday June 08 2021, @12:13AM (#1142970) Journal

                The Kushites had a phonetic alphabet for Meroitic, you racist dumbass.

                • (Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday June 08 2021, @01:14AM (5 children)

                  by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday June 08 2021, @01:14AM (#1142982)

                  We are talking about Congo and sub Saharan Africa in general. You are talking about a kingdom right next to Egypt which is barely in Africa. People like you always have to reach for Egypt to show any accomplishment in Africa.

                  • (Score: 4, Insightful) by linuxrocks123 on Tuesday June 08 2021, @02:14AM (4 children)

                    by linuxrocks123 (2557) on Tuesday June 08 2021, @02:14AM (#1142998) Journal

                    Nice try shifting the goalposts, but you lose, asshat. They bordered Egypt to the south, i.e., further down into the African continent than Egypt, and, unlike the Egyptians, were most definitely black racially. They weren't politically Egyptians, either; they were a rival kingdom.

                    Yes, they based their writing system on Egyptian hieroglyphs. So did whites. Egyptian hieroglyphs -> Proto-Sinaitic -> Phoenician -> Greek -> Roman. Didn't know that? Not surprised.

                    • (Score: -1, Flamebait) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday June 08 2021, @03:10AM (3 children)

                      by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday June 08 2021, @03:10AM (#1143018)

                      Do you know geography? Africa is a big continent, and we are talking about the black heart of it: sub Saharan Africa. PRIMITIVE.

                      • (Score: 3, Informative) by linuxrocks123 on Tuesday June 08 2021, @04:34AM (2 children)

                        by linuxrocks123 (2557) on Tuesday June 08 2021, @04:34AM (#1143026) Journal

                        Sudan is considered sub-Saharan by the African Union, you perpetual dumbass.

                        • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday June 08 2021, @12:12PM (1 child)

                          by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday June 08 2021, @12:12PM (#1143100)

                          We are taking about the Congo and the region surrounding it. You keep avoiding the issue. The heart of Africa is primitive.

                          • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday June 08 2021, @05:03PM

                            by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday June 08 2021, @05:03PM (#1143202)

                            In your desperation for a feeling of superiority you cement your position as lowest nugget on the shitpole.

            • (Score: 2) by Reziac on Tuesday June 08 2021, @02:33AM (1 child)

              by Reziac (2489) on Tuesday June 08 2021, @02:33AM (#1143004) Homepage

              And all of the non-primitive (and not imported) sub-Saharan writing systems invented in modern times, mostly in the last century. What does that tell you??

              --
              And there is no Alkibiades to come back and save us from ourselves.
              • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday June 08 2021, @04:34AM

                by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday June 08 2021, @04:34AM (#1143024)

                It tells me that given the time, opportunity, and motivation, most people will try to improve their lot in life. Most of Africa still has a long way to go but those are steps in the right direction. That despite the current crapfest there is hope for their future. Then I look at what is happening here in the West and despair.

        • (Score: 0, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Monday June 07 2021, @10:28PM (2 children)

          by Anonymous Coward on Monday June 07 2021, @10:28PM (#1142931)

          Hey, I wonder what China was like in 1960?

          Oh right, that was just the start of the cultural revolution, and they got to screw themselves with a heavy-duty piledriver. And yet China managed to dig itself out despite less abundant natural resources, and a positive wreck of what few institutions they had left.

          At some point the "colonialist history" story has an expiry date, and Congo is past that.

          • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday June 08 2021, @04:52AM (1 child)

            by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday June 08 2021, @04:52AM (#1143036)

            Ditto the middle east. What? What? We cut their 1000 year tribal boundaries into nice straight lines directly through the middle and they can't resolve it?! Fucking primitives. Look at civilized places like Europe - no wars AT ALL.

            • (Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Tuesday June 08 2021, @01:40PM

              by Runaway1956 (2926) Subscriber Badge on Tuesday June 08 2021, @01:40PM (#1143116) Journal

              Look at civilized places like Europe - no wars AT ALL.

              Pick up a history book. Europe's history is endless warfare. No major wars in the last 75 years? Hitler kicked them all in the balls, and they haven't recovered enough to start another war. Not to mention a helluva lot of energy was expended in the Cold War. Then there is Ukraine, Kosovo, and Georgia.

              So, your idyllic Europe is only 3 generations removed from it's own endless tribal warfare, but you claim some sort of superiority over African tribals? We probably should send some nukes to Africa, pass them out based on population.

        • (Score: 1) by khallow on Tuesday June 08 2021, @09:41PM

          by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Tuesday June 08 2021, @09:41PM (#1143279) Journal

          How long will it take for people with no education and no money and no infrastructure to invent new cutting edge technologies?

          It didn't take the US long to do that. You need a better narrative.

          All this whining ignores that we have a history of successful efforts to do these things, to turn almost undeveloped countries into modern powerhouses. It's time to look at what works.

    • (Score: 5, Insightful) by Thexalon on Monday June 07 2021, @09:01PM (5 children)

      by Thexalon (636) on Monday June 07 2021, @09:01PM (#1142902)

      And it's also worth noting that in former colonies (and DRC is one of the worst cases - look up the history of Belgian rule if you don't believe me), if they start making too many moves to make their economy run locally rather than by foreign multinationals, it is extremely common for either their former colonial power or the USA to come in and make sure that doesn't happen. Many many coups and even protracted wars have come from these countries trying to gain control of their own natural resources. Even in countries that are relatively decolonized and have had fairly functional democracies, like South Africa and Venezuela, it's still a major issue, and the threat of a coup or civil war or foreign invasion by a vastly superior force is always present.

      About the one thing that protects countries in this position from continued foreign interference is nuclear weapons.

      --
      The only thing that stops a bad guy with a compiler is a good guy with a compiler.
      • (Score: 2, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Monday June 07 2021, @10:41PM (3 children)

        by Anonymous Coward on Monday June 07 2021, @10:41PM (#1142936)

        Venezuela is hardly a poster-child for functional democracy any time in the last decade (and arguably longer). Nationalising their oil industry was the least of it. They were actually doing OK there until they started reneging on their service and consulting deals with the multinationals, at which point the multinationals pulled out, and Venezuela discovered that if they weren't going to actually pay for services received, they could do it themselves. Until they couldn't. Oops. That's not deliberate interference, that's what our friends in the soccer-playing world call an "own goal".

        As for South Africa, which functional democracy are you talking about? The pre-1994 whites-only (OK, with a few minority groups as a smokescreen) deal in which the National Party had a lock going back to when Smuts's South African Party took it in the shorts for playing ball with the allies in WWII? Or the post-1994 deal in which the ANC/Communist/Unionist alliance got a lock on power?

        And which multinationals pushed SA around? Most of them lost their leverage during the period of disinvestment, and got told to suck corrupt dick by the likes of Jacob Zuma. Nelson Mandela tried to get them interested in coming back, and mostly got told to pound sand, not because they hate darkies but because they (rightly, as it turned out) didn't like the kind of governance that was in the offing, in a country with a lost generation, a culture of (aside from a few minority groups) monumental inefficiency, massive instability and crumbling infrastructure.

        But sure, it's old colonial powers and their multinational exploitation lapdogs. Now tell us about the imperialist running-dogs and their petty bourgeoisie paper tigers, that's always a fun bedtime story.

        • (Score: 3, Informative) by FatPhil on Tuesday June 08 2021, @11:35AM (2 children)

          by FatPhil (863) <pc-soylentNO@SPAMasdf.fi> on Tuesday June 08 2021, @11:35AM (#1143093) Homepage
          No, it's deliberate interference. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_sanctions_during_the_Venezuelan_crisis#United_States
          Heck, you even attempted to put a puppet in power there.
          --
          Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people; the smallest discuss themselves
          • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday June 08 2021, @12:10PM

            by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday June 08 2021, @12:10PM (#1143099)

            Nobody can be blamed for Venezuela's situation but Venezuela. They are a classic petro-state. When the price of oil was high, they were riding high. When it went low, there were stirrings of revolution. The government doled out benefits (for example, free university), plus whatever else it subsidized, based on the gusher of money provided by oil which was a government monopoly. They never diversified their economy.

          • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday June 08 2021, @02:49PM

            by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday June 08 2021, @02:49PM (#1143145)

            No idea who "you" is in this context, but I'm going to assume you mean the US State Department, or the CIA or somebody; the usual scapegoats.

            But if sanctions constitute deliberate interference, what exactly do you propose as available measures against misbehaving counterparties? To take the lead from Yes, Minister (great show, you should watch it) the usual options are:

            1) Ignore it (not historically smart)
            2) Issue a statement deploring their behaviour (Nobody cares)
            3) Lodge a formal protest (destined for the roundfile, possibly with some macho chest-beating thrown in)
            4) Cut off aid (doesn't work on burgeoning petro-states)
            5) Break off relations (Not helpful)
            6) Declare war (way nastier than sanctions)

            So what was your other idea?

      • (Score: 1) by khallow on Tuesday June 08 2021, @05:16PM

        by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Tuesday June 08 2021, @05:16PM (#1143206) Journal

        Even in countries that are relatively decolonized and have had fairly functional democracies, like South Africa and Venezuela

        Sigh. Why in the world does Venezuela get all this positive mind share? They aren't such. And their policies and such should be a glaring warning sign to the rest of us that there's something deeply wrong with Venezuela rather than somehow a sign that somehow Venezuela hasn't gotten rid of all the colonialist cooties.

        if they start making too many moves to make their economy run locally rather than by foreign multinationals, it is extremely common for either their former colonial power or the USA to come in and make sure that doesn't happen.

        In other words, stealing from more powerful countries (what the euphemism "economy run locally rather than by foreign multinationals" means) has considerable blowback even when the other stole first.

    • (Score: 3, Informative) by Beryllium Sphere (r) on Monday June 07 2021, @09:38PM (1 child)

      by Beryllium Sphere (r) (5062) on Monday June 07 2021, @09:38PM (#1142917)

      Lest anyone underestimate the gravity of the history,
      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atrocities_in_the_Congo_Free_State [wikipedia.org]

    • (Score: 2) by driverless on Tuesday June 08 2021, @09:29AM (4 children)

      by driverless (4770) on Tuesday June 08 2021, @09:29AM (#1143072)

      Not only that, but the Congo was probably the most appallingly exploited by colonial powers country in Africa. The term "crimes against humanity" was originally invented to describe what Leopold II of Belgium, one of the biggest mass murderers of the 20th century, did there (that's not an exaggeration, it's just that he maimed, mutilated, and killed Africans rather than Europeans so virtually no-one has heard of him).

      It's not a surprise with that past they ended up a pretty messed-up country.

      • (Score: 2) by FatPhil on Tuesday June 08 2021, @11:37AM (3 children)

        by FatPhil (863) <pc-soylentNO@SPAMasdf.fi> on Tuesday June 08 2021, @11:37AM (#1143094) Homepage
        > it's just that he maimed, mutilated, and killed Africans

        Not really. He got other Africans to maim, mutilate, and kill Africans, a completely different approach to maintaining control, way more hands off.
        --
        Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people; the smallest discuss themselves
        • (Score: 2) by driverless on Tuesday June 08 2021, @11:53AM

          by driverless (4770) on Tuesday June 08 2021, @11:53AM (#1143097)

          Well, it's a figure of speech, just like Hitler, Stalin, Pol Pot, Tojo, and others never personally killed anyone when they were leaders. Had it gone to trial, Leopold would have been charged with crimes against humanity as the person responsible.

          Instead, the Belgians built monuments to him.

        • (Score: 1) by khallow on Tuesday June 08 2021, @05:18PM (1 child)

          by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Tuesday June 08 2021, @05:18PM (#1143207) Journal

          way more hands off

          I saw [wikipedia.org] what you did there.

          • (Score: 3, Informative) by FatPhil on Wednesday June 09 2021, @02:03PM

            by FatPhil (863) <pc-soylentNO@SPAMasdf.fi> on Wednesday June 09 2021, @02:03PM (#1143516) Homepage
            Thank you for letting me know my effort wasn't wasted.
            --
            Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people; the smallest discuss themselves
  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday June 08 2021, @01:19AM (2 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday June 08 2021, @01:19AM (#1142985)

    It's easy to fix - stop buying items that have lion batteries. If no alternatives exist then do without.

    We're all laughing at all of the silly holier-than-thou/do-as-I-say-not-as-I-do/oh-those-poor-people posts on here were sent on a smartphone or laptop THAT USE LION batteries...and the author had no clue.
    LOL

    • (Score: 2) by Reziac on Tuesday June 08 2021, @02:41AM (1 child)

      by Reziac (2489) on Tuesday June 08 2021, @02:41AM (#1143007) Homepage

      And banging the drum for a wholesale switch to electric vehicles. What sort of batteries might those use, hmmm??

      --
      And there is no Alkibiades to come back and save us from ourselves.
      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday June 08 2021, @01:44PM

        by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday June 08 2021, @01:44PM (#1143117)

        Well - we could eliminate the batteries. Just get some small black kids from Africa, and throw them in the trunks of the cars to turn the hamster/gerbil wheel generators.

        Oh wait. Someone would call that slavery. Scratch that idea!