You may have felt guilty that your iPhone is made by wage slaves in China. Now you have a new reason to feel guilty! It turns out that the minerals used to make electronics are mined by children in the Democratic Republic of Congo in some of the worst conditions imaginable. Ana Kasparian, Kim Horcher (Nerd Alert), and Margaret Howell (The LipTV) hosts of The Young Turks discuss.
Will the knowledge that these minerals are mined by children make you think twice about buying electronics?Let us know in the comments below.
Read more here: http://mic.com/articles/133000/apple-…
“When you think of your “toxic” addiction to social media and your cellphone, you might consider that for some children in the world, your phone might have literally been poisonous.
Apple, Samsung, Microsoft and other phone manufacturers were accused by Amnesty International of using rare minerals mined by child laborers in their smartphones. Amnesty’s investigation found that in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), there are areas where children work in artisanal mines to feed the thriving market for cobalt, an ingredient in the lithium-ion batteries of modern smartphones. The DRC produces about 55% of the world’s cobalt, the Global Mining Institute reports.
While many people may associate “artisanal” with craft beer snobs and woodworking classes, in the case of Congolese mining, it means digging by hand using rudimentary tools in sparsely regulated, impromptu mines.”
Comments
There is a very simple answer to resolve this.
Leadership.
The vast major of “People” will be completely willing to agree, even demand that we regulate these big tech companies and force them to not abuse others (especially children). Most people would probably be fine with imprisoning everyone involved, or even starting a war over the issue. The moral compass of “The People” is not the problem.
The product isn’t the problem either. People will not want to stop buying this product. Why? Not only because it’s vital, but because this product can be made without exploitation. The answer then is simple: Regulation.
If given the option, which would “The People” choose? Have your cake and eat it too, by making sure some rich asshole gets a few less million among their billions OR boycott the cake entirely and starve OR have that cake but not eat it? They’d choose the first.
If “The People” only knew the reality of exploitation, the cruelty of big business, the destruction of our environment, or, how much wealth the rich ACTUALLY owned…there would be a revolution over night. We would hang the rich immediately, brutalize them, burn down their corporations, then continue on as if nothing happened.
However, to truly know even one of those things is next to impossible. It’s too much information for any one person to simply “get” without extensive experience and knowledge in that area. It’s not just ignorance of the reality, but the simple fact our brains can’t actually fathom how much wealth the rich actually own compared to the rest of us. We see numbers, and just translate that into “It’s a lot.” If we truly knew, we’d be overwhelmed and say “HELL NO!” (I’m sure some people do know, but even then- they may not be able to fully comprehend the idea even if they understand it enough to be upset about it.)
It’s like telling someone “The Universe is Big.” That doesn’t help them understand the true vastness of the universe. Something that we cannot even fathom, even when we go into detail and have visual images to scale. It’s unfathomably “big”.
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I say that to say this:
The closer “The People” come to understanding an issue and actually comprehending it or experiencing it themselves, the closer we come to enacting change.
However, at this point in our “democracy” it doesn’t matter.
Like I said! The People would already approve of heavy regulation against exploiting third world children. The Majority would be perfectly fine if our leadership passed regulations on them. They not only don’t give a shit about rich people, but they DO care (in a general way) that children aren’t exploited.
It’s the Leadership that is the problem. If our leaders represented us, then they would bring up this issue. If “The People” had the choice, not the corrupt “representatives”, then these businesses would be fined significantly. We could rob them of their wealth as punishment, and when we all get a refund for our phones because of it? How happy “The People” would actually be.
In one swift ruling, they could get
1) A refund check for the phone they purchased, payed by the company that exploited child labor.
2) Justice.
3) A feeling that they are good, moral people who did the right thing to protect children.
Of course, “The People” won’t do any of this by themselves.
“The People” are also apathetic, lazy, self-entitled, and self-centered.
It’s all about that LEADERSHIP.
If that leader, that representative, waved the flag of morality, made demands to punish the banks (and in return give back to those who unknowingly bought a “Blood Phone” using those fines/penalties) then the people would not only agree but perhaps even raise hell.
That is because “The Right Thing” goes hand-in-hand with “The People”. If it’s just about morality, they wouldn’t disagree with the right thing. If it’s about getting money themselves? They’d love the idea.
It’s all about that Leadership.
er, by “the banks”, I meant “the phone companies” or “the oil companies”, or any target that did something illegal, immoral, or destructive.