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Tech giants sued over deaths of children who mine cobalt

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Re: Tech giants sued over deaths of children who mine cobalt

#11

Post by throwaway_tech »

SQueeeeeL wrote: post #6

I feel like this is essentially trying to sue capitalism. Of course most raw materials people get is essentially sourced from exploitation. That's just the result of buying for the cheapest cost. People don't like seeing how the sausage gets made, like the John Oliver segment on children making clothes, if they shut this down it will just pop up again with another company...

>if they shut this down it will just pop up again with another company...

You can't just pop up a new mine like you could a textile factory.

Re: Tech giants sued over deaths of children who mine cobalt

#12

Post by steve-benjamins »

SQueeeeeL wrote: post #6

I feel like this is essentially trying to sue capitalism. Of course most raw materials people get is essentially sourced from exploitation. That's just the result of buying for the cheapest cost. People don't like seeing how the sausage gets made, like the John Oliver segment on children making clothes, if they shut this down it will just pop up again with another company...

Your argument is exactly what industrialists said about child labour in Britain in the early industrial revolution.

Re: Tech giants sued over deaths of children who mine cobalt

#13

Post by ptah »

swebs wrote: post #5

>Perhaps the only tragedy greater than the criminal destruction of the environment and the lives of the people of the Congo by these companies is the fact that it would be a rounding error on their income statements to fix the problem. Eh, I don't think giving more money to the third world mining companies is going to guarantee they're going to stop using child labor. The simplest and least risky decision for the tec…

> third world mining companies

Glencore headquarters is in Switzerland

Re: Tech giants sued over deaths of children who mine cobalt

#15

Post by curiousgal »

ptah wrote: post #13
swebs wrote: post #5

>Perhaps the only tragedy greater than the criminal destruction of the environment and the lives of the people of the Congo by these companies is the fact that it would be a rounding error on their income statements to fix the problem. Eh, I don't think giving more money to the third world mining companies is going to guarantee they're going to stop using child labor. The simplest and least risky decision for the tec…

> third world mining companies Glencore headquarters is in Switzerland

This is what makes the parent comment insensitive; "they're just doing it to themselves"..

Re: Tech giants sued over deaths of children who mine cobalt

#17

Post by Shivetya »

swebs wrote: post #5

>Perhaps the only tragedy greater than the criminal destruction of the environment and the lives of the people of the Congo by these companies is the fact that it would be a rounding error on their income statements to fix the problem. Eh, I don't think giving more money to the third world mining companies is going to guarantee they're going to stop using child labor. The simplest and least risky decision for the tec…

the liability is with the mining company and national government of Congo. the companies purchasing products can indeed put pressure on both to improve the working conditions of miners but in the end as with nearly every human tragedy, it comes down to the government to take responsibility for its actions and inaction. nothing changes until the local government has to change it.

Re: Tech giants sued over deaths of children who mine cobalt

#18

Post by WilliamEdward »

Shivetya wrote: post #17
swebs wrote: post #5

>Perhaps the only tragedy greater than the criminal destruction of the environment and the lives of the people of the Congo by these companies is the fact that it would be a rounding error on their income statements to fix the problem. Eh, I don't think giving more money to the third world mining companies is going to guarantee they're going to stop using child labor. The simplest and least risky decision for the tec…

the liability is with the mining company and national government of Congo. the companies purchasing products can indeed put pressure on both to improve the working conditions of miners but in the end as with nearly every human tragedy, it comes down to the government to take responsibility for its actions and inaction. nothing changes until the local government has to change it.

Ok but they definitely should put pressure on the government by not buying their unethical produce.

Re: Tech giants sued over deaths of children who mine cobalt

#19

Post by steve-benjamins »

Congo produces 2/3rds of the worlds Cobalt. It really doesn't matter if Apple, Microsoft, Dell, Tesla and Google admit they used child labour.... They have.

Instead of levelling skepticism at the lawsuit, why not level skepticism at the companies with a collective market cap of ~$2 trillion? Doesn't that seem more constructive?

There's a real failure of imagination in these comments. Working conditions can and have been improved by advocacy. Saying child labour is an inevitable outcome of capitalism is the same argument that was made by slave owners in the south and Industrialists in Britain at the beginning of the Industrial Revolution. You're wrong.

Re: Tech giants sued over deaths of children who mine cobalt

#20

Post by ramblerman »

curiousgal wrote: post #15
ptah wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> third world mining companies Glencore headquarters is in Switzerland

This is what makes the parent comment insensitive; "they're just doing it to themselves"..

Insensitive or not, both statements can be true at the same time. I.e. Africa is plagued by bad leadership and corruption, and the west is more than happy to take advantage of the situation.
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