Cobalt Red: How the Blood of the Congo Powers Our Lives

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And thus continues the cycle of child labor that supplies the vast majority of cobalt to the global supply chain.

I am not talking about a personal use standpoint where we can send selfies or shitpost on social media.

And that the author didn’t provide any ‘solutions’ until the epilogue, which ended up being about 2 sentences and then turned into more of the same repetition was just ridiculous. In this stark and crucial book, Kara argues that we must all care about what is happening in the Congo-because we are all implicated. His books on modern slavery are Sex Trafficking: Inside the Business of Modern Slavery (2009); Bonded Labor: Tackling the System of Slavery in South Asia (2012); and Modern Slavery: A Global Perspective (2017). Most people do not know what is happening in the cobalt mines of the Congo, because the realities are hidden behind numerous layers of multinational supply chains that serve to erode accountability. Industrial innovations sparked demand for one metal after another, and somehow they all happened to be in Katanga.

I use the words rule and reign because Mobutu and the Kabilas ran the country like despots, enriching themselves on the nation’s mineral resources while leaving their people to languish. Kara's writing style is very engaging, and it reads pretty quickly (it is under 300 pages) but if you're familiar with the topic it's a really 101 read. D. Morel, wrote that the Congo Free State was “a perfected system of oppression, accompanied by unimaginable barbarities and responsible for the vast destruction of human life. In the mines there are no protective gear or guidelines given to the miners except for one mine according to the book.It put pressure on the artisanal miners and many more children had to join the mining workforce to keep up with the demand and help their families survive. Although the copious mineral riches of Katanga could easily fund numerous programs to improve child education, alleviate child mortality, upgrade sanitation and public health, and expand electrification for the Congolese people, most of the mineral wealth flows out of the country.

The Congolese government doesn’t fund public schools or provide infrastructure and profits greatly off of taxing and embezzling from the Congo trade. An unflinching investigation reveals the human rights abuses behind the Congo’s cobalt mining operation—and the moral implications that affect us all. It's far deeper than just the extreme over consumption and desire for more smart phones and electric vehicles, but displays true corruption at the highest level from our biggest companies and political leaders. The nexus of these links resides in a shadow economy at the bottom of the mining industry that flows inevitably into the formal supply chain. Most people don't realize where the materials for the rechargeable batteries in the cell phones and cars come from.This rare, silvery metal is an essential component to almost every lithium-ion rechargeable battery made today. The equator transects the top third of the Congo, and when it is the rainy season on one side of the equator, it is the dry season on the other.