They have good point but it doesn’t address the underlying issues of the sourcing problem, African nations they mention can’t guarantee the ethical standards of the minerals. Not that I think...
They have good point but it doesn’t address the underlying issues of the sourcing problem, African nations they mention can’t guarantee the ethical standards of the minerals. Not that I think China is any better but there is more general public awareness of what happens in Africa than China. Look at what’s happening in the cacao and coffee industries using child labor etc. I don’t see a US president wanting to take the bad press associated with something like that.
There was more outrage when it came out that Nestle (fuck them) suppliers were using child labor for their chocolate than companies caught using slave labor to make iPhone and other electronics etc.
We've been sending aid to Africa in very public ways since I can remember. From the "We are the World" campaign to those UNICEF commercials ("Feed a child for 50 cents a day") that used to be...
there is more general public awareness of what happens in Africa than China.
We've been sending aid to Africa in very public ways since I can remember. From the "We are the World" campaign to those UNICEF commercials ("Feed a child for 50 cents a day") that used to be everywhere and other campaigns. All of these campaigns use the suffering of kids as their main PR drive. I wonder if the public perception (even subconsciously) is that "Africa" somehow "owes" us to do better?
Interesting. I have gone to Ghana with a NGO as a volunteer for a group that offers cataract surgeries to those who need it for free. My take would be not that they perceptionally "owe" us to do...
Interesting. I have gone to Ghana with a NGO as a volunteer for a group that offers cataract surgeries to those who need it for free.
My take would be not that they perceptionally "owe" us to do better but that we see that there is much more of a possibility that things can get better there with continued help and education. Change seems like a reality in many ways there. China on the other hand seems like a different beast.
Plus we aren't specifically banning Africa from exporting anything. We're just giving special tax breaks to products mined either within the US or in nations we are more closely allied with. Which...
Plus we aren't specifically banning Africa from exporting anything. We're just giving special tax breaks to products mined either within the US or in nations we are more closely allied with.
Which is the entire point, to ensure a secure supply of these materials, since they are vital for not only economic but also military purposes.
If we shift from China but move to an unstable African nation which may at any moment face a foreign backed coup and cut off exports to us (see: Nigeria), then we haven't actually solved the problem.
It is an interesting dilemma. It reminds me of a business insider youtube video on Mica mining - because of a drought in Madagascar, many farmers turned to dangerous Mica mining. The video...
It is an interesting dilemma. It reminds me of a business insider youtube video on Mica mining - because of a drought in Madagascar, many farmers turned to dangerous Mica mining. The video mentioned that the US was ramping up Mica production in North Carolina as something that would "help" the people of Madagascar, but... does it? You're just taking away their jobs, no?
It's not like they'd prefer to farm but are being forced to mine because of the government - they can't farm because there's a drought. If you just remove mining as an option, they would only be worse off - probably starving.
There's a lot of other reasons for the US to produce Mica domestically, but I can't help but find it odd that the framing is about "helping" foreign workers by moving supply lines.
They have good point but it doesn’t address the underlying issues of the sourcing problem, African nations they mention can’t guarantee the ethical standards of the minerals. Not that I think China is any better but there is more general public awareness of what happens in Africa than China. Look at what’s happening in the cacao and coffee industries using child labor etc. I don’t see a US president wanting to take the bad press associated with something like that.
There was more outrage when it came out that Nestle (fuck them) suppliers were using child labor for their chocolate than companies caught using slave labor to make iPhone and other electronics etc.
We've been sending aid to Africa in very public ways since I can remember. From the "We are the World" campaign to those UNICEF commercials ("Feed a child for 50 cents a day") that used to be everywhere and other campaigns. All of these campaigns use the suffering of kids as their main PR drive. I wonder if the public perception (even subconsciously) is that "Africa" somehow "owes" us to do better?
Interesting. I have gone to Ghana with a NGO as a volunteer for a group that offers cataract surgeries to those who need it for free.
My take would be not that they perceptionally "owe" us to do better but that we see that there is much more of a possibility that things can get better there with continued help and education. Change seems like a reality in many ways there. China on the other hand seems like a different beast.
Plus we aren't specifically banning Africa from exporting anything. We're just giving special tax breaks to products mined either within the US or in nations we are more closely allied with.
Which is the entire point, to ensure a secure supply of these materials, since they are vital for not only economic but also military purposes.
If we shift from China but move to an unstable African nation which may at any moment face a foreign backed coup and cut off exports to us (see: Nigeria), then we haven't actually solved the problem.
It is an interesting dilemma. It reminds me of a business insider youtube video on Mica mining - because of a drought in Madagascar, many farmers turned to dangerous Mica mining. The video mentioned that the US was ramping up Mica production in North Carolina as something that would "help" the people of Madagascar, but... does it? You're just taking away their jobs, no?
It's not like they'd prefer to farm but are being forced to mine because of the government - they can't farm because there's a drought. If you just remove mining as an option, they would only be worse off - probably starving.
There's a lot of other reasons for the US to produce Mica domestically, but I can't help but find it odd that the framing is about "helping" foreign workers by moving supply lines.
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