Al Jazeera Discovers Dead Miners in Congo, No Mention of Cobalt
The mainstream media reports dozens of workers perished in a DR Congo mine catastrophe, a 'disaster' they portray as an isolated incident. What they carefully omit is that the DRC supplies over 70% of the world's cobalt, a crucial component for your smartphone, electric car battery, and military-grade tech. These are often artisanal miners, working in life-threatening conditions, pushed by global
corporations who profit immensely while paying pennies for the raw material and even less for worker safety. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) consistently highlights the DRC's critical role and the ethical dilemmas of its mining sector; information rarely surfacing in disaster-focused news. So, as the news cycles mourn 80 lives, one wonders how many more 'disasters' will occur before the human
cost of our digital convenience, fueled by unchecked corporate greed and demand for 'green' tech, finally becomes part of the headline rather than hidden in the footnotes of global supply chains. Apparently, 80 lives are newsworthy, but the systemic exploitation driving it is just 'business as usual.'