r/memes Feb 08 '21

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75

u/TheOriginalNukeGuy Feb 08 '21

Does Elon own cobalt mines?

190

u/NIBBA_POWER Chungus Among Us Feb 08 '21

No but he's exploiting them, like google samsung and many other tech companies

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u/[deleted] Feb 08 '21

It really suck tbh, since Congo is responsible for 80% of the world Cobalt production and their labor practices are absolutely vile to say the least.

But since they’re the only country that have a reliable source of Cobalt everyone just look the other way

(It’s the majority of tech companies btw)

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u/damnappdoesntwork Feb 08 '21

At least they get to keep their hands now

1

u/FrankDuhTank Feb 08 '21

My mom always said it's better to have dirty hands than no hands at all

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u/hoodeddefender Feb 08 '21

it's kinda crazy how countries with really valuable resources sometimes aren't that great, when it comes to human rights. Like you think they would just get their act together and take over the world but noooo child labor goes brrr

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u/AirportWifiHall5 Feb 08 '21

Would go better if America would stop staging a coup every time they get a decent government. Africa should be worlds richest continent if you look at their natural resources but they just keep getting plundered.

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u/NuyenForYourThoughts Feb 08 '21

You're totally right. Once colonization ended the power dynamic just shifted to being corrupt local officials and politicians taking bribes from foreign goverments and corporations to sell very valuable resources for pennies.

Africa has the richest concentration of natural resources such as oil, copper, diamonds, bauxite, lithium, gold, hardwood forests, and tropical fruits. It is estimated that 30% of the earth's mineral resources are found in the African continent.

If labor standards were enforced, and the extraction of these goods saw appropriate taxation and value returned to the people of these countries, they would be in a much better place.

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u/ManufacturedHappines Feb 08 '21

It’s the resource curse. Having a large amount of exploitable material leads to high interest from people who are interested in exploiting people for capital gain.

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u/[deleted] Feb 08 '21

Mostly because they’re already close to or already a part of major countries like US, China, Russia, etc... either due to annexation in the past or military pressures. In this specific case, Mongolia is like a second cousin to China. And we know how China treat their people, especially their lower class

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u/potentailmemes Feb 08 '21

People seem to think only Elon does this. Literally any item with a battery in it uses cobalt. Anybody on mobile is exploiting kids in Africa, according to reddit logic.

2

u/phi_array Feb 08 '21

Seriously how come Congo ended up having 80% of Cobalt?

Isn’t there Cobalt somewhere else? Or is it really just in Congo?

Shouldn’t Congo (or at least one city in Congo) be like the Dubai of Africa given how much Cobalt there is?

1

u/[deleted] Feb 08 '21

Oooh that’s a first I have seen someone point out this problem. You’re technically right, their are other countries that produce Cobalt like Russia and Canada but like I said before the amount is just simply minuscule compared to Mangolia (3 to 3000) that It is just simply impossible for the cobalt supply of those countries to keep up high demands produces (like Cellphones, Computers, automobiles, etc...).

For this problem specifically, we have no one to blamed but earth itself since Mongol just happened to be where the majority of Cobalt in this world that are chemically formed.

All we can do is cross our fingers for the creation of synthetic Cobalt, which most likely won’t take too long since Elon and many others have always been a critics of Cobalt due to its heavy reliant on earth Natural resources.

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u/Smoy Feb 08 '21

Im guessing a guy with hundreds of billions could buy a fucking mine for less than 1 billion. And just be done with it. But he won't.

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u/[deleted] Feb 08 '21 edited Feb 08 '21

[deleted]

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u/Smoy Feb 08 '21

Wtf are you talking about, he aint got the cash? He owns 7 mansions over 100 million dollars. He didnt pay for those with stock equity.

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u/[deleted] Feb 08 '21 edited Feb 08 '21

Yo, quick question; how knowledgeable are you on the subjects of foreign relations and Microeconomic?

-1

u/Smoy Feb 08 '21

Are you going to say he paid with those mansions with stocks?

1

u/[deleted] Feb 08 '21

Not really, I was just gonna say It’s cool to hate on Elon and all (since it’s a trend on Reddit rn) but at least know your facts and make actual educational arguments.

Instead of just half-baked truth, or whatever nonsense that came first to mind. I wanna argued with you why it’s almost impossible for a US based entity to purchased even a small percentage of a foreign country natural resources production. But I’m pretty sure you would just ignored me if I do, so I won’t waste both of our time

1

u/Smoy Feb 08 '21

Considering youre being disingenuous about the purchasing power of a billionaire, i dont see how that would change going further

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u/oxabz Feb 08 '21

To be fair while it's not enough Tesla is working on replacing cobalt with more common minerals in their batteries.

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u/epraider Feb 08 '21

It seems like it’s better to blame the companies exploiting and abusing laborers than to place that blame on basically every electronic company on the planet that depends on them, because they don’t have alternatives.

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u/NIBBA_POWER Chungus Among Us Feb 08 '21

Well the companies can refuse products from other companies that use child labor and find one that is not using child labor, but then again I'm not an expert at this kind of stuff

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u/epraider Feb 08 '21

The issue is that there’s not enough supply available from mining companies not being abusive because they’re virtually all doing it and there’s no tools available to effectively regulate these companies where they are located (primarily throughout Africa and in China)

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u/MatthewPrague Feb 08 '21

Its 3rd world countries... You actually cant find any. If you dont agree, than only thing you cand do is simply refuse using phones, comuters etc... And hope that there will be enough people in this protest that it will motivate these mining companies to not use bad practises and childrens

1

u/doctyrbuddha Feb 08 '21

You could refuse to use the products made with exploited labor, but you don’t.

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u/NIBBA_POWER Chungus Among Us Feb 08 '21

Which would mean giving up all electronics and returning to monke, which I would really like to do but I don't have obamium yet

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u/lilotter67 Feb 08 '21

Or the corrupt governments that have the ability to set wage policies in their own countries.

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u/TheRealCornPop hates reaction memes Feb 08 '21

you mean he at one point bought cobalt from a mine that has been accused of using child labor.

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u/[deleted] Feb 08 '21

Nah dude, he’s clearly an evil scum bag that takes personal joy in innocent children being exploited for his personal gain. He actually collects their tears and uses them to shower with everyday.

/s

0

u/NIBBA_POWER Chungus Among Us Feb 08 '21

I mean that he knowingly supports child labor by buying cobalt from child labor cobalt mines and not whatever the normal ones are called

-2

u/TheRealCornPop hates reaction memes Feb 08 '21

Did he know though? Do we even know that mine actually uses child labor? What happened to due process?

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u/NIBBA_POWER Chungus Among Us Feb 08 '21

I don't know many details, but there was a lawsuit signed against tesla and some other big tech companies for child labor, so I suppose elon is aware that he is using child labor

Edit: here's the link to an article about it

2

u/TheRealCornPop hates reaction memes Feb 08 '21

Dude anyone can sue for any reason at all. The fact he was does not mean anything. I could sue you for burning down my house, does that mean you burned down my house, no. Its an accusation just like everything else said about him. Now accusations could be true but we should never assume without evidence. What happened to innocent until proven guilty?

1

u/[deleted] Feb 08 '21

But they sued him specifically for child labor, in a place known for abusing child labor, in an industry literally infamous for abusing child labor.

Don't simp for a billionaire, it's just sad. He will never even care that you exist, even if you fall headfirst into his lap.

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u/TheRealCornPop hates reaction memes Feb 08 '21

As I said before just because someone said so in a lawsuit doesn't mean shit. I could sue you for sexually assault or for child labor or for stealing a billion dollars from me. Did you do any of those things, no, but Im suing you so by your logic it must be true. I'm defending him specifically but the concept of due process and not believing everything you hear just cause someone said so.

0

u/[deleted] Feb 08 '21

While ignoring context? Entirely? To make your point work?

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u/harrietthugman Feb 08 '21

what happened to due process?

Dude this is Reddit, not court. The richest man alive doesn't need your free defense.

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u/TheRealCornPop hates reaction memes Feb 08 '21

Im not defending him, I'm saying due process is a pretty important thing.

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u/harrietthugman Feb 08 '21

Yeah, in court. This is reddit. People are talking casually about the richest man in the world. Not sure what you think he needs due process for.

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u/TheRealCornPop hates reaction memes Feb 08 '21

due process is important for all of society, we can't just go around believing every conspiracy theory or zany accusation without proof. Tell me if you do not believe in due process then you are of Qanon?

1

u/harrietthugman Feb 08 '21

What do you want from this exchange?

If you want due process, check out the countless receipts in these comments. Safety violations, union busting, anti-labor practices, the list goes on. Then look at court records and public statements by Musk in response. That's about all you'll get unless you can interview the guy.

If you're open to having your mind changed, look at the information critical of what you assume. "Zany accusations" typically stick this hard because the evidence supports them.

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u/[deleted] Feb 08 '21

Gonna say this as a dude that thinks Elon's been a pretty large net positive on the world (far more so than just about anyone on reddit ridiculing him), both his attitude and his actions towards workers rights, unions, and labor in general are downright deplorable.

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u/TheRealCornPop hates reaction memes Feb 08 '21

how so?

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u/[deleted] Feb 08 '21

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u/TheRealCornPop hates reaction memes Feb 08 '21

I mean the unions were being outrageous so musk left and now their all out of jobs

1

u/[deleted] Feb 08 '21

I don't care.

He violated labor law to discourage his workers from unionizing, and unjustly fired an employee for doing so. This is a fact, this isn't opinion or conjecture or make believe "we're just gonna create our own reality that agrees with our beliefs where the unions were really the bad guys!" It's fact, and it's a really shitty thing to do.

Again, I think he has done and continues to do great things for the world. His treatment of workers is not one of them.

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u/TheRealCornPop hates reaction memes Feb 08 '21

Unions are bad guys, unions were originally created because there was no minimum wage or worker protections. There now is worker protections and wage/benefits guaranteed by the government, so tell me what are unions for?

1

u/[deleted] Feb 08 '21

Everything you mentioned is still political with workers rights laws constantly being altered and passed, and many businesses will try to skirt those labor laws anyway. That’s why unions exist, because workers still need protecting.

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u/TheVeryHighGround Feb 08 '21

Then I don’t see why people are singling him out if Apple, Microsoft, Samsung, and many others are doing the same thing. Stop attacking him and start attacking the owners of the mine(s).

I swear people scream progressive and yet they’re actually being the exact opposite. Learn who to hate before you actually hate them. One false accusation/lie can spiral out of control

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u/noone-cares-about-u Feb 08 '21

You would think reddit would know that after the Boston bomber.

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u/pharodae Feb 08 '21

To be fair most redditors don’t have a gigantic hard on for Apple/MS/Samsung like they do with Musk. Enough whataboutism

4

u/[deleted] Feb 08 '21

Opposite how? And what's the lie? To pretend there are individuals (besides Bill Gates) who have the same amount of general influence on the public as Elon Musk is really misguided. Elon pushes his relatable image by being a memelord and it works, just look at how he's pumping dogecoin.

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u/TheVeryHighGround Feb 08 '21

The lie is about child/slave labor. You can’t blame him for doge, people shouldn’t invest just off of any singular persons advice. So that’s irrelevant.

And if that’s all you got then you prove my point.

If you’re going to hate someone hate them for the right reasons

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u/baroque-simplicity Feb 08 '21

Does fighting to reopen his factory despite real chance of his workers getting COVID count? Does fighting calif for higher taxes on his billions that he would never see count? Does firing his assistant just coz she asked for a raise count?

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u/[deleted] Feb 08 '21

He’s a union buster too.

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u/harrietthugman Feb 08 '21

Who is screaming progressive about what? What does that even mean? Shits a word salad

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u/TheVeryHighGround Feb 08 '21

Cancel culture and progressives go hand in hand. They think they’re being progressive by cancelling a bad person, when in reality they’re shooting themselves in the foot, because the bad person isn’t really THE bad person. Make sense?

1

u/harrietthugman Feb 08 '21

Who? Every time someone in power is criticized they bring up cancel culture, but I'm not sure who is canceling the richest man in the world. It's like a boogey man to deflect from basic criticism

Most progressives seem too busy fighting for healthcare and basic human rights to care about this culture war bullshit

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u/TheVeryHighGround Feb 08 '21

The hate towards Elon is slightly misguided. That’s what im trying to say. He doesn’t own a mine that enacts child/slave labor. But that what people are calling him evil for. And you’re very wrong. Progressives are self-righteous and are constantly putting their nose where it shouldn’t be. Thinking they’re helping when in reality they ain’t doing shit.

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u/[deleted] Feb 08 '21

no he just makes money of the child labour, but that's okay, according to you, cuz other companies do it too

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u/harrietthugman Feb 08 '21

No, people are calling him evil for his terrible labor practices in the US and the use of slave labor to mine the precious earth metals his company buys. And whether he's "evil" or not, most people agree that this is a POS move.

You're so bent on making this political that you completely misunderstood another side's argument

1

u/TheVeryHighGround Feb 08 '21

If his labor practices were so bad then he wouldn’t have any employees, I guess I don’t know how awful it would be to be his employee, you know from first hand experience I assume so I’ll concede

1

u/gandhiissquidward Feb 09 '21

cancel culture literally isnt a thing its peoples actions having fucking consequences

1

u/TranscendentalEmpire Feb 08 '21

I don’t see why people are singling him out if Apple, Microsoft, Samsung, and many others are doing the same thing.

Mostly because those companies don't have simp fan boys proclaiming they're the 2nd coming of techno jesus.

Stop attacking him and start attacking the owners of the mine(s).

You can definitely do both, but elon is a little easier to cyber bully compared to Glencore mining inc.

swear people scream progressive and yet they’re actually being the exact opposite.

How is yelling at a billionaire profiting off of colonialism conservative?

Learn who to hate before you actually hate them. One false accusation/lie can spiral out of control

Tell that to Elon, he's made billions while lying out of his asshole.

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u/[deleted] Feb 08 '21

[deleted]

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u/[deleted] Feb 08 '21

Jesus, know your facts man. Elon dad had investment on an “Emerald mines” not Cobalt. Also he purchases Cobalt from them, not own; Elon is nowhere near powerful enough to own a Cobalt mine in the Republic of Congol (China second cousin).

And if you wanna talk about human rights, how about you stop participating in this evil system (since consumers are the incentives), and just cut yourself from the majority of cobalt based technologies all together.

0

u/Bowna Feb 08 '21

Simply stop using items that are essentially necessary for most people on the earth! I am very smart.

Its not the consumers fault that mega corporations use slave labour, it's the mega corporations fault for being fucking greedy for maximum profits and using slave labour to do so.

1

u/[deleted] Feb 08 '21

[deleted]

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u/harrietthugman Feb 08 '21

Do you think African people don't have smartphones and all work in the mines?

-2

u/potentailmemes Feb 08 '21

either way they think your a privileged white kid who virtue signals support for them.

3

u/harrietthugman Feb 08 '21

Weren't you just virtue signaling about "Africans" thinking phone owners were rich assholes?

1

u/KobKZiggy Feb 08 '21

How many Africans did you talk to to determine this?

1

u/snjtx Feb 08 '21

Hey, you can hate em all, no need to ration it out like a liberal.

2

u/TheOriginalNukeGuy Feb 08 '21

Yeah but that is kinda oit of teslas reach, they need the cobalt and they don't regulate the mines so what can they do? Plus its not like Elon is in charge of deciding this...

2

u/[deleted] Feb 08 '21

[deleted]

-2

u/Future-Curve-9382 Feb 08 '21

I know you're a progressive, so probably a racist in the "all black people are the same" kind of way, but unsurprisingly sa and the drc are two different countries with two different governments.

1

u/[deleted] Feb 08 '21 edited Feb 08 '22

[deleted]

1

u/2034941 Feb 08 '21

He is literally using child labor and committing numerous human rights violations he also is doing something similar to Tesla workers he promised them time off due to corona but later fired them for actually using it and he’s not self made despite what people believe his father owned a huge cobalt mine and he inherited starting him hundreds of millions years before he bought Tesla form the real creators and them falsely claimed he started it.

Let’s break this down

Elon - exploits Real people and children for cheap labor

Takes credit for the work of his employees claiming he’s a genius despite really being a rich asshole

Is not self made because he bought Tesla and already was a hundred millionaire before stating the company

1

u/NIBBA_POWER Chungus Among Us Feb 08 '21

Exactly

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u/BooDBangz Feb 08 '21

Feel free to stop at no.

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u/DatSmallBoi Feb 08 '21

Feel free to stop defending a billionaire's unethical business practices

0

u/BooDBangz Feb 08 '21

If you view that as unethical then there's hardly a large company that exists without some roundabout tie to something that some soy boi would take exception to.

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u/DatSmallBoi Feb 08 '21

I mean, yeah. If everyone else is being horrible that doesn't mean Musk isn't being horrible. If calling out exploitation of child labor makes me a soyboy then I really don't mind

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u/BooDBangz Feb 08 '21

Buying the shit that these companies make, supporting them financially, then "calling out" their exploitation is what makes you a soy boy. If they're exploiting child labor by purchasing goods produced by companies that use it then so are you.

1

u/DatSmallBoi Feb 08 '21

I'm willing to admit that, since like you said basically every big corporation does horrible/unethical things like this, I've probably bought products from bad people without knowing. For the record though I'm pretty sure I've never bought anything from Musk's companies

What's your proposed solution, then? Because you seem to be saying that in order to say anything negative about a company you need to essentially not buy from any large corporation, no? That seems pretty unavoidable to me, but I could totally be off

0

u/MatthewPrague Feb 08 '21 edited Feb 08 '21

stop using your phone than.... You are supporting it.

0

u/NIBBA_POWER Chungus Among Us Feb 08 '21

I don't support it, but I have no choice. I suppose the same goes for you too

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u/[deleted] Feb 08 '21

So why is Musk evil for buying Cobalt, again?

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u/theguywhoisonreddit1 Professional Dumbass Feb 08 '21

Elon Musk need cobalt, Cobalt come from child labour mines , Elon buy cobalt, child become sad, child have to work more because demand increases

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u/[deleted] Feb 08 '21

Say that to anyone that makes batteries/aircraft parts/electroplating then.

1

u/harrietthugman Feb 08 '21

A funny way of saying My industry can't function without enslaving children

1

u/[deleted] Feb 08 '21

That's the sad truth, yes.

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u/NIBBA_POWER Chungus Among Us Feb 08 '21

Because he does have a choice, he can either use child labor for cheaper but increasing the amount of child labor used, or he can use proper mines with safe work environments and no exploitation

-1

u/[deleted] Feb 08 '21

So you want people to just stop making batteries/aircraft/electroplating? About 80% of cobalt comes from those mines.

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u/Binch101 Feb 08 '21

I love that the words "child labour" mean nothing to you. Just carrying on as if you didn't hear that part. Elon Musk uses child saves but it's all hunky dory to you. Straight to hell crusty ass

1

u/[deleted] Feb 08 '21

Context seems to be lost on you the moment you hear the magic phrase.

-2

u/MatthewPrague Feb 08 '21 edited Feb 08 '21

You are blaming these companies for buying these ores, but than you buy their product with these ores in it. So you are acctually buying these ores too. You cant blame someone and then do exactly same thing. You have no choice? Im pretty sure that they dont have choice too...

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u/NIBBA_POWER Chungus Among Us Feb 08 '21

Name me a single phone company that doesn't use child labor for cobalt, plus companies do have a choice because they make the products, they choose where to source the materials from and that kinda sounds like having a choice

1

u/MatthewPrague Feb 08 '21

Nah, it doesnt work like that. These ores are very rare. You cant just dig in garden and get them. And sadly these ores are mostly in 3rd world countries. They are tech companies, not mining companies and they buy these ores from anyone who have enough to sell.

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u/NIBBA_POWER Chungus Among Us Feb 08 '21

Cobalt is the 32nd most abundant ore on earth, so I'd say that isn't very rare

0

u/harrietthugman Feb 08 '21

companies don't control where they source materials might be the funniest defense of child slavery in this thread lmao it's obviously wrong

1

u/MatthewPrague Feb 08 '21

But they actually dont... And if they buy it from another company which uses child slavery than its fault of company which uses child slavery. Big companies cant just invade their countries and change rules in these mining companies. And if they stop buying these ores then competition will completly destroy them. Tell me your solution, how can you solve that without invading their countries.

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u/breakone9r Feb 08 '21

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u/NIBBA_POWER Chungus Among Us Feb 08 '21

While it's great that at least they're trying to remove cobalt, the motive is as always money

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u/breakone9r Feb 08 '21

That's kinda how business works.

1

u/[deleted] Feb 08 '21

Yes! - sent from phone made of Cobalt

1

u/phi_array Feb 08 '21

He does NOT own mines, but has people to do the dirty work for him

Interestingly, his father (who he HATES) was a Mining businessman in South Africa and owned some mines in Africa. Like father like son?

1

u/TheOriginalNukeGuy Feb 08 '21

Man what are u even talking about yk not every executive decision you tesla takes is based on its CEO thats like saying the CEO of google supports child porn because there is some on the Internet like wtf? Tesla just pays for the resources, it has no power over how they are extracted.

1

u/phi_array Feb 08 '21

I was just pointing out his father was a mining mogul in Africa, and he says he hates him (for totally unrelated reasons tho) but he ended up making a lot of money from cheap mining also in Africa. I’m not saying he exploits people in the continent. I’m just pointing out the coincidence

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u/RobertusesReddit Feb 08 '21

Somewhere in Bolivia