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Three “Blood” Items You Probably Have In Your House Right Now
They say that ignorance is bliss and never has that been truer than in the case of modern consumer products. It seems like the more we know about the things we buy, the more we want to punch ourselves right square in the jaw. Diamonds are an obvious example, especially their “blood” variety i.e. those gems which are mined in war zones and help finance ethnic genocide in Africa.
The (relatively) good news is that at least today we’re more or less aware of that particular problem and can adjust our jewelry purchases accordingly. The bad news is that there are many more “blood” items out there which contribute to hundreds—maybe even thousands—of deaths each year and most of us are probably guilty of buying them, including…
3. Smartphones
Smartphones have come a long way in the last couple of years, thoroughly dominating the portable media device market, killing all of their competitors and making techno-slaves of us all… What I’m trying to say is that Smartphones are responsible for the continued slavery and oppression in the Congo.
Smartphones are complex products, requiring the use of rare minerals like columbite-tantalite, cassiterite or wolframite and not, as Apple would have you believe, black turtlenecks. The problem is, those minerals are found primarily in remote areas of Central Africa where armed militia groups force the local population—children included—into slavery to dig for the precious metals, the demand for which has never been higher because, come on, life without a Smartphone? That’s just crazy talk.
Fortunately, as of August 2012 a plan has been in the works to create an auditing system that would help to identify conflict-free minerals, thus bringing the end to the “blood phone.” This does not change the current situation of the consumer electronics market because there is still no possible way to determine whether your portable Angry Birds techno-gizmo of choice was built with the “help” of an Angry Militant pointing an AK-47 at a terrified Congolese child.
2. Chocolate
More: http://www.smirkingchimp.com/thread/russ…-right-now
2013-02-12 07:31:09
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