In the latest edition of “The Joe Rogan Experience” that took the world by storm, a professor from Harvard and anti-slavery activist unpacked the awful cobalt mining sector in the Congo and relayed all he knew to Rogan.
The video has now amassed more than one million views and is still growing.
Rogan Interviews Harvard Professor
The writer of “Cobalt Red: How the Blood of the Congo Powers Our Lives,” Siddharth Kara, informed show host Joe Rogan and listeners that clean cobalt does not exist.
Kara claimed that it is all just a marketing ploy.
Kara informed Rogan that the degree of horror endured by Congolese cobalt miners was astonishing.
When Rogan questioned the Harvard university professor as to whether there were any cobalt mines in the Congo that did not depend on “kid labor” or “slavery,” the professor replied those did not exist.
Kara stated he has gone to every promenant industrial cobalt mine in the nation and has yet to find one that did not depend on slave labor.
The Disturbing Reality of #Cobalt Mining for #Rechargeable #Batteries #SiddharthKara on #joerogan #smartphone #ElectricVehicles #Congo pic.twitter.com/6Re2XgUQTq
— Wake Up Waverly (@WaverlyWakeUp) December 22, 2022
One explanation for this is the extraordinarily high consumption of cobalt. Cobalt is present in every lithium rechargeable battery manufactured today, Kara told Rogan.
Kara stated it is difficult to conceive of a technological device that still does not require cobalt. He said every smartphone, laptop, and computer, and every single electric vehicle, requires the mineral to operate.
Kara went on to say that we cannot operate on a daily basis without cobalt, and three-quarters of the material comes from the Congo. Unfortunately, it is mined under horrific, heartbreaking, perilous conditions.
Kara stated the majority of the world is unaware of what is happening in the Congo.
CONGO – “Green" neocolonialism of Africa is surging, all under the banner of Net Zero.
So we can pretend to save the planet & by driving electric cars & tweeting on our iPhones.
Congolese children are still mining cobalt in mines in the Congo, for you.
— Bernie's Tweets (@BernieSpofforth) December 23, 2022
Rogan agreed he felt that society was unaware of the harsh reality.
Despite acknowledged child labor difficulties in the DRC, the Biden administration just reached an agreement with the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Zambia to strengthen the renewable energy supply chain.
Cobalt initially gained popularity because it was utilized to improve the charge and durability of lithium-ion batteries, as mentioned by Kara. It’s unfortunate the Congo holds more cobalt than the rest of the world combined.
Modern-Day Slavery
As a consequence, the Congo, a country with a population of over 90 million inhabitants, quickly became the epicenter of a geopolitical fight over precious minerals such as cobalt.
Before everyone realized what was happening, the Chinese government and Chinese mining companies took possession of nearly all the major mines; the local population was expelled, Kara explained. The Congolese are hence suffering immensely.
He said they excavate in inhumane, gut-wrenching circumstances for one dollar a day, sending cobalt up the supply chain into all of the smartphones, tablets, and electric vehicles that we use.
Zuby, a rapper from the UK, encouraged his roughly one million fans to watch the interview.
He wrote this most recent Joe Rogan Experience podcast is intense and he definitely recommends it if you own a smartphone or an electric vehicle.
This article appeared in The Patriot Brief and has been published here with permission.
