The Ethics of Cobalt

https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2023/02/01/1152893248/red-cobalt-congo-drc-mining-siddharth-kara

Listening to this sad and disturbing but already well documented story of Cobalt mining in the Congo, I found myself frustrated on multiple levels.

What are the ethical implications? It's a terrible situation but one that we can't really do much to remedy. The battery revolution is already in full swing and realistically you're not going to get people to put down their Smartphones, you're not going to stop the EV tide, and in the construction world, no one is going to return to corded tools or even the nickel-cadmium batteries that were popular twenty years ago. For those who remember the cord-only era – they don't want to go back.

It's a problem that we can't fix on an individual level. The reporter seems to be calling for some kind of legislation and regulation. Fine, but that's a long way off and as the story makes clear – it's not so easy. In many respects it's a repeat of the Conflict Diamond story that was prominent in the 1990's and early 2000's – but on a grander scale.

We can completely boycott the use of Cobalt-related products but this makes it almost impossible to function in society. Maybe that's what we should do. I don't know, I increasingly wonder as I consider the many disturbing aspects of our modern society.

But I will say this. At the very least we can avoid profiting off this trade. Rather than just shrug our shoulders, we can at least avoid directly benefitting from the suffering of other people and cashing in on their woe.

That's a start anyway. But sadly, these stories tend to go off the rails and are captured by evil people with ulterior motives. Some political activists and operatives latch on to stories like this. Working on the behalf of the petroleum and fossil fuels industry they try and make an ethical argument against EV's on the basis that the industry is causing suffering. They're right but as they simply argue for the perpetuation of the oil economy, they are willingly and deliberately ignoring its cost in terms of the environment as well as the devastating questions it raises in the realms of economics, geopolitics, and war. And then these same folks will meet criticisms of the petro-economy and its political ramifications – such as Western imperialism, with the charge of being 'woke'. I was thinking of all this recently as I endured a few minutes of Greg Kelly's ridiculous show on Newsmax – more a dog and pony show than anything else.

Others spin the story into an anti-China narrative, utterly ignoring and obfuscating the destructive and deadly costs of Western intervention in places like Africa and the fact that a great deal of the continent's troubles are in fact rooted in Western exploitation and manipulation of these people. This cobalt-related tragedy is merely the latest round.

Additionally the interview completely whitewashes the US role in overthrowing democracy in the Congo – Lumumba is mentioned but not in connection to the US. Subsequently the US backed the dictatorship of Mobutu Sese Seko for decades and this helped set the stage for the disastrous Congo Wars of the 1990's and early 2000's. Sparked by the Rwandan Genocide, one cannot understand the trouble in Eastern Congo apart from these events, and Cobalt is just the latest on a long list of resources that many nations have been trying to exploit from that region for more than a century.

The story also ignored the fact that nations like Rwanda via the M23 militia are playing a role in the troubles and these neighbouring states and militias are given cover and support by Western imperialism – nations like the United States and France. It's a scramble for resources but there's also a proxy conflict going on as the US seeks to thwart China and vice-versa, and as usual France is pursuing its own semi-independent goals.

All of these factors are in play and yet the driving factor behind all of it is finance capital. Wall Street and its equivalent sectors in rival nations drive this frenzy and all the turmoil and conflict it generates.

And those invested in Wall Street and in particular in companies like Tesla, Apple, and the like, are literally profiting off the suffering of these people. Regulation and red tape will drive up costs and restrict the market – leading to bottlenecks, price hikes, and lower dividends. These companies don't want to see that – nor do the investment banks that finance them or the insurance industry which backs them and their market activities.

It's all rather upsetting and obscene. What can I (the little man living in the hinterland of the empire) do? Again, very little but at the very least I will not be party to this by means of directly profiting from these industries. We're all guilty but some are certainly more guilty than others when it comes to questions like this. Many are ignorant but then I fail to understand their (largely bogus) appeals to 'stewardship'. At the very least stewardship implies knowledge and being informed about not just what you're investing in but its effects. It may require some study in order to appreciate the full spectrum of influence and the reverberations these industries have across not just the societies where the raw materials are procured, but regionally and around the world.

I find it tragic and absurd to listen to Christians engage in these discussions about stewardship while they seek to build a portfolio or beef up their 401K. Most managers in the name of diversification and in the quest for steady values and stable securities will look to companies like Apple, as well as corporations connected to the energy sector – not to mention the host of companies that exclusively or at least in part are connected to the military-industrial complex.  How often have I heard of Christians speak in terms of prayerfully weighing and considering their options and choices as they seek guidance at a seminar or workshop put on by some financial guru who peppers his speech with Christian terms and watchwords – but clearly has no interest at all in what the New Testament teaches. By selectively using and abusing verses out of Proverbs and through tortured readings of Christ's parables, the Bible is turned into a capitalist manifesto and Christian ethics are swapped for consumerist utilitarianism.

The system is evil and once one grasps that, one wants to divest – as much as possible. We are caught in a dynamic that we cannot fully escape but that doesn't mean we just throw up our hands and say – if you can't beat them, then join them. Or, someone's going to do it, it might as well be me, or worse, if I don't do it, someone less caring will step in. Maybe I can make a difference. Such casuistry is all too common in the realm of self-deception and the Scriptures speak of mammon in these terms. It chokes and entangles, and it deceives. Money makes the world go around. Indeed it does and we're told we cannot serve God and mammon. No words in the New Testament are more ignored and the consequences sometimes beggar belief.

Pray for the people of Congo. There are many Christians there and yet there are also false Christians and evil men like Rwanda's Paul Kagame and Congo's Felix Tshisekedi who use a veneer of Christianity to mask their ambitions and foster political alliances.