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respaaaaaj t1_j1wct8w wrote

Reply to comment by phineas81 in Large deposit of rare elements and minerals discovered in northern Maine by CptnAlex

If you think that rare earth minerals shouldn't be mined in richer countries you are in fact supporting them being mined in poorer countries where abuse is far more wide spread.

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phineas81 t1_j1wg5k4 wrote

  1. That’s not how logic works.

  2. Did you just learn about this problem in school today, and now you think you understand it? It’s a very old, very complex issue. Remind me, since you’re so proud of your opinions, how well Obama’s Conflict Mineral laws worked out for locals in the DRC? Well-intentioned? Yes. Disastrous for local “exploited” labor? Also yes.

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phineas81 t1_j1wir9s wrote

  1. I know it’s unfortunate, but this is what extreme poverty looks like. If you have a solution for extreme poverty, there’s a Nobel Prize in your future. If not, you’re just rearranging deck chairs on the titanic. Either way, the answer isn’t making asinine arguments on Reddit.
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respaaaaaj t1_j1wk7nn wrote

How is protecting a status quo not endorsing its consequences?

And I'm not deluded enough to think that global extreme poverty can be solved, but baring a miraculous shift in human nature, one of the very few ways to force changes on a international scale is combining providing less horrible options (I'm not deluded enough to think that something being mined in the US means there are zero consequences) with significant consequences for those who have the option to take them but elect not too.

Situations where you have an incentive to maintain a horrible situation for profit and no alternative to force groups to pursue instead are behind far too many atrocities for me to be okay with saying "it sucks but we can't fix it"

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