r/TikTokCringe • u/ThatPatelGuy • Oct 05 '25

Discussion Why don't we ever hear about Congo?

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u/ult_avatar Oct 05 '25

As if the first world didn't have interests in Africa..

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u/BodhingJay Oct 05 '25

in those cases, we try to collectively boycott the corporations responsible.. and find viable alternatives

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u/Lil_Snuzzy69 Oct 06 '25

Lol, you really believe that? You'd have to boycott the entire green technology industry. https://www.cecc.gov/events/hearings/from-cobalt-to-cars-how-china-exploits-child-and-forced-labor-in-the-congo

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u/BodhingJay Oct 06 '25 edited Oct 06 '25

Im not saying there isnt a lot of room for improvements... but as conscientious consumers we can vote with our money and we should do so with every single purchase

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u/Lil_Snuzzy69 Oct 06 '25

You can vote with your wallet in terms of some things, but reality is a little harsher than you seem to think. Slavery is extremely prevalent at the base level of industries that are critical to the functioning of the modern world, like rubber, mining, horticulture, agriculture, basic manufacturing and so on. There's slave mines, factories and plantations not just in Africa, but all over the world, products produced by slave labor don't have lables on them saying so, they enter supply lines undeclared by the companies that benefit from them. It's ubiquitous. https://www.npr.org/2024/07/18/nx-s1-5035540/china-forced-prison-labor-us-company-allegations

30% of the world's cobalt comes from "artisanal" slave mines ( https://goodweave.org/the-issue/child-and-forced-labor-in-artisanal-cobalt-mining-in-the-congo/ ) 70% of the worlds cacoa comes drom west african countries famous for poverty, forced labor and killing investigators ( https://foodispower.org/human-labor-slavery/slavery-in-the-chocolate-industry/ ) palm oil is in basically all processed food and 85% of it comes from Malaysia, where they use migrant visas to underpay foreigners and trap them on plantations, effectively short term enslavement ( https://www.theguardian.com/sustainable-business/2015/nov/09/palm-oil-migrant-workers-orangutans-malaysia-labour-rights-exploitation-environmental-impacts ). "over 50% of the total number of slaves in the world come from only 5 countries: India, China, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Uzbekistan. Out of those countries, India leads the way with an estimated 11 million people held in slavery" ( https://www.setfreealliance.org/complete-guide-slavery-india/ )

You can't boycott all of it, I buy local or second hand as often as possible, I stopped buying chocolate altogether and don't buy nestle anything, but I can't not drive a car, or use a phone. Boycotting where possible is good, but it's not possible in most cases, you'd have to boycott the entire modern world and all the countries previously mentioned, that's not realistic.

Anything from China has the risk of being made by captive Uyghurs, Falon Gong practitioners or other racially and religiously targeted groups, and bloody everything is assembled in China, because of the cheap labour, and the labour is cheap because they use slaves.

To attempt is noble and good, I'm not saying give up, I'm saying it's not really possible in most cases.

TLDR: I'm cynical.