httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3OWj1ZGn4uM
The desire for control of natural resources has been at the root of many wars—including imperialist wars in the Middle East and the global south.
How many Americans know that not just their cell phones but bombs and other deadly weapons use coltan extracted from mines in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)? Or that the past three years of deadly fighting in the DRC have resulted in the loss of three million lives?
And what have the militia been fighting each other for? Control of the rich mineral resources in DRC:
- Richness that leaves most inhabitants in dire poverty
- Riches in the form of gold on wrists and around necks
- Riches in the form of weapons containing coltan
- Riches made possible by the labor of women and children who work—and often die—in the mines.
As you think ahead to holiday giving, please don’t buy “dirty gold.”
To learn more about what makes coltan mining bloody, watch the video above. To learn more about makes gold “dirty,” watch this video.
Even if you do not want to confront the inhumane mining processes that produce the gold for our jewelry and the coltan in our electronic devices and bombs, please learn more about the No Dirty Gold campaign and the Golden Rules for Responsible Mining (this link opens a pdf).
Surely there must be ways for people to pursue gift-giving and happiness without wasting countless lives in the process.
Kathie Malley-Morrison, Professor of Psychology