Chapter 23, Maya Coffee & The Cobalt Pipeline

I would say that global income inequality is a bit more complicated than it first sounds, especially now the world is so connected. There seems to be a few different ways to look at it all which is why people don’t always agree. You could compare countries, include how many people live in each country, or you can look at individuals across the whole world. In my opinion, this makes a big difference. For example, I think when you include population size, inequality has actually gone down since the 1980s, mainly because countries like China and India have grown really quickly. Although I would also say that if you look at people individually, inequality is still really high, with a small number of people earning a lot of the world’s income. Overall, I think whether inequality is getting better or worse really just depends on how you choose to look at it.

I think fair trade is definitely a step in the right direction but I would say it’s not as simple as it actually sounds. For example, farmers in the study were guaranteed about $1.21 per pound for their coffee. This helped them keep their land and send their children to school, especially during times when global coffee prices dropped really low . I would say that this kind of stability clearly makes a difference to their everyday lives. However, I also think there are clear limitations. Many farmers said the price still wasn’t high enough to properly get ahead and about 83% said they wanted a higher price for their coffee. On top of that, I think issues like debt are a big problem because farmers often take out loans through cooperatives but in the end actually struggle to repay them. I would also say it’s interesting that only a few farmers actually understood what fair trade is, even though they were part of it. So overall, I think fair trade helps in practical ways, but it doesn’t fully solve the deeper problems in global trade and inequality.

I think the article about the Cobalt Pipeline really shows the hidden side of everyday technology which most people don’t really think about. I would say that while things like smartphones and electric cars seem modern and even environmentally friendly, they depend on cobalt mined in places like the Democratic Republic of Congo and often in really dangerous conditions. For example, the article describes miners, known as “creuseurs,” digging deep underground by hand using basic tools, with tunnels that can collapse at any time. I also think it’s quite shocking that some miners earn only a few dollars a day, even though the cobalt they extract ends up in expensive global products. Another example I found interesting was how children are involved in sorting and washing the cobalt, exposing them to harmful dust and unsafe environments. How is this fair and is it really worth risking children so young? I also thought it’s interesting that once the cobalt leaves the mines it goes through a long global supply chain. This makes it difficult for big companies to track where it actually comes from. Overall, I think this shows that even though technology is advancing, it still relies on systems that are unequal and I think it raises important questions about how ethical these products really are.