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“They Would Have to Address It Very Publicly” – Joe Rogan in Denial After Smartphones, Electric Vehicles’ Horrendous Cobalt Mining Practices Get Exposed

Published 12/25/2022, 8:52 AM EST

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Author of ‘Cobalt Red: How The Blood of The Congo Powers Our Lives’ put forward one of the most shocking revelations in JRE. ‘The Joe Rogan Experience’ is known for touching on sensitive topics and revealing the darkest secrets of the world. However, the revelation about slavery and child labor in the cobalt mines took away Joe Rogan’s soul. Although the revelations were in fact horrifying, Rogan’s comments about the public admission of the problem by the companies are indeed a discussion to dive deep in. 

In the recent episode of JRE, the beloved UFC commentator invited Siddharth Kara, an expert on modern-day slavery, human trafficking, and child labor. His book about the Congolese people suffering in silence definitely terrified the podcaster. Cobalt is important for many modern-day devices to work. Most of the technological advancements, from smartphones to computers and electric vehicles, are equipped with lithium-ion batteries. These require the mineral for maximizing charge and stability. However, the problem of workers working in subhuman conditions with minimal wages was what made the mineral ‘unclean’.

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Joe Rogan believes that companies have to admit to the problem 

In episode #1914 of JRE, the 55-year-old podcaster and the social activist talked about the problems with cobalt mines in the Republic of Congo. Kara revealed that at the bottom of the pit lies the hard work of slaves and children. However, he addressed the possibility that although the accusations are true, the higher authorities might be unaware of the situation at the bottom. However, Rogan swooped in and opined.

via Getty

The podcaster said, “But they would have to address it in mass. They would have to address it very publicly. They would have to admit to this problem and they would have to publicly state it and make everyone aware, the consumer aware, that these things that we enjoy that make our lives so convenient, these technological marvels that have revolutionized our world. At the bottom of that is slave labor and child labor.”

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However, Kara believed that the first question that would arise after they admitted to the accusations was how long they had known about it. Only after that could they begin to solve it. Then Rogan added, “And that’s the problem. And so to admit, it would be admit guilt, in at least some way.” 

Joe Rogan’s previous attack on child labor

Back in 2016, Amnesty accused firms like Kellogg’s, Unilever, and Nestle of putting children to work in order to acquire palm oil. Although the big brands put their spokespersons to work by addressing the problem, Rogan simply could not sit back.

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The commentator went on Twitter and posted an article, thereby making more people aware of the situation. He wrote, “Firms such as Kellogg’s, Unilever and Nestle ‘use child-labour palm oil.’” Rogan has always been against such actions and definitely did his job as a social media user.

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What are your thoughts on Rogan’s comments about the firms admitting to the problem? Let us know in the comments down below.

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Written by:

Krushna Prasad Pattnaik

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Krushna Pattnaik is a UFC writer at EssentiallySports. Coming from a pharmaceutical background with a master's degree in the same and multiple scientific publications, his passion for combat sports and writing brought him to EssentiallySports, where both of his passions met in a beautiful collaboration. He is an instrumentalist and has a profound love for books.
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Edited by:

Vineet Nandwana