[benj111]

You make assumptions that:

A. The parent has a smart phone.

B. The parents smart phone contains cobalt from the Congo.

C. That the parent isn't doing anything to minimise their purchase of new phones by using them longer, only buying second hand etc.

And that's all assuming that this is indeed a value they hold.

And even with all that, there's plenty of stuff wrong with the world. For a multi thousand dollar purchase I'd spend more time thing about the ethical implications than something that is smaller. We all have to pick and choose our battles, I don't think you can damn anyone for not being happy about the system but still engaging with it.

[mythhouse]

i was talking about EV not smartphone wrt cobalt.

> We all have to pick and choose our battles

yes agreed why not choose the most egregious then if you are taking a moral stance. Children digging out cobalt with their bare hands for your EV should outrank whatever stupid stuff elon is doing. no?

[benj111]

Right but if there's a choice of 2 EVs without Congolese cobalt, you can choose the one that isn't Tesla.

But anyway, humans aren't perfectly rational beings. Elon being a nob on twitter is more immediate to many people than abstract children in the Congo. I'm not saying that's morally correct, but it's how people work.

[mythhouse]

yea thats true. I am still hoping that one of these EV company heads acknowledges this some day and can be addressed.