Happy New Year! Same old suffering world, this time the DRC (aka Congo)

A corner of the Congo where suffering is rife

I recently learned about an affront to human decency which the world is silent on. Beyond the horrors of the conflict in Ukraine and the recent crackdown on rights in Iran there is another ongoing abuse of humanity. It is so remote and so hidden within the heart of Africa that it is far away from inciting headlines. Yet I am left wondering if I am complicit in this wide scale suffering just by virtue of my modern life.

In a strange way industrial scale consumption necessitates suffering. For example, I eat meat. I know the livestock lives in cramped conditions often with poor welfare. Basically, animals suffer and die for my dietary choices. It has been exposed on countless documentaries and exposés. Many of us are largely indifferent to this and yet when we become aware of human suffering writ large it causes consternation. I am no exception here.

A sobering New Years

This New Year’s Eve I was on antibiotics. Unable to drink my way though the trash TV to the turning of the year, I spent a couple of hours educating myself. Basically getting up to speed on the ongoing horrors in the centre of Africa. I learnt how 75% of the world’s cobalt supply comes from the Democratic Republic of Congo. It is predominantly mined by hand by local wage slaves in appalling conditions. The cobalt from Congo is needed for every device which has a lithium ion battery. Laptops, phones, smart watches, electric cars. Basically, everything that there’s an increasing demand for in modern life.

Dirty and downtrodden. Impoverished and desperate. Working in massive open pits with toxic chemicals, hacking away. Or underground in unsafe tunnels where collapse and death is a regular occurrence. The workforce involves tens, possibly hundreds of thousands of people, including many women and children. All struggling for one or two dollars each day with no PPE, no nearby medical facilities and no chance of a way out.

I was reluctant to learn but curious. Reluctant because it’s yet another tragedy of human suffering I can’t do anything about. Did I really want to discover that the bottom of the supply chain for our ubiquitous gadgets is full of child labour and human suffering? No, but I felt I should at least be aware of the issue. Curiosity is a strange aspect of our psyche. Once I had gleaned from one source it was a possibility I had to learn more. This episode of the Joe Rogan Podcast spells out the full scale of the issue.

A new way of doing resolutions

So it’s a new year and the same old suffering. What can I do about it? Following a Substack email from Peter Yang, I explored this intriguing take on resolutions. The original process is explained in a number of videos by Katia Verresen. Katia gives a thorough explanation while Peter’s version is more streamlined and easily applicable.

My own take was to combine elements of the two approaches to examine my 2022, and then write an upbeat thank you letter from my future self. A bit self-indulgent perhaps but then many journaling processes are. The main revelation was that the first half of 2022 sucked for me. It was bleak, a real struggle. Constantly sick kids and a depressed wife, work insecurity and a lack of social opportunities. Although I didn’t admit the extent of it at the time, it was pretty tough.

What I ascertained in the process of reflection was how useful Zen ideas had been for me. A few years back I had started reading about and blogging about Zen Buddhist philosophy in earnest. This was laying the foundations for a personal philosophy of optimism and acceptance. By 2022 I had actually began to embody the ideas. When things were tough I looked for the best outcomes. When challenged I saw the goodness in situations and opportunities. This is something of which I am proud to have learned and been able to share. The only downside is too much acceptance of the world leads to apathy and indifference.

Downsizing your dreams

When I was young I used to have lofty goals of changing the world. Being a hero. Saving street children from poverty in far flung places. I used to dream of opening an outreach hostel in Guatemala or Nicaragua. Now I have smaller goals. I have begun tracking progress towards more practical outcomes such as speaking Chinese and having better human relationships.

Ironically I don’t have much in the way of fitness goals and now own a Fitbit (an unexpected Christmas gift). It is essentially a hi tech looking electronic wrist band, monitoring my sleep and exercise. Over time the gathered data is displayed in aesthetically pleasing charts. Despite my initial misgivings about fitness tracking I have given it a go this last week. Have to say I am pleasantly surprised in that I enjoy the displayed graphs and colourful dials.

The accompanying online chatter has broadened my contact groups. As such, I recently had a discussion with a lifestyle guru on Twitter. The issue was he was telling me to ‘fix’ myself and I kept pushing back with not needing to be fixed. It is time to be more involved in my community and the broader social context I said. He insisted on making points about improving myself and everything else will get easier. Maybe he had a point.

Final thoughts on the Congo

Which brings me back to zones of control. The suffering of many thousands in the Congo is far beyond my reach. Eating healthily and doing exercise regularly are within the scope of choices I can make on a daily basis. I feel somewhat belittled by the circumstance. At this point I really can’t be a hero. What I can do is use what little platform I have to spread the word.

Meanwhile, I can also practice good lifestyle habits so that my personal philosophy and outward demeanour improve. This will in turn brighten and lift up those around me. As we move into 2023 the gadgets will serve as both helpful accessories in achieving goals and painful reminders of the suffering behind their creation. If all I can do for the people of the Congo is tell my readers that it’s a big issue then I will have done something.