Reviews tagging 'Alcohol'

Cobalt Red: How the Blood of the Congo Powers Our Lives by Siddharth Kara

7 reviews

lizziaha's review

4.75

Crazy how so many of the world’s problems come back to capitalism. It’s a system that allows the privileged to exploit and mistreat their fellow humans while simultaneously eschewing any and all accountability for the exploitation and human rights violations that they have built their fortunes on. 
I think that before reading this book, I wasn’t really sure how to engage with the human rights violations in the Congo because the way I had seen it explained made me think that the problem was farther down the chain, at a local level. But this is something that the book addresses—at every point in the supply chain, there is someone who profits from exploitation and at every point, they point the finger at someone else. 
It was frankly horrifying to read about these people who risk their lives daily for a few dollars. It’s sickening to know that children die in tunnel collapses, that women grow sick from metal poisoning from tainted water, that men get shot by greedy entrepreneurs for trying to bypass the middleman. All so that I can sit here and type this on my rechargeable phone. It’s a tale as old as time and I’m so disgusted by it. 
But I think that this is something that I have a moral obligation to witness. They say that history moves in circles, but that’s only possible because we don’t engage with it in a meaningful way. 
This book makes this situation accessible—I felt like I got a broad view of the overarching system of exploitation and oppression, but also felt an emotional connection to the people whose individual stories were shared. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Slavery, Grief, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Alcoholism, Confinement, Genocide, Gun violence, Infertility, Miscarriage, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Pregnancy, and Alcohol

bookishmillennial's review

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad slow-paced

disclaimer: I don’t really give starred reviews. I hope my reviews provide enough information to let you know if a book is for you or not. Find me here: https://linktr.ee/bookishmillennial

Audiobook was incredibly monotone, so I don't recommend that. However, I'm unsure reading the ebook or print copy will be better, as this book was really repetitive, and didn't particularly offer any big answer or question about this horrific issue in Congo. 

My takeaway is this: Do not buy new electronics that use cobalt; try to buy refurbished if accessible and use things until you simply *cannot* anymore. Like, until they no longer function. Until they cannot operate and it is slowing down anything you do on them. You do not need a new iPhone every single year, or the newest iteration of an Apple watch, or the newest iPad every time it's released. 

I will continue reading about Congo, and will write to my reps about the U.S. companies' complicity in this situation. It's not perfect, and I recognize it's not enough, but it is what I can do as a singular human. I encourage you to do what you can within your own capacity and to inform those in your own circles of influence. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Genocide, Violence, Murder, and Colonisation

Moderate: Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, and Alcohol

ohlhauc's review against another edition

dark informative reflective sad fast-paced

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Racism, Slavery, Terminal illness, Torture, Violence, Trafficking, Grief, Death of parent, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Chronic illness, Misogyny, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Blood, Medical content, Medical trauma, Murder, Sexual harassment, War, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Minor: Alcoholism, Kidnapping, and Alcohol

kendal_reads's review against another edition

challenging dark informative medium-paced

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Infertility, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, Alcohol, and Colonisation

Moderate: Sexual violence

meat_muffin's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative slow-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Slavery, Trafficking, Grief, Death of parent, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Body horror, Genocide, Gun violence, Physical abuse, and Medical trauma

Minor: Miscarriage, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Police brutality, Alcohol, and Pandemic/Epidemic

scmiller's review

challenging dark emotional informative sad slow-paced

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Gun violence, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Police brutality, Trafficking, Death of parent, Murder, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Genocide, Miscarriage, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Alcohol, War, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Minor: Animal death and Car accident

stephanieluxton's review

dark informative reflective sad slow-paced

5.0

Thos is an important book. The injustice happening in the congo in real time is unimaginable. 

I can appreciate all the work that the author did to research and write this book. No one seems to really know or talk about cobalt mining even though it's directly linked to our rechargeable devices. I think this book will become more important now that electric cars are being pushed so heavily.

It really makes you think about what other injustices are occuring in the world. Our first world problems suddenly seem so superficial after reading a book like this.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Slavery

Minor: Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Police brutality, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Alcohol, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Nothing is overly graphic.