Opulence of the Rich and the Destitution of the Congo
The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is at the epicenter of global news after the recent Ebola outbreaks. As of July 1, 2026, there are up to1,460 confirmed cases. There are also the Rubaya coltan mines, whereover 200 people died in March, including an estimated 70 child miners. Questions about the Congo, its development, and its role in the global supply chain have come up again, from the current exploitation of artisanal miners, men, women, and children who work in some of the worst conditions known to mankind in cobalt-copper mines and who mine for1 to 2 dollars a day for the cobalt needed for everything from iPhone batteries to electric car batteries, to its history of being a personal colony of King Leopold II, who used it to exploit the Congolese people for their natural resources and labor, such as rubber and ivory, to the 1920s and 1930s, when2/3 of the uranium used in the nuclear bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki came from the Congo. This raises the question of who has been benefiting from the DRC.