Conflict Minerals 101

[OfficialKOABMedia]

i just wrote a paper on this just from this video. Thank you so much!! Im definitely going to let everyone know about this..thats horrible what they do

[theywarnedus]

Enough is enough....AMERICANS need to be more awake and aware and stand up for AFRICA.......if that shit was happening here in america....think about it....disgusting

[nzncspr]

@theywarnedus it's not just americans that use these electronics devices you know. Everyone needs to be more awake and stand up for Africa

[unkalifornication]

wow i feel horrible. i have a dell and an iphone. im definitely helping in any way that I can. im gonna start buying conflict free products from now on. glad i saw this now.

[ycochavi69]

we have to somthing about this its tearing our world apart

[SkillzUnknown]

i felt bad watching this on my laptop with my blackberry next to me and my xbox 360 and tv in front of me....damn i didnt know things were like that

[schrameijer]

I sent the 21 company email and got this response from Nintendo:

"(..) Nintendo does not purchase any metals as raw materials. As a remote purchaser that buys finished components made from many materials, Nintendo requires its suppliers to comply with its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Procurement Guidelines, which stipulate suppliers comply with applicable laws, have respect for human rights, and conduct their business in an appropriate and fair manner."

[loaudlgahds]

Is there a petition anywhere we can sign?

[Corundem]

I think this is a great idea, i honestly do, but what materials do you think we replace them with (or what other location can we find them).

[HypatiaRose]

Thank you for the videos; I and others greatly appreciate your organization's work and awareness-building. I know I will renew my commitment to take better care of my electronic devices and hold on to them longer before upgrading in resistance to perceived obsolescence. I do have one request: For the sake of the hearing-impaired and others, could a volunteer please provide transcripts on Enough's website or add closed captioning to future videos? Thank you.

[19737161]

we can stop this conflict of mine by stopping the system of war for extrate raw materials in the no developing countries. we don't need weapons in free enomical exchange between countries, the economical exhange cannot works with war or supplies of guns because is disabling the well development of this economical relations( no road, no work force, no peace of exploitation).

the big question is: how far we would carry this unfamiliar exchange to the end? blood shed would satify our selfishness?

[theteachingchannel]

Contact international American/Br./Fr. schools. See if high schools are willing to do joint venture research projects in journalism and/or in depth Chemistry projects with college students to create synthetic materials that have even greater durability and heat stress standards (even though I don't think anything beats gold). But make it a national challenge--work with DARPA even or a major corp. that creates synthetics and will profit from the shift..otherwise... :( Thanks 4 years of dedication

[theteachingchannel]

Twenty-five years. Wow. This is a great educational video. Too bad people only watch movies like Avatar and videos like this and go back to using our computers and phones as we know...25-years, you have been doing this. Thanks for not getting tired. Students could get together to ask funders for millions in research to create man-made substances that will serve the same purpose and even better. High schools could collaborate with colleges on Chem. projects and make it national challenge! DARPA?

[180indian]

I've only recently heard about this issue and support any effort to resolve the problem. Having siad that, there has to be a another approach to resolving the issues in the Congo. Ultimately the legitimate exploitation of these minerals may be what the population of the Congo need to relieve the poverty that exists in that country.

[mmarayy]

@MrChupacabraLoco seeing from the way you react, so you mean they're just like you? How do you not feel any compassion towards those innocent people that are the victims of all of this?

[Kimballic]

@MrChupacabraLoco Really? You don't see why? It's because most people are not like you. Their natural compassion for others isn't smothered by blind, willful hatred.

[eroplosfilms]

Uhm, the bottom blue island isn't Malaysia.. It's Indonesia, the island of Sumatra to be precise.

[bakari45]

This is very disturbing and it needs to stop. I mean, dang, the products we enjoy should not come at the price of other people's misery and destruction.

[RadicalAlternative]

Such an important message! Time to make the world a better place for all.

[want2havebrains]

Yeah but, won't everything that has those minerals in it go up if we make them conflict free because chances are we will have to find these elsewhere. It would be financial suicide for everyone on the receiving end of the products.

[MrMasterBastard]

@want2havebrains 1) The price of everything is high now: Hundreds of dollars for the products themselves plus rape and actual death for those on the receiving end of the production. Happy to have someone else paying for our subsidies.

2) Often nobody has ever bothered to think of any alternatives. Campaigns such as this one will force the companies to reconsider their options and research revolutionary new pathways, bringing prices down. This investment never happens voluntarily.

[shutyourpiehole]

Thank you for this. Awareness is always the first and most important step.

[mysoulforyourextra]

@slowgoins From "The Definition of a Mineral" by, Ernest Nickel: a mineral is an element or chemical compound that is normally crystalline and that has been formed as a result of geological processes.

Take a chemistry class, bud. Just saying.

[slowgoins]

Not to put too fine of a point on it, but the "T"s that you are mentioning are elements, not minerals. Gold is also an element, not a mineral. I point this out so that when/if the campaign gets larger there isn't an embarrassing moment later on.

[sambricky]

You are truly a brother to the human race. I'll do what I can by passing the message on to everyone I know. Thank you

[hasatum]

@CaelestisxSomnium The developing world is looking to the developed world for ways of ending conflicts. I'm not sure that invading other countries is the right way to go about doing that. On the other hand, the native population certainly could benefit from the means to make a living and defend itself. I'm sure they would appreciate and benefit from this kind of aid.

[hasatum]

It is the lack of economic understanding of good people like those who made this video that keeps these problems from being resolved. The fungibility of all commodities makes it impossible to keep "conflict minerals" from eventually mixing with other sources. Any attempt to avoid buying these sources may drive up prices but will not affect the profits of warlords. Until we start investing in Africa's people rather than its materials, this will continue to worsen.

[thomasarnestrand]

No one is asking that you boycott anything, simply that you express a desire to the manufacturers of your electronic goods that you would like to buy a conflict free product when it becomes available, as stated in the video.

A similar campaign led to the Kimberley Process which effectively ended diamond related conflict, again as stated in the video. Did you actually watch it?

[tubmuffin39]

PLEASE DONT READ THIS. YOU WILL GET KISSED ON THE NEAREST POSSIBLE FRIDAY BY THE LOVE OF YOUR LIFE. TOMORROW WILL BE THE BEST DAY OF YOUR LIFE. HOWEVER IF YOU DONT POST THIS COMMENT TO AT LEAST 3 VIDEOS YOU WILL DIE WITHIN 2 DAYS. NOW UV STARTED READIN DIS DUNT STOP THIS IS SO SCARY. xSEND THIS OVER TO 5 VIDEOS IN 143 MINUTES WHEN UR DONE PRESS F6 AND UR CRUSHES NAME WILL APPEAR ON THE SCREEN IN BIG LETTERS

[Dahnje]

Very good.

[AminCad]

The money probably brings more benefits than problems in the Congo. Yes, they have more guns, but they also have more food.

[theschoolofchuck]

the inhabitants of this planet have been fighting over it's resources since the beginning. I'm sorry to say that this sort of thing will never end as long as there are bad people out there...

[reags12]

How do I contact the cell phone and computer companies without my cell or laptop. Do I send a letter? What corner of the envelope does the return address go? If they get my letter can they decide that gold and the 3 t's aren't in demand anymore?

[TricksterE71x]

Hey, I'm not so big on sticking our nose into others business, and definatly not when we have so many problems of our own. However, Im not above helping when I can. It would have been nice to know what things would be replacing these minerals in our electronics. Are they going to be more harmful to our enviroment than these minerals that we are using now? I dont want to jump on one band wagon just to be accused by another one with out all the information. thanks

[YOUNGDUM42]

make me feel better for not owning a cell phone... oh shit im on a computor

[logickilledthetruth]

Both logical and true.

So why is it the people in our country don't rape and kill over this "conflict mineral" problem? Is it because we have better people? No.

And how did we in the better country get this way? Was it because people from other countries forced us to behave? No.

[MrWesley3000]

I do not own a cell phone does that make me exempt from the guilt you americans all share? hate to say i told ya so.....

[A7776661]

THANKYOU FOR THE INFORMATION......

[yoko9016]

@AbuSalaam100 Yeah except for this...in Sudan, even if you ARE Muslim, if you're the wrong skin color Muslim, they will rape and murder you. But good to see you know it all.

[rockeroftoday]

Conflict Free is probably one of the smartest ideas I've heard in a long time.

[Kypfie]

Brilliant!

[GRASocialMedia]

Excellent video! I have been reviewing a large number of videos posted by grassroots nonprofits on youtube, and this one is among the most effective. Thanks for demonstrating how a video can use multiple tools seamlessly to meet the needs of the market segment to whom I belong. As questions arose in my head, the visuals were used appropriately to educate me beyond the narration and answer those questions. Right on!

[GOPAELSE]

Excellent! Thank you!

[marcusprice]

well done, john.