Comments by "zjeee" (@zjeee) on "Why Sand Divers Risk Their Lives 300 Times A Day For The World's Most Mined Resource" video.

  1. Not sure if you heard about it but there is this thing called regulations. American companies are not allowed to do certain things that would have a negative impact on the environment while in Africa and China they can pretty much do whatever they want as long as they make money.
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  2. shows how shitty the government of that country is that their citizens have to resort to such labor intensive work for such low compensation.
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  3. that's for 4 hours, that's not bad for where they live. You have to remember the average salary and cost of living is not universal across the world. You can get by with much less over there. In the US that is nothing, where they live they are above the average salary.
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  4. They could stop selling to the "white man" tomorrow if they wanted to and sell it to the Asian man for a lower price. Alas they sell to the highest bidder.
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  5. Why do you think they are using canoes? Money, they cannot even afford the fuel to run the excavator let alone buy one.
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  6. Slave labor would suggest he doesn't have a choice though. Pretty sure he could quit tomorrow if he wanted to.
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  7. Plenty of sand to go around, ever been to a desert? There's only a sand crisis because the sand mining in poor countries is slowing down. Plenty of sand in other places, just it costs more to mine it over there. Ever been to the beach? Yeah plenty of sand around my man.
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  8. Yeah let's forget about all the deserts that's full of sand - we are totally running out of sand.... LOL just go to the local beach - bet you can find plenty of sand. God some people don't think lol.
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  9. yep, richest continent in the world when it comes to natural resources but cannot provide for their own citizens. Rich leaders taking bribes to sell their natural resources to other countries.
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  10. Because sand mining in the US is heavily regulated in order to keep environmental impact to a minimum, that is why companies buy sand from Africa and China because it's cheaper because pretty much non existent regulations and lower salaries. As you have a Chinese name you'd know what the air is like in Beijing during winter, that's what it looks like when you have relaxed regulations when it comes to pollution. US cities would be exactly the same if they had the same regulations as China for their factories and electricity generation. Alas They have more regulations which makes it more expensive to produce things but it keeps the air cleaner. Same goes for producing sand, more regulations = more expensive but less environmental impact.
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  11. They hold the product, they don't have to sell to specific countries and industries if they don't want to.
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  12. Probably the same reason they use canoes and not motorboats. Cheaper to pay them 12 dollars a day than sink in massive money in machines, repairs, fuel etc. A lot of these people don't have a lot of money to invest either so a Canoe is all they can afford.
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  13. Yeah gotta love the I can barely provide for my family then the guy has 4 kids.... plenty of people in the US and EU that would not be able to afford having 4 kids.
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  14. No colonization in Cameroon anymore they elect their own governments that makes decisions for them. To be fair though - they were a lot better off under French rule than they are now but that's neither here or there - sometimes freedom is worth a lot more than a stable economy.
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  15. But... they do the same in China - mine sand for low wages... and they are communists which is supposedly the opposite of capitalism yet the result is the same, how is that - comrade.
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  16. Well they could keep it without translation but then they would only get French viewers. With English they can reach an audience across the world, English is a world language. French is pretty tiny in comparison.
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  17. Your living expenses are much higher than him though, cannot compare. I live and work in a developing country, I earn less than I would at home in Northern Europe but I am still able to save more money here than I would at home due to lower costs of living.
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  18. To be fair, I agree but we're in a position to actually get a job we enjoy. They really don't have much choice. If you live in a western country with internet access you and you are stuck with a job you hate it really is up to you to get off your ass and find a better job. I have been to so many poor places in this world, people have really shitty jobs but they don't complain and they are quite happy. Then we have people back home that have a job that's 10000 times easier than 90% of the world and they still find time to complain about how much they hate their job. If you really, truly hate your job then it's on you to quit and find a better job. Where I live now people do 996. From 9 am to 9 pm 6 days a week, in my home country people are whining over 8 hours a day 5 days a week is too much they want 6 hour work days 4 days a week. New generation of westerners are getting really weak.
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  19. China did for 30-40 years? Look where that got them, now they are begging people to have 3 kids.
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  20. Nah, not really. Cameroon is a democracy - they are perfectly able to decide who sits in the government - why is it the fault of Europeans that these nations elect leaders that will sell their nations national resources to enrich themselves and concentrate wealth among themselves and their friends? These are people like everyone else, they are not stupid, they do not lack in ability, they are perfectly able to make their own decisions. It's unfortunate that they have corrupt incompetent leaders but at the same time they voted them in there and they can vote them out. It's not the responsibility of Europeans to dictate the decisions Cameroonians make. If they don't want to sell their natural resources to European companies they can literally stop tomorrow. So are you suggesting European companies are behind exploitation and poverty in the region but Cameroonians are too stupid to realize it, that's kind of racist. Like I said these are not stupid people - if things were so simple as you'd suggest they would have stopped co-operating with Europeans long time ago.
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  21. well things look similar in China and they are communists, which is opposite of imperialism supposedly - looks like people are the same after all - no matter ideology.
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  22.  @Reflexzzzz  lol
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