If you were not moved by the sights of the 33 Chilean miners brought down from their underground hell back to the crisp Atacama Desert air, then you must be jaded. The 10 week ordeal these men endured is now over, and Chile can rejoice in a most horrific effort. At a time when we are usually preoccupied by what is going wrong in the world, it was a joy to watch a nation focus on doing what was right. Crisis managers will study this drama for years to come--everything from the Chilean’s President Sebastián Piñera’s handling of the saga, to the minute details that went into communicating and finally, pulling out these brave men.
These miners’ lives are forever transformed. So will the lives of the other miners who made it out just in time when the mine collapsed this August--but they will not receive the lavish attention, praise, and gifts that will rain on their once trapped colleagues. Time will tell how everyone will adjust to their new lives. But in one way, society needs to change as well, and not just in Chile, but around the world--especially in countries that benefit from the daily conveniences that mining in poor countries makes possible.
Mining is a dirty, dangerous, and yet necessary business. The workers who endure these conditions, from the copper mines in the Atacama Desert to the coal tunnels in West Virginia, know the perils when they start such jobs, but handle the work with grit, grace, and dignity. The tragedies in West Virginia, Utah, China, and the averted catastrophe in Chile should send a message to the rest of us.
Many of us who look at everything from computers to copper wire to aluminum cans--to the airplane in which I am flying now--measure the environmental costs these products heap onto the planet. Plenty of tools exist that can count their carbon footprint, greenhouse gas emissions, and life-cycle. The impact on humans, however, is often overlooked. Those 33 miners risked their lives and families’ well-being for a US$1600 monthly paycheck. Why not remember what these hardworking people endure by consuming more conscientiously?
Everything we use has an impact on people from the moment the raw materials are extracted from the earth. I am not saying we should stop using products--that is ridiculous. Chile would be wise to diversify its economy, but right now 40% of its GDP is from mining, and that will not slow down anytime soon. But what we can do is take a moment and think about how and what we consume. We need to recycle our electronics properly so that those precious metals are not only reprocessed, but recycled safely. When we toss something like an aluminum can in the trash (absurd as that is one of the easiest materials to recycle), we are dismissive towards the folks who not only claw these materials out for a living. It is more convenient for us to ignore disposable products’ effects on nameless and faceless people who are many time zones away.
One lesson of Chile is how perseverance and cool-headedness are crucial during a crisis.
The other lesson is that our obsession with a convenient and disposable lifestyle has a huge part in rendering other human beings disposable. We can do better
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