Originally Posted by
Easy Street
WEBF,
..... More generally, we'd have to face up to the true geopolitical implications of dependence on resources such as Chinese rare earths. You want capable modern electronics, dear voters of the West? Then either learn to live with China's superpower status and its differing views on the world, or find ingenious (expensive) ways to make electronics with other materials, or be prepared to pay (and fight if necessary) to preserve the status quo. And I can't see the 'woke' modern West running an effective repeat of the colonial era with rare earth metals taking the place of tea, spices, silk and precious stones.
Afaik, the problem with 'rare earths' is not that they are rare, but rather that their extraction leaves behind a mess of contaminated earth.
China was willing to accept perpetual pollution of many square miles of its territory to achieve 'rare earth' market dominance.
Thus far, no western enterprise has been willing to take on the environmental costs involved, but that could be changed.