I'm not expert in electronics, but I suspect that should there ever be a shortage or some other thing that inflates the price of metals, new technology will be developed that doesn't use so much of them.  And suppose I'm way off the mark on that one--isn't there a possibility of we earthlings mining for copper and all of those other things that go into electronics on asteroids?

Yeah, I might be just a wee bit ignorant but not so much that I firmly believe these problems tend to work themselves out over time.  In the meantime....yeah, there's a big discrepancy of power when it comes to who's got control over the mining and selling of minerals/metals.


I've never thought of African citizens as fools because a lot of them live in poverty as you say (and which is true).  I've always thought it was their oppressive governments who were--and still are--at fault.  The people aren't stupid by any means, so you'd think African nations would be as advanced as any European country.  Since most aren't, what other explanation is there?