They straight up tell you the "economic miracle" of the borax mines was finding those deposits at a time w very cheap surplus labor
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Replying to @arthur_affect
When Chinese immigrants (who were, essentially, victims of debt-based human trafficking) were cheap to hire and replace when they died off
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Replying to @arthur_affect
And willing to do jobs that even poor and desperate white workers refused to do en masse
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Replying to @arthur_affect
In previous eras it had been known there were borate deposits only reachable w underground tunnel mining, but who would agree to do that
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Replying to @arthur_affect
To keep in mind w "model minority" bs - "200 years ago we weren't 'natural' engineers or scientists, we were disposable ore hauling units"
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Replying to @arthur_affect
The science side of this is borate is water-soluble so it accumulates in dried-up former lakebeds in places that are now deserts
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Replying to @arthur_affect
So old-school borax mining involved working in big open pits in the desert and, after that, digging tunnels under the desert
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Replying to @arthur_affect
Temps zooming up in there to like 130 degrees, workers tying ropes to each other so they could be hauled out when they fell unconscious
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Replying to @arthur_affect
Ha it wasn't just the barracks either, all the numbers were set up on the assumption 1 Chinese person is 1/3 of a white person
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Replying to @arthur_affect
"This mess hall could supply food for 600 white workers or 1,800 Chinese workers"
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Tbh as a CA resident at the time learning about the whole history of Death Valley and the mines was formative for me
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Replying to @arthur_affect
Like this was a big big part of the SoCal economic boom in the early 20th century
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Replying to @arthur_affect
The best part is mulling over how when machines make hell jobs no longer necessary it's bad news for the workers who will now be penniless
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