“If they weren’t slaves they would die of hunger” is a wrong way to look at the situation. A better way to talk about it would be “hey they are mining minerals that rest of the world literally depends on, why are we not paying them enough so that they can uplift themselves from poverty?”

Didn't that happen in industrialized countries? We made it illegal for kids to work in the mines, and we forced them all to go to school? Whatever happened to those kids?

I haven't personally done any bad things to the children on Congo. Have you? I always make ethical purchase decisions within the limits of my budget (e.g. Fair Trade and other certifications). Short of literally devoting my entire life to charity, that's me fixing it.

Yes. But this situation is more like you’re on a boat with 10 people and everyone will die if you don’t get food. But there’s a bigger boat next to you who will give you food if you dive in the water and get pearls for them, which you do. But the bigger boat only gives you food for 3 people. So you still keep diving and getting the pearls while starving. But the big boat now says they’d only give you food for 2 in return because that’s how the market works. And the people on the big boat keep justifying this behavior because without their food the people on the smaller boat would die, so that’s better than nothing.

I throw you out of the boat. Your move.