What do diamonds really cost?
I just got out of the movies with Emily. We saw Blood Diamond, with Leonardo Dicaprio and Jennifer Connelly. Wow… true, dramatic, and scary. Now I have a new perspective on diamonds.
When I was in New York City with Collin, just before Christmas, we had an extended conversation about blood diamonds, the diamond industry, and the diamond-engagement ring tradition of the USA.
The rich resources of Africa have been exploited and torn away from their rightful landowners for decades… gold, oil, rubber, and now diamonds. And many native inhabitants have never even seen a diamond. Imagine that. Civil war, tribal war, the “new” war—they’ve decimated Africa, turning it into a land of constant war. It appears to be a Godless mess. But I know God lurks in hearts, just waiting to be explored.
The country has been ruined. As the scenery is panned in this telling film, one sees rickety cities covered with split blood, and deserted villages littered with limbs and broken hearts. This land is toxic. It is toxic in its violence, its bloodshed, and its resource exploitation. It is not that one of these is an environmental catastrophe; all of these are environmental catastrophes.
Habitats are ruined. People are left homeless. Even abandoned trails are decorated with handing dead bodies and ammunition guts.
The “Kimberly Process” is some sort of custom set in place to stop jewelers from selling conflict diamonds. But its success cannot be guaranteed. There are ways that smugglers can get around this protective practice, and ways that diamonds can be dealt without knowing their origins. Diamonds can be sold with it being said they were mined in Liberia, when really they are from Sierra Leone, but a customs personal was paid off to say otherwise.
I think it goes without saying that some practice needs to be put into reality and regulated to mend this situation. Until such is done, I don’t know how I can buy a diamond in good conscience.
When I was in New York City with Collin, just before Christmas, we had an extended conversation about blood diamonds, the diamond industry, and the diamond-engagement ring tradition of the USA.
The rich resources of Africa have been exploited and torn away from their rightful landowners for decades… gold, oil, rubber, and now diamonds. And many native inhabitants have never even seen a diamond. Imagine that. Civil war, tribal war, the “new” war—they’ve decimated Africa, turning it into a land of constant war. It appears to be a Godless mess. But I know God lurks in hearts, just waiting to be explored.
The country has been ruined. As the scenery is panned in this telling film, one sees rickety cities covered with split blood, and deserted villages littered with limbs and broken hearts. This land is toxic. It is toxic in its violence, its bloodshed, and its resource exploitation. It is not that one of these is an environmental catastrophe; all of these are environmental catastrophes.
Habitats are ruined. People are left homeless. Even abandoned trails are decorated with handing dead bodies and ammunition guts.
The “Kimberly Process” is some sort of custom set in place to stop jewelers from selling conflict diamonds. But its success cannot be guaranteed. There are ways that smugglers can get around this protective practice, and ways that diamonds can be dealt without knowing their origins. Diamonds can be sold with it being said they were mined in Liberia, when really they are from Sierra Leone, but a customs personal was paid off to say otherwise.
I think it goes without saying that some practice needs to be put into reality and regulated to mend this situation. Until such is done, I don’t know how I can buy a diamond in good conscience.
posted by Ashley Corinn Waldorf at
10:40 PM
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