Blood Diamonds

Many people in this world live with luxuries other people couldn’t even imagine. Cars, computers, handheld devices, and others are some of the many things we take for granted. While living our ________ lives, we also are blinded by the fact that these luxuries we live with come at a terrible price, such as cars polluting the environment and the children of today learning less. But one of the most horrible truths of today is shrouded by the media’s obsession of making a profit off of it. That horrible truth is diamonds, and how they’re processed.

Diamonds are most commonly associated with the stereotype that they are by and for the rich and powerful. That couldn’t be more wrong. The only reason diamonds are the most popular gemstone is because De Beers, the primary supplier for diamonds and other gemstones, decided that they would make diamonds super expensive, not because it is truly the best gemstone.

The way they gather these diamonds is one of the cruelest things anybody could possible imagine. They use slave labor, human beings unwillingly doing work for rich, fat, heartless CEO’s of De Beers. They force the slaves to work 18-hour shifts for roughly $20 a week. But instead of letting them use the money to send to their family, like the semi-decent people they should act like, they instead find anther way to milk the slaves for more money by practically stealing their paycheck. When the worker arrives to the mines, they come with hope that they can save their family from dying of starvation, and that he can make a difference in the world. But when they arrive and get their paycheck, they soon realize that the job is just fancy “smoke and mirrors” work. The water might cost $4 a week, the food 5$, and the housing $10 a week, leaving the poor soul with only one dollar left to sent to his family, who could be dead for all he knows. They didn’t have enough to eat. Now this slave has lost all hope, and is in the clutches of the evil slave driver that supplies the word with gemstones so people can “look nice”. Well, they chose to look nice well at the expense of others.

So, next time you’re at the jewelry store, and a nice ring spots your attention, you might want to refrain yourself from buying it. Because for every diamond sold, the companies that force people to do their bidding grow richer and more powerful, which makes it easier for them to spread their evil ways throughout the world.