iwant2beaskinnybitch

Although I appreciate the beauty of ice and bling, it is not at the top of my “must have” list.  And it makes no difference to me whether it is real or fake as long as it is pretty.  On second thought, I would rather it be fake.

My husband has been begging me to watch BLOOD DIAMOND with him for months.  I am a big fan of Leonardo DiCaprio and really did want to see it, but I have a hard time with violence and torture.  Once those images enter my mind I have a hard time shaking them.  In the end Hubs won out by accusing me of turning my back on some of the world’s ugly secrets.  Damn him.

The movie was fantastic, have you seen it?  We were actually spared a lot of the gore but it was done in such a way that the imagination filled in the blanks colorfully enough.  Leo was amazing as usual.  I wonder does he choose his roles based on his political and planetary passion and awareness?  Or does he become so affected by his roles that it feeds his humanitarian flame?  I feel good when I watch him.  Hopeful.

I admit I was lost a couple of times during the movie but it boils down to the diamonds being used to fund a civil war in Africa.  Young boys were stolen from their families and their families were murdered.  The boys were brainwashed by war lords and made to do terrible things.  Villages and towns were burned, people were murdered, tortured, raped, and mutilated.  Very sad, disturbing, outrageous.

Another layer of the story is that in addition to the bloodbaths involved in mining the diamonds, the diamonds are smuggled, identified, and traded illegally.

On top of that, the biggest diamond buyers in the West are buying up all those diamonds and locking them away to preserve the illusion that there is a shortage of diamonds and that rarity is the reason for high market prices.

I am told that only a tiny portion of the diamond industry is corrupt and that we can ask for “conflict free” diamonds which come from conflict free areas and mining situations.  They have certificates and everything.  Woohoo!  Considering that the diamonds that financed the war in Africa were certified as being from some place else I am not so confident that all of a sudden everyone involved is legitimate and peace loving.

I am also told that there is now peace in Liberia where there once was corruption and bloodshed, but I don’t know if I’m buying that either.

On the flipside are the claims that there are legitimate diamond mines in Africa supplying Africans fair wages and medical assistance.  If the diamond industry didn’t exist, neither would these opportunities.

So on the one hand we have an industry plagued by violence and corruption, that on the other hand puts food and medicine on the tables of families who desperately need it.  What’s a concerned person to do?

My mind goes back to the Western diamond industry.  Do you believe it was an isolated incident that one single company was turning a blind eye to the horrific activities in Africa, then hording the diamonds at home in order to drive up diamond prices?  I do not.  I believe the temptation is too great and the wrong doings are too far away making it easy to ignore.  If there is not anyone exploiting the situation now, there will surely be someone to do it again once we have all forgotten our “shock” and moved on.

I believe that the diamond industry in a sham.  We buy them because it has become our custom.  We have been told, by the diamond industry, that the rule of thumb for cost is 2 months salary.  How can we, smart people, accept that as a truth? The diamond industry has manipulated the business and named its price.  And we keep buying it all, the diamonds and the bullshit.

Sadly, I am sure America will eventually forget all about how “upset” they were when they first became aware of the high price Africa has paid to supply our brides with their fairy tale weddings.  We cannot be too hard on the diamond buyers for mastering “see no evil” in order to plump up their business.  We are all masters at turning a blind eye when it comes to obtaining things we really want, aren’t we?  Go ahead, demand that wedding ring to inspire awe among your friends, the rare and luxurious fur, or that tender juicy cut of meat.  The atrocoties are committed so far away it’s easy to justify, rationalize, and forget.  After all, you are entitled to it, right?