(Closed) Watched Blood Diamond tonight :(

posted 7 years ago in Rings
Post # 1
Member
658 posts
Busy bee
  • Wedding: December 2013

Just want to start out by saying….I’m not trying to start a “diamonds are evil” argument thread..so please lets be grown ups and not do that!

Anyways….

Blood Diamond was on tv tonight, and since I had read the book a few years ago, I decided to watch it. It was so sad and depressing, it made me cry quite a bit. I feel like whether it be diamonds, ivory, or any other resource, Africa always gets exploited. People there DIE for these things, children get AK47’s put in their hands for these things…and at the end of the day…diamonds are just a thing made of carbon.. Nothing anyone can justify killing another human being over. I guess I’m kinda just grossed out lately with how much violence is going on these days over things that here in the US, we just consume, and alnost never think twice about the source of where it came from.

To me, a human life is ALWAYS>diamonds, gold, ivory, oil, etc, etc. It’s just so hard to think about because we are so far removed from violence, it doesn’t even seem real. All we have to do to escape thinking about it is to just turn off the tv.

I don’t really have a good reason for writing this post, that movie was just so intense..I felt the need to talk about how I felt I guess.

On a side note: Even though a diamond may not be a conflict diamond, the fact that people demand diamonds (regardless of where they may be from), still drives the continued violence. For example, say tomorrow diamonds were deemed just another worthless rock in the ground. Would the conflict surrounding them continue? Of course not, nobody is going to fight over something that isn’t valuable to them.

I guess that last statement could be considered an argument, but I’m really just intending it to be an economics example of supply and demand. Don’t get me wrong, I love diamonds and think they are beautiful, I just with that I could say that nobody ever died/got injured over one. If you haven’t, read the book and/or watch the movie..it really gets you thinking from a different perspective. Not to mention Leo’s pretty hott, so there’s one upside.

Please please please no fighting! 🙂

 

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Post # 3
Member
454 posts
Helper bee
  • Wedding: December 2012

Human nature is a nasty one.  Unfortunately, anything “rare” will be fought over.  Including clean water and food (as seen on Anthony Bourdain the other night, they bought some food for people standing around while filming in post-earthquake Haiti and they went absolutely nuts, beating each other with belts and whatnot). 

With that having been said, we bought our diamond with the intention it become an heirloom.  Hopefully that will help our future children.

Post # 4
Member
5657 posts
Bee Keeper
  • Wedding: February 2012

It’s really sad that while we’re over here in the western world enjoying all these materialistic things we take for granted, the people in the places where many of these things come from are suffering and fighting for survival and freedom. We often forget the true price of things

It’s not just diamonds, either. Even if diamonds were worthless to people, people would be (and are) losing their lives over something else.

Post # 5
Member
8353 posts
Bumble Beekeeper
  • Wedding: March 2011

I have watched that movie several time, and every time I do, I cry… I think that a lot has changed for the better, since that movie was made though, so that is a good thing.

Post # 6
Member
50 posts
Worker bee
  • Wedding: March 2011

My fiance did a presentation on Blood Diamonds in college. No one even moved when he talked about how the women get their breasts cut off and how kids were murdered.

Then this girl gets up and does a presentation about puppy mills and there wasn’t a dry eye in the room. Sad.

By the way, you can certify whether or not your diamond is a conflict diamond with your jeweler.

Post # 7
Member
6661 posts
Bee Keeper
  • Wedding: May 2010

I agree that in general anything rare or worth a lot of $ will be fought over. Money = Power. That movie is definitely sad, it’s hard to watch.

Post # 8
Member
3482 posts
Sugar bee
  • Wedding: February 2011

The worst part is that diamonds aren’t even all that rare. Everybody and their dog (and I wish I was kidding about some of the dogs) has them. They’re just in demand because of a wildly successful ad campaign.

Post # 9
Member
5096 posts
Bee Keeper
  • Wedding: June 2011

I think the issue of ethical consumption is a hugely difficult one.  I’m completely inconsistent – I’m a vegetarian, but I eat dairy from animals that aren’t living in humane conditions. I don’t have a diamond engagement ring, but I buy bananas from Chiquita, the former United Fruit Company, which has just as bloody a record in Latin America as De Beers does in Africa. 

That’s certainly not to say that the answer is to throw up our hands and not try to make it better.  Inconsistency, IMO, is better than apathy. But these problems are really thorny and much more pervasive than most people realize.

Post # 10
Member
3148 posts
Sugar bee
  • Wedding: February 2010

@jerkamuffin:  Then this girl gets up and does a presentation about puppy mills and there wasn’t a dry eye in the room. Sad.

that sounds like the worst school day ever! How sad!

I wish I knew more about blood diamonds when I bought my diamond wedding band. the jeweler is reputable (ben bridge) and they said they only get ethically sourced stones. however, since then I’ve learned that the process is flawed and you can’t really know for sure. it makes me feel guilty.

from now on, no more diamonds for me! moissanite or other gemstones only. I’m ok with that.

Post # 11
Member
3049 posts
Sugar bee
  • Wedding: January 1991

I really love that movie! It makes me so sad. I watched it a few days before I began living in Africa for a while. Man, it was powerful! That being said, I also love my diamond! Being away from that environment makes me forget about certain conflicts sometimes. It’s so hard to live life in America (or other privileged coutnries) without using some resource that has been fought over. I’m glad you’re keep everything in perspective and at least reminding us what has happened so we can enjoy our lively diamonds. Conflict or not. I LOVE MINE! 🙂

Post # 12
Member
2116 posts
Buzzing bee
  • Wedding: June 2011

I absolutely see what you mean about supply and demand, but if it isn’t diamonds, it’ll be something else. Its just how the world works, and that doesn’t make it right… but it is how it is. If they don’t get the money from diamonds, they WILL find another way. Desperate people will take great legnths to get what they want/need. I also hated that movie and the best we can do is buy conflict free (if we choose to buy) and hope that everyon else does the same so that they have no reason to continue the violence becasue nobody is buying form them anyways.

 

I’d also like to point out that it isn’t just America that over-uses. As somebody whos done a lot of travelling, I feel like I need to stick up for the USA and say that ITS NOT THAT BAD! Every country has its positives and negatives.. when you have SO many positives like the US, your negatives stick our like sore thumb. — I know that wasn’t the point of your post but I had to share, because its something that I believe so strongly in

Post # 13
Member
3758 posts
Honey bee
  • Wedding: September 2011

I love that movie! It is sooooo sad and it makes me cry EVERY time, but it is such a great story. I watched it in for the first time in my economics class in high school.

Post # 14
Member
4755 posts
Honey bee
  • Wedding: May 2012

I think it is such a huge deal however, I also think people are completely unaware about the origins and nature of diamond mining. I think that’s the basis of the demand is that soooo many people don’t know what actaully happens in the real world. I don’t per se blame them… but I’d like to see more education on the topic I guess. I learnt about conflict diamonds several years ago in school.

…and then there are those who KNOW… and say “meh, I don’t care” it is those people I have no respect for. And I have cut friends out because they were just so ignorant. I can’t stand those folks… who KNOW about how aweful it is (same goes for other practices as well) and do nothing about it. That really makes my blood flow…

Post # 15
Member
1003 posts
Bumble bee
  • Wedding: June 2012

A lot of people don’t know, at least with Canadian diamonds that even though they are “conflict-free” some of them are currently being mined on disputed Aboriginal land. But it is the same with gold, nickel, etc.

 

You just need to be aware. In general. 

Post # 16
Member
2116 posts
Buzzing bee
  • Wedding: June 2011

I also agree with many of you.. I didn’t know anything about blood diamonds until Fiance told me about how he was making sure mine wasn’t, and I’m usually not that ignorant. I think that this information needs to be spread so that people don’t make the mistake of not buying conflict-free

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