A Girls Best Friend... I Think Not!

ITS VALENTINES DAY! Time for all you fellas' to buy your honey a diamond to prove how much you love her! I must say though I am a little curious...



.Why don't more people question the notion that a diamond is a symbol of love?
.Why is it that an engagement ring always means a diamond?
.And why does the stone have to cost a years salary for the answer to be yes?

The value of a Jewel is based on its rarity right? If this is true diamonds aren't valuable at all. In fact, they are slightly more rare then a plain ole' rock. It blows my mind how so many people are willing to pay the insane prices jewelers charge for diamonds. Honestly, it should be illegal.

Have you ever heard of a little company called De Beers? Well De Beers is actually a monopoly, when a competitor discovers a new mine site they buy it and shut it down. Basic economics has taught us that the smaller the supply of a desired item the higher the desire (or demand). This is what pushes prices up. De Beers has total control over the supply of diamonds released into the market, and intentionally keeps this supply low. They then turn around and market diamonds as the symbol of love... and people buy into it! Even if you happen to be Bill Gates or Donald Trump and you are so rich you can afford to wipe your ass with $100 bills you still shouldn't want to buy diamonds.

For one dollar a day men, women, and children are doing back braking levels of labor in order to mine the diamonds we are so eager to wear. These miners typically work without proper equipment under extremely dangerous conditions. Civil war within Angola, DRC, Sierra Leone, Liberia and the Ivory Coast is funded by diamonds (paid to terrorists). No matter what you have been told there is no such thing as conflict free diamonds. The Kimberly Process, which is supposed to regulate this trade is based on a self monitoring system and it doesn't work! Every single day diamonds are funnelled into the system. There is blood from lost limbs and lives splashed across every diamond and people are actually excited to receive them as gifts! That's scary!