The true story of diamonds

The true story of diamonds
Most of us blithely take for granted the resources available to us in our
daily lives. We don’t give much thought to the brutality and suffering it
takes to extract those resources for our use at the expense of the
people to whom they belong.
Even as the U.S. war against the Iraqi people rages on, we continue to
mindlessly pump gas into our cars without thinking of the deadly
violence in the Middle East being waged so that the American people
can continue to use all the oil we want.
The same holds true for diamonds, the glittering rocks of crystallized
carbon worn by millions. 
Long revered as rare, benign gems symbolizing the ideals of beauty
and everlasting love, diamonds are the desired gift for engagements,
anniversaries, graduations, or simply as an expression of love.
Diamonds are thought to be the makings of heirlooms, something to
pass down from generation to generation with ever appreciating value.
These myths about the diamond trade, however, couldn’t be further
from the truth. This is a look into the reality of diamonds and the real
price of this seemingly innocent stone for millions of African people
and others who live on the other end of the equation.
Perhaps these facts about the diamond trade can help open our eyes
to the deeper reality of an entire social system built on violence,
slavery, genocide and the degradation of others in order to create a
generous lifestyle for us, the white people. 
Maybe we can begin to wake up to the fact that nothing in our daily
lives is innocent or exempt from the bloodshed and terror necessary
for conquest. Not, for example, our cell phones and computers that
require the mineral coltan from the Congo, where 5 million people
have been slaughtered since 1998 in U.S.-backed coltan wars. 
Not even our food, colleges, gas, electricity, water, banks, running
shoes, or housing. Everything on this land stolen from the indigenous
people, in an economy built on African slavery and colonialism around
the world, has an ugly story just under the surface.
The story of diamonds is just one of them.