English Coursework 1 (Diamonds are forever) - Nicholas Gouw
Everyone knows about diamonds. You may or may not own one yourself, but I’m
betting you have definitely heard of them. Magnificent and lustrous when expertly
polished, yet scarce and painstaking to locate in quantity, it’s no wonder why diamonds
are so sought after and highly valued. But are diamonds truly deserving of their much
glamorized status, and should we even buy diamonds in the first place? In my opinion,
we should not purchase diamonds of any kind, unless we can be truly sure of where they
came from, how they got to retail shops, and under what conditions and circumstances
they were mined.
Immortalized by the media through films such as Moulin Rouge, which featured
the song ‘Diamonds are a girl’s best friend’, and by modern day icons which commonly
sport diamonds on their person, diamonds are symbols in their own right, but symbols of
what actually? To the average person living in countries like the US and the UK,
diamonds are but symbols of love, wealth and social standing, whereas to a person living
in countries such as Indonesia and Africa, diamonds are symbols of corruption, death,
and strife.
If any of your parents of friends own a diamond, ask them if they know where it
came from. In most if not all cases, they wouldn’t have a clue. You could go on to ask the
retail stores the same question, but most probably receive the same result. The truth is
that the origin of a diamond is nearly impossible to pinpoint, unless mined by reputable
companies such as ‘De Beers’, and sold by high-end jewelry stores such as ‘Cartier’ who
document them. Even then, problems arise in truly proving if the diamonds come from
where they say they come from.
You might be asking yourself ‘How can no one know where these diamonds come
from? Don’t they have documentation? Don’t they have records? In reality, there are two
different sides to the diamond mining industry, just like any other industry in the world.
A well-organized, legitimate side, and a chaotic, black-market side. The legitimate side is
fronted by companies such as ‘De Beers’ and ‘Firestone’, who document their diamonds
before shipping them off. In contrast, the black-market side is fronted by groups such as
the mafia and African rebel factions. The diamonds mined are never documented, and are
sold as they are, to different countries under the guise of a legitimate company. Having
no documentation and no records whatsoever means diamonds are untraceable and easy
to smuggle around. Overall, an estimated 20% of diamonds in global circulation are
known to be illegal. These diamonds are known as ‘Blood diamonds’ or ‘Conflict
diamonds’, as they are usually mined inhumanely, and often cause wars and bloodshed in
their country of origin
You might then argue that what I am saying is totally untrue, as the World
Diamond Council released a report, stating that only 1% of all diamonds are conflict
diamonds, and not the supposed 20%. So why should we stop buying diamonds
altogether if only so few are illegal compared the immense number of diamonds that are
legal? Officially, this is true, but as I said before, diamonds are untraceable, and the 1%
that has been reported only reflects the amount that has been found to be blood diamonds.
A more realistic number as estimated by Global Witness, is around 20%, as companies
might be covering the actual number up to avoid decline in sales, and the tarnishing of
their brand name
You might argue though, that diamonds are diamonds, and it doesn’t matter where
they are from, as they all look and are the same in reality. This is true, but would you still
buy diamonds knowing that lives may have been lost in order to mine them? We usually
assume that diamonds are mined by well-to-do people living in countries like Russia and
Canada, but the truth is far from this fantasy perspective. These blood diamonds are
mostly mined in Africa and the Middle East, and are mined not by paid workers, but by
villagers that have been terrorized and forced into mining them. The largest diamond
mining activities go on specifically in Sierra Leone and Liberia, where villagers are
forced by African warlords, to labor under the harsh, beating sun, with next to no water or
food, and in conditions that are reminiscent of the concentration camps of Nazi Germany.
Not even women are spared, and children too young to work are usually taken by the
rebel African factions, and taught to kill or be killed.
This illegal and inhumane mining strips men and women of their rights, and has to
be stopped. But the governments of the world and the African government themselves,
turn a blind eye to such acts, thinking that if they just pay no mind to this blemish, this
atrocity, this outright violation of human rights, will just go away. But the truth is there,
and we as people cannot let this go on. These villagers are people just like us, and if we
turn a blind eye to their plight, we are no better than the belligerent warlords who cause
them pain and suffering. Question the countries, question the government, question the
companies and question the retailers. But above of all, question yourself. Could you live
with yourself, knowing that somewhere out there, hundreds of lives are being lost to
provide you with your next fashionable accessory?