View A Commentary (Rant)

mel's rant
		02-Sep-05   Diamonds I recently began work on an extended piece about diamonds -- from Sierra Leone to Fifth Ave. in New York City, to the bride's left hand. The journey the diamond takes from mine to mine is an incredible and disgusting tale of digging by hand, displacement, disfigurement, and death to thousands of people. It is the story of a ravaged ecomony, pillaged land, and children with AK-58s on the front lines. Scholars and intellectuals refer to these stones as "conflict diamonds," meaning that they originate in an area wraught with civil wars and rebel groups that deal diamonds in opposition to the goverment of the country. What they mean is that these diamonds -- before they were on your finger -- were killed for. Someone had their arms chopped off with rusty axes in the public square because of them. Someone's eleven year old daughter was kidnapped and forced to join the militia because of them. Villages have been displaced, either by force or by mass murder because of these rocks. "Conflict diamonds" make up at least 5% of all diamonds sold. This is the most conservative estimate I've heard. There is no way to tell whether the diamonds you buy are "conflict diamonds" or not. Therefore, it is safe to assume that your diamonds, somewhere along their lifetime, have been the cause of severe trauma for at least one out of 2 million people. Maybe more. Check it out. Google "Sierra Leone", "Conflict Diamonds", "RUF", "UNAMSIL" or "Blood Diamonds" for more information. Or just wait for the poem. Just don't buy any diamonds in the meantime.