Diamonds are bullshit

brianlux

There are nearly countless examples of the human price for diamonds, the human misery that goes into making these precious stones available to industry, to the wealthy and for vanity. Here is just one:

Released from the grip of the cold, the houses become limp and slide deep into the earth. For many years they have been standing considerably below street level; that is because they were built on permafrost and the warmth they have radiated over time has hollowed out niches for them in the icy soil, and with each year they sink more and more. Each little house stands in a separate and increasingly deep hole...

[I] see the following: the thawing, loosened muck is starting to flow, snaking its way in little streams, channels, chinks, straight down into the houses....

Inside the houses one walks in mud; mud covers the floors; it is everywhere...

Like the slum neighborhoods in Latin America, Zalozhnaya in Yakutsk [ a diamond mining area in Siberia] a closed structure. Poverty, dirt, and mud [in the spring time] create here a homogenous, coherent, consistent landscape in which all the elements are linked to one another, are correlative. ...instead of diamonds, gold, and Kuwait I found Zaloshnaya and an entire city of poverty. Yakutsk never sees or touches the diamonds. They are shipped straight from the mines to Moscow...

...Russians and Yakuts are equally exploited here, a great state is exploiting them- the Imperium. It is the Imperium that takes away their diamonds and orders them to live in Zalozhnaya.

Yakutia is full of pain. There are many gulags here, mainly near the gold mines.</>


Ryszard Kapuscinski, Imperium, pages 183/184/185/190

PJ_Soul

That's true Brian, but it's easy now to find diamonds that didn't involve any human misery. Canadian diamonds, for example. They are more expensive of course, but the difference in price is well worth it if you're going to be buying a diamond.

brianlux

PJ_Soul said:

That's true Brian, but it's easy now to find diamonds that didn't involve any human misery. Canadian diamonds, for example. They are more expensive of course, but the difference in price is well worth it if you're going to be buying a diamond.

To be perfectly honest, I'd rather spend the money on a vinyl copy of Riot Act or No Code or PJ self-titled.

chadwick

i am trying to imagine a $100,000 wedding with a huge ass diamond

i can't do it very well as i haven't that kind of knowledge
if they are spending 100g-s on a wedding
the diamond itself is one expensive ass ring
& will be living in a multimillion dollar home

i'm just confused at this & a poor fuckin guy who can't hang w/ these folks

i like the guy who gave his bride a $400 diamond ring
truth be known, the jeweler bought said diamond ring for probably $25-$50... i'll go $100 tops

PJ_Soul

brianlux said:

PJ_Soul said:

That's true Brian, but it's easy now to find diamonds that didn't involve any human misery. Canadian diamonds, for example. They are more expensive of course, but the difference in price is well worth it if you're going to be buying a diamond.

To be perfectly honest, I'd rather spend the money on a vinyl copy of Riot Act or No Code or PJ self-titled.

Haha, yeah, i'm with you - fuck the diamond, put a Benny Hall on my finger! )

polaris_x

PJ_Soul said:

That's true Brian, but it's easy now to find diamonds that didn't involve any human misery. Canadian diamonds, for example. They are more expensive of course, but the difference in price is well worth it if you're going to be buying a diamond.

well ... only if you don't consider environmental issues ...

PJ_Soul

polaris_x said:

PJ_Soul said:

That's true Brian, but it's easy now to find diamonds that didn't involve any human misery. Canadian diamonds, for example. They are more expensive of course, but the difference in price is well worth it if you're going to be buying a diamond.

well ... only if you don't consider environmental issues ...

And for yet a little more money, you can buy eco-friendly Canadian diamonds (supposedly). You can also buy real lab-created diamonds. Not sure if those are more or less expensive though.

polaris_x

PJ_Soul said:

polaris_x said:

PJ_Soul said:

That's true Brian, but it's easy now to find diamonds that didn't involve any human misery. Canadian diamonds, for example. They are more expensive of course, but the difference in price is well worth it if you're going to be buying a diamond.

well ... only if you don't consider environmental issues ...

And for yet a little more money, you can buy eco-friendly Canadian diamonds (supposedly). You can also buy real lab-created diamonds. Not sure if those are more or less expensive though.

or for the price of that diamond ... i could take prospective partner on a 3 week trip to ecuador; take her and her family away for a cottage getaway; eat at some nice restaurants; buy an electric car; and cure world hunger!

PJ_Soul

polaris_x said:

PJ_Soul said:

polaris_x said:

PJ_Soul said:

That's true Brian, but it's easy now to find diamonds that didn't involve any human misery. Canadian diamonds, for example. They are more expensive of course, but the difference in price is well worth it if you're going to be buying a diamond.

well ... only if you don't consider environmental issues ...

And for yet a little more money, you can buy eco-friendly Canadian diamonds (supposedly). You can also buy real lab-created diamonds. Not sure if those are more or less expensive though.

or for the price of that diamond ... i could take prospective partner on a 3 week trip to ecuador; take her and her family away for a cottage getaway; eat at some nice restaurants; buy an electric car; and cure world hunger!

Sure (aside from curing world hunger - I don't think the cost of one diamond ring is going to solve that one! ). Everyone should do whatever they want with their money! But only an idiot would buy an expensive diamond for his fiance when she would prefer that the money be spent on a trip or a car or charity!

polaris_x

PJ_Soul said:

polaris_x said:

PJ_Soul said:

polaris_x said:

PJ_Soul said:

That's true Brian, but it's easy now to find diamonds that didn't involve any human misery. Canadian diamonds, for example. They are more expensive of course, but the difference in price is well worth it if you're going to be buying a diamond.

well ... only if you don't consider environmental issues ...

And for yet a little more money, you can buy eco-friendly Canadian diamonds (supposedly). You can also buy real lab-created diamonds. Not sure if those are more or less expensive though.

or for the price of that diamond ... i could take prospective partner on a 3 week trip to ecuador; take her and her family away for a cottage getaway; eat at some nice restaurants; buy an electric car; and cure world hunger!

Sure (aside from curing world hunger - I don't think the cost of one diamond ring is going to solve that one! ). Everyone should do whatever they want with their money! But only an idiot would buy an expensive diamond for his fiance when she would prefer that the money be spent on a trip or a car or charity!

right so what do we call the woman that wants the diamond instead of all that?

PJ_Soul

polaris_x said:

PJ_Soul said:

polaris_x said:

PJ_Soul said:

polaris_x said:

PJ_Soul said:

That's true Brian, but it's easy now to find diamonds that didn't involve any human misery. Canadian diamonds, for example. They are more expensive of course, but the difference in price is well worth it if you're going to be buying a diamond.

well ... only if you don't consider environmental issues ...

And for yet a little more money, you can buy eco-friendly Canadian diamonds (supposedly). You can also buy real lab-created diamonds. Not sure if those are more or less expensive though.

or for the price of that diamond ... i could take prospective partner on a 3 week trip to ecuador; take her and her family away for a cottage getaway; eat at some nice restaurants; buy an electric car; and cure world hunger!

Sure (aside from curing world hunger - I don't think the cost of one diamond ring is going to solve that one! ). Everyone should do whatever they want with their money! But only an idiot would buy an expensive diamond for his fiance when she would prefer that the money be spent on a trip or a car or charity!

right so what do we call the woman that wants the diamond instead of all that?

A person who likes sparkly things? Or maybe a traditional and/or normal person? It depends on why she wants the diamond. I see no reason to disparage a woman who wants a diamond engagement ring (especially since almost all married women, including the ones on this forum, have one and were probably really happy and excited to get it when he proposed because it's a truly important symbolic and sentimental item to them as well as sparkly!).

polaris_x

soo ... the answer is normal?

backseatLover12

PJ_Soul said:

You can also buy real lab-created diamonds.

Oxymoron.

PJ_Soul

backseatLover12 said:

PJ_Soul said:

You can also buy real lab-created diamonds.

Oxymoron.

No it's not. I'm not talking about cubic zirconiums. Diamonds are diamonds, whether they are made in the ground or in a lab. Their desirability may be different, but not for any good or scientific reason. That's just snobbery. In fact, lab-made diamonds are technically BETTER than natural diamonds, but snobbery doesn't care.

backseatLover12

PJ_Soul said:

backseatLover12 said:

PJ_Soul said:

You can also buy real lab-created diamonds.

Oxymoron.

No it's not. I'm not talking about cubic zirconiums. Diamonds are diamonds, whether they are made in the ground or in a lab. Their desirability may be different, but not for any good or scientific reason. That's just snobbery. In fact, lab-made diamonds are technically BETTER than natural diamonds, but snobbery doesn't care.

Diamonds are not diamonds.
Diamonds come from the earth. Man-made diamonds are made by a lab.

PJ_Soul

backseatLover12 said:

PJ_Soul said:

backseatLover12 said:

PJ_Soul said:

You can also buy real lab-created diamonds.

Oxymoron.

No it's not. I'm not talking about cubic zirconiums. Diamonds are diamonds, whether they are made in the ground or in a lab. Their desirability may be different, but not for any good or scientific reason. That's just snobbery. In fact, lab-made diamonds are technically BETTER than natural diamonds, but snobbery doesn't care.

Diamonds are not diamonds.
Diamonds come from the earth. Man-made diamonds are made by a lab.

Yep. That is true. And they are all diamonds. But as I said, the market discriminates, that's for sure.... it's probably pretty stupid that they do though, if it's purity and appearance and sparkle and cut that they care about.

brianlux

I've long been fascinated by rocks, gems and minerals. Of all of the gems, diamonds and pearls (sorry!!) are the least attractive to me. I much prefer the look of an opal, ruby, onyx, sapphire, rhodonite, garnet, emerald, topaz, amber, amethyst, aquamarine, or tourmaline. Pearls and diamonds come at the bottom of my list. Honestly, I've never understood the attraction.

PJ_Soul

brianlux said:

I've long been fascinated by rocks, gems and minerals. Of all of the gems, diamonds and pearls (sorry!!) are the least attractive to me. I much prefer the look of an opal, ruby, onyx, sapphire, rhodonite, garnet, emerald, topaz, amber, amethyst, aquamarine, or tourmaline. Pearls and diamonds come at the bottom of my list. Honestly, I've never understood the attraction.

All those stones are nice, but in the context of women's jewelry, I find most of those pretty gaudy and can clash with other jewelry or clothes. Diamonds, on the other hand, are very clean looking to me, and also match with literally everything.

backseatLover12

Some people like the bling, some people like the earthy stones, like myself. Keep your bling PJ Soul. When I see you blinding my sight, I know who it is so I can run the other way.

PJ_Soul

backseatLover12 said:

Some people like the bling, some people like the earthy stones, like myself. Keep your bling PJ Soul. When I see you blinding my sight, I know who it is so I can run the other way.

I don't own any bling. I've never owned a diamond. I don't wear any jewelry at all, ever, except for a simple silver chain with a silver greek key on it. And I wear cheap-ass silver earrings when I get dressed up sometimes. That's it. One silver chain with a pendant, I guess I have 3 pairs of simple earrings that I almost never wear. That is all my jewelry. I think its combined value is probably around $90, lol.
Nice mean comment about wanting to run away from me though.