The Real Cost of Diamonds

When you enter a jewelry store with counters full of sparkling diamonds, have you ever wondered where these beautiful rocks have come from? Every year, the diamond industry spends millions of dollars marketing that diamonds symbolize love and happiness (Violence). On the other hand, many news articles and the war thriller movie Blood Diamonds expose the ugly truths of the diamond mining business, where civil wars are fought, miners are tortured and live in extreme poverty, and environments are destroyed (Plot). Intent on protecting its business, the diamond mining industry tries to hide these harsh realities from consumers. But no matter how hard they try, the truth always comes out. Behind the glittering rocks is a diamond mining industry that has been built at the cost of human life and suffering, and environmental destruction.

While we happily celebrate engagements and weddings with diamonds, thousands of miners are toiling away or dying in African diamond mines. Due to corruption and greed, although 65% of the world’s diamonds originates from Africa and the diamond industry is worth eighty-one billion dollars a year, over one million Africans live in abject poverty, making less than one dollar a day (Hazarika). Governments and warlords take the income from diamond mining for themselves and do not use the money to build the basic infrastructure we take for granted everyday (Hazarika).  Soldiers battle rebel forces over control of mines for financial income, and human rights are abused by the winning side overseeing the miners (Blood). At many mines, men are beaten, tortured and killed. Soldiers rape women and young girls, and children are forced to work long hours at gunpoint (Labor). In the Lunda Norte Province of Angola, 46% of the miners are children age 5 to 16 (Labor).

In addition to the high human toll, there are immense environmental costs to diamond mining. Diamond mining has caused soil erosion and deforestation, as well as led to the creation of lands scarred by hundreds of deep mining pits (Environment). These environmental destructions make the land unsuitable for vegetation growth and animal habitation (Blood). With few trees and plants, animals lose their food source and natural habitat. They either migrate or die out. The rerouting and damming of rivers has also taken a similar toll on wildlife. To mine diamonds in riverbeds, mining companies reroute rivers and create dams, thereby drying up rivers (Environment). Fish, land animals and plants that depend on the river are annihilated and die out (Environment). Diamond mining has destroyed the environment and decimated both the plant and animal population. Many environmental damages created by diamond mining are irreparable or very expensive to reverse.

Behind the beautiful, sparkling diamonds less than the size of a pinkie fingernail is an ugly history of human suffering and environmental destruction. Thousands of miners lose their lives. Women and young girls are raped. Children are forced into labor. Animals die out as they lose their food source and habitat. The corrupt governments, warlords, and the diamond industry have much to gain to maintain status quo, and the miners have been beaten into submission. To effect real change, significant outside influences from other countries may be necessary to improve living conditions of the miners and to protect the environment.

Works Cited

“Blood Diamond Expose.” Brilliant Earth. Brilliant Earth, LLC, Web. 07 Mar. 2017.
"Environment." Brilliant Earth. Brilliant Earth, LLC, Web. 07 Mar. 2017.
Hazarika, Anjana. "The 'dark diamond world' inside Africa." The Pioneer. The Pioneer, 04 Feb. 2017. Web. 09 Mar. 2017.
“Labor and Community.” Brilliant Earth. Brilliant Earth, LLC, Web. 07 Mar. 2017.
"Plot Summary Blood Diamond." IMDb. IMDb.com, 8 Dec. 2006. Web. 17 Mar. 2017.
"Violence." Brilliant Earth. Brilliant Earth, LLC, Web. 07 Mar. 2017.