Beauty or Torture - Part 2

War, violence, and destruction, have not been the forte of women. Generally speaking. Until today.

No, I am not being dramatic. Let us look at the facts:

• Each gold ring produces 20 tons of waste. Gold is no longer used for empire building. 80% of all gold is used for jewelry, making us directly responsible for most of that waste.
• Diamonds have funded war, conflicts, blood, rape. Far from romantic!
• Diamonds were rare and precious in the days of the greek, when they were only found in India. Today, we know, there is a large supply of diamonds - more than 100 million carats every year that gets mined.
• DeBeers has done a great job both controlling supply, and igniting demand. A diamond is forever is the most recognized ad slogan line of the 20th century. Ninety percent of all Americans know it. 

Nearly half all diamond is bought in the US. Nearly half all gold is consumed in India. As a desi-american, it makes me wonder. How much are we willing to accept for a bit of glitter? 


[Note: Read Part 1 of this series]