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DeBUNK
diamonds are a despot's
best friend
I'll never buy you diamonds.
The Engagement ring? AAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!! I
will NEVER buy a woman a diamond ever again.
It is a wholly stupid measure of a man's
"love" for a woman, an idea invented by
DeBeers and other money-grubbing evil
companies who hoard diamonds to regulate
prices and convince us of their "rarity."
Diamonds are neither rare nor worth two
months' salary.
I know many women, mostly black women and no
offense to any reading this blog, who
absolutely demand a two carat minimum. They
simply can't be talked out of it. And these
women, in my estimation, are so woefully
immature and lacking substance that I could
never seriously consider sharing my life
with them in the first place.
These days, diamonds finance terrible
bloodshed and wars in Africa, the deaths of
untold thousands and tens of thousands. But,
more to the point, the whole "romantic"
notion of diamonds and what they've come to
represent in this society is a wholly
manufactured sentiment. It is not spiritual.
It has no foundation in real culture or
real, meaningful tradition. It is an ugly,
fabricated manipulation of women in this
country, preying on their girlish fantasy
and, frankly, need for validation from a man
who will, 80 romps in the sack later,
certainly start taking her for granted.
I refuse to live a life dictated to me by
Madison Avenue. A life consumed by pagan
rituals like Valentine's Day and, yes,
Mother's Day. I refuse to be sent to the
mall every six weeks to spend money I don't
have just because some suits on the 35th
floor invented a holiday 40 years ago.
And I will never, ever, in this life, buy a
woman a diamond. Under absolutely no
circumstances. It is a hateful, dreadful
business. It is a fraud on the American
public, upon society. It insults my
intelligence as a human being and, as a
Vulcan, I find it illogical.
I should add I have less objection to
man-made diamonds (not the cheap Zircons
that cloud up, but pretty spiffy new ones
that are so good the diamond industry is
fighting to keep them off the market), or
other precious gems that evoke the fire of
diamonds at a fraction of the cost. I find
no particular crime if she'd just like the
traditional wedding ring set and you do
something that is reasonable and makes
economic sense.
But, if I really want to prove my love for a
woman, I'll buy her a car. I'll put ten
grand down on a house. The last thing any
young couple starting out needs is to pour
thousands of dollars down the drain just to
put a ring on her finger so she can feel
good about herself. If she doesn't feel good
about herself already, then you really don't
need to be marrying her.
And if you, as a person who loves her more
than life, are not the best and most obvious
symbol of that love, a shiny rock won't
matter one way or the other.
Christopher J. Priest
September 19, 2002
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