What do you hate that most people like? - Bilge

M martiki Official Mixologist http://www.smugglerscovesf.com Joined: Mar 29, 2002 Posts: 3059	M martiki Posted posted on Tue, Aug 30, 2005 10:05 AM The new issue of Foreign Policy has an excellent photo essay following the trail of the diamond trade. Pix aren't online yet, but they are predictably shocking. It's not so much the mines and their effect on the environment, but the treatment of labor. Workers in Angola, Sierra Leone, and the Congo typically work the mines by hand in 12 hour shifts for food only- no wages. Diamonds are then shipped to Antwerp briefly for grading, then off to India, now home to seventy percent of the world's diamond production. Almost a million Indians ae in the industry. An Indian diamond polisher will typically work 12 hour days, sleep on the floor of the factory, and earn about $60 a month. Last year, grooms spent $4.5 billion on engagement rings. Of course, it's not the only industry exploiting third world labor, but it's hard to imagine a worse one.

The new issue of Foreign Policy has an excellent photo essay following the trail of the diamond trade. Pix aren't online yet, but they are predictably shocking. It's not so much the mines and their effect on the environment, but the treatment of labor. Workers in Angola, Sierra Leone, and the Congo typically work the mines by hand in 12 hour shifts for food only- no wages. Diamonds are then shipped to Antwerp briefly for grading, then off to India, now home to seventy percent of the world's diamond production. Almost a million Indians ae in the industry. An Indian diamond polisher will typically work 12 hour days, sleep on the floor of the factory, and earn about $60 a month.

Last year, grooms spent $4.5 billion on engagement rings.

Of course, it's not the only industry exploiting third world labor, but it's hard to imagine a worse one.

Post #182979 by martiki on Tue, Aug 30, 2005 10:05 AM