The Price of our Wants

We live in a time where we can have anything that our mind or heart desires. These desires have an extremely broad range and bring about a perceived happiness. This range includes books, jewelry, vehicles, clothes and shoes. Our desires are not limited to just physical products but also intellectual properties such as movies. As Americans we experience a media-fueled culture where as long as we have the money we can possess an item. This idea is all well and good, in fact it provides motivation for the average citizen to enter the work force but we are taught to be blinded to the parts of the world that actually provide the materials for our financial consumption.

There are third and second world countries across the world that supply the materials for our products. Weather it be copper and other minerals being mined out of the Andes mountains or conflict diamonds from specific areas in Africa or other materials scattered across the globe. For many communities these materials are their livelihood and just a small amount can bring "vast riches" to a person's way of life. Though as history has proven, when there are resources to be exploited; pure capitalism sets in. Systems of power are introduced to not only exploit the natural resources but also to exploit the local labor force. All the while the first world nations are enjoying the products bought with their "hard earned" money there are large groups of people suffering to survive by sacrificing their inherited resources.

The film, "Blood Diamond" explores these points and attempts to bring them to light. It addresses issues of children being turned into soldiers, countries going into upheaval and innocent people losing their lives and in some cases the ability to make a living (i.e. losing limbs). It shows the futility of people who have to live in these systems and the uphill battle they face to have a normal life. It also shows the cultural richness of these affected areas and how they are able to persevere despite the intervention of the first world countries.

It is disheartening to think about how people have to be completely uprooted and be symbolically destroyed just so a bride can have a shiny ring. Despite this the people affected display a richer culture and better soul as a whole than other countries do in their pursuit of their own happiness.

This clip can be found at https://youtu.be/r0iDAjXWU4Q