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On Diamonds

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serious crayons:

--- Quote from: delalluvia on January 24, 2010, 12:36:08 pm ---According to you, all it takes is one movie to convince people.
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--- Quote from: serious crayons on January 24, 2010, 12:49:13 pm ---Nope. I never said this.
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--- Quote from: delalluvia on January 24, 2010, 01:10:34 pm ---Did you say it?  No, but you implied it.
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No. Either I'm communicating really poorly, or you're leaping to really wild conclusions about what I "implied." I would never say -- or imply -- anything as ridiculous as "all it takes is one movie to convince people." Obviously the vast majority of people won't see the movie. Of those who do, some won't be convinced. Of those who are, some won't remember or won't act on their convictions for other reasons. One movie is simply one factor among many.

As for my statement that you quoted -- "Blood Diamond and other efforts to publicize the situation are out there -- people who aren't aware of them won't be affected, just like with any other political action" -- how on earth do you get "all it takes is one movie to convince people" out of that?



--- Quote from: serious crayons on January 19, 2010, 07:53:30 pm ---When was the last time you, as one person, attempted to convince the head(s) of a huge corporation to change corporate practices? Not very effective, generally.
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--- Quote from: delalluvia on January 24, 2010, 12:36:08 pm ---No, I don't buy the 'heads of all big corporations' are heartless drones stereotype.  They're people too.

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--- Quote from: serious crayons on January 24, 2010, 12:49:13 pm ---Never said this, either.
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--- Quote ---See above.  I'm not quoting you, I'm taking what you mean.
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No you're not. Obviously you don't know what I mean. You're talking about what you THINK I mean, which as we have seen is something vastly different.

I never said corporation heads "are heartless drones." I said it's not effective for one person to try to convince a CEO to change the company's practices.


--- Quote ---So why wouldn't executives at a large corporation similarly be affected?  Aren't they people, too?
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Yes, Del, executives are people -- many, in fact, are very kind-hearted and charitable. But they don't run corporations single-handedly. They are beholden to boards of directors, which are beholden to stockholders. With billions of dollars at stake, CEOs don't go around drastically changing business practices because one person (or even a movie!) says it would be a good idea.

But if you think it will work, you're welcome to give it a try. Call De Beers; I won't stand in your way. While you're at it, why don't you call the oil companies and Secretary of Energy Steven Chu and whoever else makes decisions about where the U.S. will import its oil. In fact, why don't you call Chu and all the energy companies and tell them to switch from fossil fuels to alternative forms of energy right away.

serious crayons:

--- Quote from: Lynne on January 24, 2010, 03:52:47 pm ---I will just reiterate that the movie BLOOD DIAMOND exposed me to an area of exploitation of which I had been previously unaware.
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Me too. Though I guess I'd always been a bit suspicious of diamonds because they were heavily mined in South Africa during the apartheid era -- seemed like a red flag for possible human-rights abuses.



--- Quote from: Lynne on January 24, 2010, 04:16:04 pm ---I am happy to hear that corporate diamond brokers have been proactive about this issue. I do remain skeptical because I don't see how one can determine the origin of raw stones after they are mixed together. And I don't trust corporate CEOs to put altruism ahead of profit. That said, though,  I firmly believe that small groups of people can make positive change in the world. We do what we can where we can. Just because this isn't the most horrific problem facing the planet doesn't mean it can't be addressed by people in a position to do so. 
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I agree with all of this!

As for tracking the origins, it does seem difficult, but maybe they have some system in place. I also hope that human-rights organizations are keeping an eye on things.

 

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