Diamonds are (at least) a Little Bit Gross

Top 3 reasons why that's the case:

1. They're not that rare; the idea that they are is basically a PR coup:

http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/198202/diamond#at

(that article is from 1982, but a great overview). I don't know about you, but after reading that, I'd just feel like a dumbass paying for an item that's ultimately kinda worthless.

2. While the industry has taken steps to stop this, the diamond industry is implicated in war and political murder. This is a random choice of links, but hey, the History Channel is legit, right?


http://www.history.com/content/blooddiamonds/about-blood-diamonds

3. Workers who mine and otherwise produce diamonds are often highly exploited. For example, there's a lot of child labor related to diamond production. And yeah, workers are exploited to get us food, and we should be trying to stop that, but at least we need to eat.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Child_labour_in_the_diamond_industry