Discussion about this post

User's avatar
Tricheco's avatar

This was clarifying for me. Thank you. I've done quite a bit activist hamster-wheeling and grew disillusioned for other reasons. The focus in this is helpful.

Expand full comment
Andrew The Scribbler's avatar

This reminds me of something I read about diamonds the other day. Jewelry diamonds are the ultimate luxury item, but "blood diamonds" and other conflict stones have been on people's minds since the 90s (while most ignore the DeBeers cartel that controls the world diamond market) and there have been boycotts over the years, like against Botswana in 2010 and Israel in 2015.

And ultimately, nothing changed, people still by jewelry diamonds all the time, but in recent years cultured (synthetic) diamonds have been gaining in increasing hold on the market due to the technology becoming cheaper and the diamonds being traceable. And in 2024, sapphires (particularly the Australian ones, which are also traceable) were the dominant engagement ring stone. Not saying the problem is solved, but there have been positive changes.

I think it dovetails with your article, it takes a long time to raise people's consciousness about an issue, and even longer to make changes. And instead of a boycott (particularly a one day boycott) giving people an ethical alternative that does not require greater effort will get much better results.

Expand full comment
37 more comments...

No posts