The story of the diamond, from its debut in the crusty depths of the earth to its facade of beauty, is one few people know. The mineral with international notoriety for its central role in unraveling nations and lives is mystically transformed from the crucible of war to the ultimate symbol of enduring love. The international diamond industry ravages millions of lives, quietly hides its atrocities and repackages its wares so they are perceived to be the only standard by which love can be measured.The diamond industry, from mine to bride, is controlled by a giant global monopoly, DeBeers. Based in South Africa until 1990, DeBeers grew into the mammoth sugar daddy of the gem world, building its wealth on the back of apartheid labor practices and a cunning advertising scheme created to convince the West that a diamond is forever. DeBeers relocated to London before the fall of apartheid and controls mines in Russia, Canada, Australia and Africa.Not only does DeBeers control the majority of global diamond production, but it also sets the prices for the international diamond market. Coupled with their aggressive advertising, the popularity of diamond engagement rings transformed from an elite luxury to a prerequisite for a legitimate relationship. DeBeers was wheeling and dealing with Africa when nations were winning their independence from colonial powers while still expanding the European market. DeBeers controlled the American gem scene during the Cold War and was even able to acquire mines in the vehemently anti-capitalist former U.S.S.R.The South African diamond mines are a story of men separated from their families for years and workers subjected to indignities and searches. Miners were not permitted to leave the diamond camps for years, fragmenting families in a society that was unable to communicate by post or telephone due to the oppression of apartheid. In the event of a mineshaft collapse, the mining companies were not required to make rescue efforts but sometimes pumped in cyanide gas to hasten the deaths of the trapped miners.Today, the international diamond trade has shifted from direct human rights abuses to an illicit trade ring aided and abetted by DeBeers. Like weapons and drugs, diamonds have become the currency through which the business of civil war is conducted. In a report released last year, the Partnership Africa Canada concluded that diamonds were central to the decade-long civil war in Sierra Leone.Sierra Leone is a tiny country in West Africa that has seen the most brutal crimes against humanity in its civil clash between the government and rebel leaders who are wrestling over control of the diamond industry. A nation with the population of Minnesota has had half its residents displaced. You may remember the pictures of the victims of the civil war from the media. The people who survived had their hands severed.Why the violence in Sierra Leone? DeBeers pulled out in 1990, relocating to neighboring Liberia. Liberia does not produce diamonds, but the country has been exporting them. The powers fighting for control over the diamond mines in Sierra Leone transport their gems over the border and sell them from Liberia. The result is that the government and the rebels clash over the diamonds, and a tiny nation that produces millions of carats of diamonds per year has the lowest standard of living on the planet.Sierra Leone is not the only example of this. Diamonds are at the crux of the 40-year civil war in Angola that brought U.S. and Soviet (vis a vis Cuba) weapons in conflict in Africa. Diamonds are at the center of the collapse of the Democratic Republic of Congo, one of Africa’s largest countries. DeBeers has created a market so lucrative that the rewards for diamond smuggling are justified in tearing nations and families.According to ABC, Jeffrey Fischer, the president of Diamond Manufacturers and Importers of America, said there is no method to determine the source of a diamond. Simply put, by going into a jewelry store and selecting the ring of your dreams, you could easily be supplying the market for stones purchased at a high human price. Thanks to the glamorous advertising campaign mounted by DeBeers, people selecting a diamond never give a second thought to the unconscionable practices in its production. They justify the indulgence in the luxury and do not consider the power of their purchasing dollars. Why would one knowingly choose to proclaim their love by selecting something that symbolizes persecution, war and death?Viable alternatives to the diamond exist. Take manufactured diamonds, for example. You can support a worker who has had to suffer through a chemistry class rather than an international exploitation scheme. Cubic zirconia look just like diamonds, but there is no international cubic zirconia conspiracy to maim victims and incite civil unrest. Many people have heirlooms sitting in jewelry boxes or safe deposits that if put into a new setting could transform into beautiful jewelry.Around the Valentine season, we are bombarded with the images of a diamond as the only way to show love. Consider the millions decimated by the international diamond industry, and chose for yourself whether you want to give or wear a symbol of oppression.Rachel Faber is a senior in agronomy from Emmetsburg.