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Unfortunately this is one of those American traditions we love to hate but are for the moment powerless to change. Your significant other may not care but socie

by dkobia 8y ago

Unfortunately this is one of those American traditions we love to hate but are for the moment powerless to change. Your significant other may not care but societal pressure and expectation is hard to get around. She has a mother, sisters, friends etc. It is the same reason an expensive handbag makes absolutely no sense to a man but matters so much to a woman. It is confounding.

xg15 8y ago
In other words, as with most successful marketing campaigns (sadly), you can't dispel its effects simply by saying "it's a marketing campaign". (Edit/add: Though, contradicting my own argument a bit, I think point 2 and 4 - that there was deliberate effort to establish it as a "luxury item" and that today it's used to fund all kinds of atrocities - could be able to change demand of diamonds: They also change the things that wearing a diamond would imply about the wearer. The Mossanite argument makes no sense because one of the points of wearing a diamond is to be seen as "my significant other is rich and/or dedicated enough to gift me this" - however, no-one wants to be seen as a helpless brainwashed sheep or a supporter of war crimes.)
GimbalLock 8y ago
Powerless? No. Just don’t buy it. It really is that simple. You don’t have to change everyone’s mind. Just stand up for yourself.
- bitwize 8y ago
  And say goodbye to the girl of your dreams, who was really looking forward to showing her friends the "rock" on her finger and hearing them ooh and ahh over it. Even if she doesn't leave you over this, unless you somehow married a Hackernews you've set up the image in her head that you're a skinflint who isn't willing to provide for your wife and it will affect your relationship in negative ways. Is your autism that strong that you will put a pedantic commitment to your own head logic and fighting the evil forces of marketing above your wife's feelings? If so, maybe you don't deserve to be married.
  - GimbalLock 8y ago
    No need to baselessly suggest autism. There are people who don’t care about these things. Find one of them. It’s not hard. I’ve known several.
quadyeast 8y ago
What would be the downside of buying a large flawless synthetic diamond? You can be sure it is not a blood diamond.

by dkobia 8y ago

xg15 8y ago

In other words, as with most successful marketing campaigns (sadly), you can't dispel its effects simply by saying "it's a marketing campaign". (Edit/add: Though, contradicting my own argument a bit, I think point 2 and 4 - that there was deliberate effort to establish it as a "luxury item" and that today it's used to fund all kinds of atrocities - could be able to change demand of diamonds: They also change the things that wearing a diamond would imply about the wearer. The Mossanite argument makes no sense because one of the points of wearing a diamond is to be seen as "my significant other is rich and/or dedicated enough to gift me this" - however, no-one wants to be seen as a helpless brainwashed sheep or a supporter of war crimes.)

GimbalLock 8y ago

Powerless? No. Just don’t buy it. It really is that simple. You don’t have to change everyone’s mind. Just stand up for yourself.

bitwize 8y ago
And say goodbye to the girl of your dreams, who was really looking forward to showing her friends the "rock" on her finger and hearing them ooh and ahh over it. Even if she doesn't leave you over this, unless you somehow married a Hackernews you've set up the image in her head that you're a skinflint who isn't willing to provide for your wife and it will affect your relationship in negative ways. Is your autism that strong that you will put a pedantic commitment to your own head logic and fighting the evil forces of marketing above your wife's feelings? If so, maybe you don't deserve to be married.
- GimbalLock 8y ago
  No need to baselessly suggest autism. There are people who don’t care about these things. Find one of them. It’s not hard. I’ve known several.

quadyeast 8y ago

What would be the downside of buying a large flawless synthetic diamond? You can be sure it is not a blood diamond.