I just published a rather rosy note about diamonds on Facebook.

I am actually very bitter about these molecules of carbon. But given that a handful of people are engaged on Facebook I tried very hard not to dampen their spirits in any way. I don’t like being the party pooper and act *not* shocked and envious and in awe of the ring on their fingers. There is nothing wrong with the tradition of rings and the emotions are real and priceless. I have no right to exert my personal opinion onto other people and mess with good things like that.

Diamonds in their elemental states perhaps, is free from all faults (except its high refraction index…damn it, why does it have to trap light in multiple internal reflections and be all sparkly?)

I’ve always had a problem with diamonds and how it is valued in our society. Okay, there are plenty of wrongs with societal values. But diamonds are the extreme.

In Economic theory, monopolistic market structure is possible. However, a monopoly is impossible to maintain for the long run in real life circumstances. But lone and behold, there is one monopoly in this world—cited by *every* Economic textbook—De Beers.

The price of this monopoly is high but the reward is must too good to pass up. De Beers and associated jewelers have carefully integrated their product into our lifecycle. Diamonds and its holy stature of beauty, love and wealth is etched in every one of us. Terrible isn’t it?

What people pay for is not true value of a jewel, but a perceived sense of social acceptance and confirmation of self-worth. Lines like “but she is worth it right” is sheer brilliance in exterminating any shred of further logical reasoning and blackens all common sense. Consumer psychology has it that the cost must be maintained high so we perceive the item as special…because really, we want to pay as much as we possibly can to flaunt our buying power (same reasoning for designer labels).

The really sad part is that if it is not diamonds, something else will take its holy place as *the* wanted item. As social creatures, we bough to it.

And I am tired of hearing “I want one because it’s so pretty and shiny!” Well, yes, human beings are attracted to light and shiny things. Same with cats, fish, bugs…you get the idea. Anyone remember Merlin smiling at the bait of the angler fish in Finding Nemo? He said he felt happy and the entire audience laughed about it. We ain’t so superior. The shiny excuse is also on par with men’s exclamation of their innate attraction to boobs and ass. They can’t get away with that so easily. Girls should stop lowering themselves to that level too.

A diamond does not last forever. Everything in this world decays. A diamond will last a heck of a lot longer than any one of us though.

I am so tired of flipping through Facebook and finding every other person going to teacher's college.

Yes I admit that there is nothing more noble than the profession of teaching, and that perhaps it is the passion of some. From personal experience I would wholeheartedly agree that the feeling of gratitude from teaching is nothing but overwhelmingly and wholesomely positive.

But truly, it cannot be the passion of every other person on Facebook.

Please, people, reality check.

Please, people, take basic Economics.

Please, people, it's called supply and demand.

Please, people, I know teacher's college is THE back-up plan of all would-be degrees and professions.

Please, people, I know a teacher is a traditional career choice parents can actually comprehend.

We Canadians just ain't got enough babies to go around for you to teach.

Not to mention, countries like Australia and the US are pouring in excess number of teachers every year. Our government isn't controlling that. And they are not going to.

So...as a solution, I propose that everyone who is going to become a teacher take on the hobby of encouraging everyone they know who still has reproductive capacity to start getting busy quick. That is the only way they can save themselves from being chronically on the verge of being unemployed, a substitute teacher forever, teaching what they hate (com'on, how many people truly love math), or teaching in the middle of no where.

On a side note: we got a surplus of old people. Com'on, we love the other end of the age spectrum too don't we?