Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2019/11/23/a-deep-dive-into-the-bloody-mi.html
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Hmm. Tell people that the crystals absorb the life energy released by human suffering, and then give it to the user, and sales will probably increase. Because it’s that timeline.
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The Guardian ran a story about the suffering in Madagascar caused by mining crystals for this nonsense:
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You’re closer than you think - from The Guardian article (linked elsewhere on this page):
> If anything, Stamison wonders if the circumstances of miners in Madagascar, “makes the pieces a lot more special. Because I know some person in a little baby hut was actually polishing it by hand, and they’re setting their intentions into it, too,” she said. “People’s intentions and people’s energy are put into the stones as they’re producing it.”
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> “So the circumstances they’re mined in, they are embedded into the stone somehow?” I asked.
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> “I think so. A little bit, it has to be. It has to be.”
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So, these minerals are booby-trapped, aren´t them?
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More on the story here:
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More?
Plus some more fucking characters, just for the Disqus Gods. FFS why doesn’t BB override that setting?
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Is that a real poncho?
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Reminds me of this little tune:
The Strangefolk, they coveted the jewels in these caves above all things
And soon they began to mine the mountain
Its rich seam, fueling the chaos of their own world
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Is this the right place to discuss the absurd amount of advertising on this tiny article?
The truly awful ads that appear on the bottom of every page is enough for one tyo wonder how BB can be ethical on any front, now I’ve got four image ads per paragraph? You’ve come a long way, baby, from that zine. Signing off.
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You’ll have to enlighten me I’m not familiar with this character!
Trapjaw from He-Man
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It also seems crazy to me that people still buy diamonds collected via exploitative and environmentally destructive mining practices and sold at obscene, artificially inflated prices even though we can now grow diamonds of equal or higher quality in a lab.
Insisting on naturally-grown crystals when otherwise indistinguishable synthetic versions exist is like insisting on getting the flowers for a bouquet from virgin rainforest instead of a greenhouse.
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Yeah, the synthetic ones work just as well! 
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Thank you I thought the style looked familiar. He-Man was big during my pre-school era so my memory of the show isn’t so vivid
Should we each decide individually to economically cut ties with nations with abusive industries.
Or should we have an international policy that aids the oppressed into overthrowing their government?
If it’s not crystals, it’s “recycling” dumps, or child farm labor, or whatever. Is it a symptoms of a broader problem that corrupt foreign governments make alliances with unscrupulous business. Or is it a symptom of a people who ought to be put in charge of their own government on democratic principles. The subtext of that is that violent coups probably have to occur.
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If it’s shadier than one expects, surely it is surprising by definition?
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Having watched that whole episode of He-Man, my conclusion is that the artwork and animation is even more fecal than I remember. But the wall-to-wall musical beds are actually pretty good. Other observations:
- Trapjaw calls Mer-Man a sissy
- But also “Chad” is being supervised by a suspiciously buff “grandpa” in fetish gear so I’m not really sure how to read this in homopolitical terms
- Does it seem fucked up to anyone else that He-Man says Trapjaw will be sent to the, um, prison mines?
- I appreciate that they took the time to draw He-Man’s “rock-crushing” face, which should save a lot of work when they animate the episode where he battles an extra-firm stool.
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