Meeting Persephone

Gold and silver may bring smiles to many faces in this country both as well-received gifts and for the profits they render but there is also danger involved in bringing these glittering bars and strands of happiness to the people who love them.

My father works in a gold mine and has worked for the one he's employed by now for more than 20 years. While I want him to have job security it's difficult to support his means of a paycheck. My brother, on the other hand, will happily vote in favor of the use of any toxic materials needed to provide my dad with a larger paycheck and hopefully allow him to move back to Montana with these bans lifted and gold mines able to once again thrive in my home state. My dad currently works in Nevada and while I'm no lover of the desert, it is still heart-breaking to see what is done to the Earth for the sake of getting Her to give up more of Her treasures - or what we've deemed to be valuable. Strip mining is the means they use to retrieve gold from the mine my dad works at - peeling back as much soil as possible to get to the real good stuff. The raw gaping holes like fresh wounds until the wind picks up and dries everything out to dust leading to more toxic materials being blown to residents and wildlife in the area.

I wear no gold, silver, nor diamonds. They hold no value for me and the means to obtain them - stripping the Earth as well as slavery and mutilation in Africa should make many people think at least twice before acquiring more. I may not understand "peak oil" very well beyond the repercussions of the polution caused by it and the robbing of resources (depleting in 100 years what took millions of years to come into being), but I do understand this.