Gold crowns

Is gold forever? NG did a huge story on the gold industry in Indonesia this month & I thought it was really interesting.

Summing up about 12 pages of writing, Indonesia has jumped feet first into what seems like a self-feeding cycle leading to implosion. There is no strong economy over there so jobs are few and far between, thus the gold industry attracts the poor who are desperate for any sort of income. Even though it means destroying their natural forests, polluting the Earth and air, and shaving about 30 years off life expectancy, people flock to the mines, hoping to find just a kilogram of the shiny rocks. Since gold is highly revered, the demand is still high. And so, all these people hope to support their lives and their families by slowly killing themselves and their land. Of course, the initial reaction of us in the western world is to say 'well that's just wrong! preserve the environment! stop the gold mining!' That's what I thought, at least.

But then I thought about it. We are all pushing to keep this world alive - to save the endangered species and to stop pollution. The people they interviewed, however, couldn't care less. One woman even had a huge framed portrait of the construction vehicle she drives, considering her job a blessing. In truth, for her, it is. Without that small income, her family would probably starve. Gold mining is just about all they've got over there. So, is she supposed to boycott the act, knowing that if she wasn't there, 1000 people would be in line to take her job? Or should she do what is best for her and her family? It's somewhat inescapable.

It's not so much that I'm all about keeping the industry alive, but it's the same idea as deforestation. Yes, it's bad, but could their economy survive without it? Do they have another choice?