English 10, Ms. Myers
Williamsburg Preparatory High School
December 16, 2011
The Affects Greed Can Have Within a Community
Throughout the world the blame of the detrimental outcomes of various communities all fall on greed. The blood diamond industry in Africa is a great illustration of how greed can really damage a community because many African rebel groups have put children in risk to obtain unnecessary wealth. Clearly seen by America, greed can numb the sense of humanity and cause carelessness about the suffering around us. Greed can cause people to be materialistic and not notice the things that they really need so they can get through daily life. In The Pearl by John Steinbeck, the selfish ambition of getting more wealth within the village completely degraded the morality of the community, that even murder was an acceptable option. Many communities have fallen into the hands of corruption by reason of their greedy desires. As the category of greed is closely examined, it is incontestable that the continent of Africa falls on that category, due to wiliness of the rebel groups to obtain unnecessary wealth. Specific countries such as Angola, the Democratic of Congo and Sierra Leone have gone through great sufferings due to the calamitous actions the industry of blood diamonds bring. As an illustration, the video “The Truth Behind Africa,” presented very unpleasant images and scenes that showed many maimed Africans. One of these horrific images was a little girl that was no older than four and she had a hopeless look on her face. The difference between this little girl and other average little girls was that she was missing her entire right forearm. The reason behind this missing forearm was because African children are tortured constantly by soldiers who are involved with the blood diamond industry. In “Conflict Diamonds: Did Someone Die for That Diamond” it says, “ Children were instructed to kill and torture civilians and take