Diamond-Water Paradox

     The Diamond-Water paradox embodied the transformation of Europe from mercantilism to be one of the cornerstones to modern capitalistic economic theory. Supply and Demand are assumed  to be obviously coupled in this century, but all ideas are revolutionary at some point. Originating in the eighteenth century, the Diamond-Water paradox stated a counter example to the then prominent Mercantilism theory of absolute value of objects by stating a man dying of thirst in a desert would trade the most valuable diamond in the world for water because the diamond, at that moment, was worthless to him since it could not save his life.
     Items are worth their value - which is dependent upon the situation. As the human population continues to increase, water consumption around the world, especially in areas with a low water table, has reached levels too high for underground reservoirs to maintain. Los Angelos, United States is the third largest city, but all of its water is siphoned from the Colorado River. This aqueduct has significantly escalated desertification in the southern United States and northern Mexico. The Sahara's increasing populations to the south, notably Nigeria, and to the north in Libya and Egypt.

     In two hundreds years the paradox has become truth. While diamonds are less common than water, the value and utility of the most necessary liquid is constantly being evaluated. The world worries about water, yet some oases retain wasteful levels of overuse, particularly the suburbs of industrialized nations.
     Much like the man dying of thirst in the desert who is willing to trade all his wealth for only a glass of water, the world population may soon find out how valuable fresh water is. Unfortunately, as with so much else, few people will realize our doomed trajectory until the cliff's edge is already behind us. That is for the next decade of minds to resolve. Today merely eat, drink, and be merry. The prevention of tomorrow's problems requires too much inconvenience today.
     Efficiency, practicality, and forethought will greatly extend current water reserves, but ignorance and waste has long been the defeat of mankind.


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Agatha Tyche