[exoque]

>In the west, we are conditioned from an early age to believe that "diamonds are a girl's best friend", that women should accept nothing less that a "real" diamond, and that men should spend some silly multiple of their salary when buying such a diamond.

In the west, the US or the anglosphere? Because I only know this from Hollywood movies.

[EricE]

Ha - Hollywood/Debears infected post-war Japan too:

https://danwin.com/2010/08/how-de-beers-diamonds-won-over-th...

The scope of their mass brain washing is indeed staggering. Heck I have a good friend in the jewelry business and we still get into heated discussions about how he feels there is nothing wrong and how he is providing value as an agent of Debears brainwashing. It is pretty disgusting.

[GordonS]

The west. I'm from the UK, and this mindset is common here. I've discussed this topic with others from various other European countries, and it seems to be widespread.