Global construction industries consume over fifty billion tons of sand every single year, creating such a massive and highly lucrative supply shortage that organized crime syndicates now murder people over literal dirt.

A closer look

Global construction industries consume over fifty billion tons of sand every single year, creating such a massive and highly lucrative supply shortage that organized crime syndicates now murder people over literal dirt. The specific type of rough sand required to mix concrete is usually found in riverbeds, leading to illegal mining operations that absolutely devastate local ecosystems while authorities look the other way for a bribe. It is incredibly poetic that the sprawling utopian skyscrapers and luxury shopping malls of modern civilization are built upon a foundation of stolen mud and blood money. When you think about the sophisticated global economy, you rarely imagine heavily armed gangsters fighting over the same basic playground material that toddlers routinely eat by accident, but capitalism always finds a way to commodify absolutely everything