Over the last couple of weeks we’ve seen two tragedies at sea handled two different ways. The Titan, a submersible owned by Oceangate, is believed to have imploded while carrying five wealthy men to view the wreckage of the Titanic at the bottom of the ocean. Multiple countries and private companies sent a variety of search and rescue equipment to assist the quest to find survivors, while media outlets provided non-stop coverage of the situation.
A few days earlier a similar situation was handled differently. In the Mediterranean Sea, a boat carrying an estimated 750 people fleeing violence and poverty capsized and an estimated 500 people lost their lives. The Greek Coast Guard failed to help. The passengers were migrants from South Asia and the Middle East, trying to reach Europe, in search of opportunity for a better life. One voyage was about thrill-seeking and exploration, the other a voyage of life and prospects.
I think this situation warrants an honest conversation about classism, where an individual’s worth or importance is based on their social economic status. These dialogues are not meant to make the wealthy ashamed. Topics should include the effects of unbridled capitalism plus the failure of governments to address unemployment, inflation, and other economic woes. In most countries, there is an extreme divide between those who live in poverty and those in extreme luxury.
We’ve seen this play out in the United States in our education system. Those in wealthy zip codes get a better public education than those in underserved zip codes. Instead of a state like Florida banning Caste by Isabel Wilkerson, it should be required reading in high school to develop a more informed, empathetic, and transformative society.
