What do the Mars agenda and hip replacement have in common? The answer is inequity!
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To think, to shit, and to pick up flowers, it is not the same thing – Serbian proverb
All men are born equal, but in life they all live unequally. We can love each other and share all we have, but at the end of the month we will pay our dues according to which movie is better, or which hip is cheaper. Yes, you read just fine. It is about movies and hip replacements. As if life weren’t already tragic enough.
It’s cheaper to go to Mars, than to make a movie about it.
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The story begins with this week’s outbreak in the media. Claims have been made that India’s space program successfully launched a flight to the planet Mars. That is a great achievement for the second largest nation on our planet. India has done this for less than 80 million dollars. An Oscar went to Gravity, a Hollywood blockbuster about space flight, which had a budget that was exactly 100 million dollars. So, it’s like this. It’s cheaper to go to Mars, than to make a movie about it. Is this even possible? Of course it is, and we have a name for it: Inequity!
Another example of inequity is the comparison between healthcare prices in the USA and the rest of the world. In the USA, the average cost of hip replacement is 40,000 dollars. In Spain, the same procedure is around seven thousands dollars. If you ask yourself, “is there any difference in procedural quality,” the answer is, “no, there is not.” In Spain, healthcare has at least the same quality standards as it has in the USA.
We can find a lot of interesting stories along this line, and to be honest, not only for The USA but for many other countries. In Great Britain, for instance, it is almost impossible to be a citizen of the empire and to singlehandedly have enough money to buy your own house. Yet, the British government donated millions in charity for building houses and shelters for many poor countries around the world. Maybe that is the answer to everything. Why should I care about my people when I can do it elsewhere for a lot cheaper? But the Brits know the best, they ruled the world for so long.
In great Mother Russia, it is a common thing among the elites to be concerned about democracy in neighboring countries, especially in Ukraine, and not to care about the same issue in their own state. If you are gay, atheist, democrat, freedom fighter, opposition leader, humanist, or feminist, you won’t be able to put even the slightest pressure on the Russian government to raise the level of democracy or implement basic rules of universal human rights. Yet, when democratic values were at stake, the “hell machine” of the Russian army was powered by a single yield from Crimea.
Yes, inequity is a funny thing. Actually, it is hilarious.
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Yes, inequity is a funny thing. Actually, it is hilarious. And what was the question? Oh yes, how is it possible that the actual flight in space was cheaper than filming a movie about space flight? The answer is still the same, it is inequity. The same inequity that makes the people of New York City be desperate for money even though their weekly wage averages more than 2000 dollars. And with the same 2000 dollars you could buy food for a whole region in India for a long period of time. It won’t be sushi, or caviar, but it will feed the hungry mouths of thousands of people.
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Inequity is all around us and that’s the final truth. How is it possible? Do people not know, or do they not care? It’s a worldwide tragedy that damns everyday life’s philosophy. It’s so common that we can dig more inequity from the ground than oil, gold, silver, and other goods that make us rich or poor.
If you ask me, I can tell that inequity is the bastard brother of capitalism, or imperialism, or communism, or every other “ism” which has developed on our planet. For other planets, I don’t care. I’ll watch the movie anyway.
Photo: dulk/Flickr