A Thunk is a beguilingly simple-looking question about everyday things that stops you in your tracks and helps you start to look at the world in a whole new light. © Ian Gilbert
Thunk 35
If you had a billion dollars to spend on humanity, would you use it to eradicate racism or to eradicate malaria?
If you had a billion dollars to spend on humanity, would you use it to eradicate racism or to eradicate malaria?
5 comments:
Malaria, as at the moment it is a rather more pressing problem. Though if seen from the other side, racism could be a cause for the problem through a slightly less direct tract, as racially different people could be undervalued and subsequently under-payed for the jobs they do which in turn ranks them lower in global aspects, and the money they make is not enough to protect themselves and their families from disease as they cannot afford to buy themselves access to safe water and sanitation, which in a vicious cycle, slowly depreciates their ability to work as malaria strikes them, reducing the amount of income they earn.
In developing countries there seems to be a prevalence of both malaria and racism and so both issues need to be addressed, But at the moment Malaria kills and so cannot wait fro the more indirect method to establish itself and produce results.
It sounds like a billion dollars should be able to deal with both, but i think i would go with malaria.
Like Edeline already pointed out, Malaria is a matter that is out of our will and hands, and will have to be dealt skillfully whereas racial conflicts may have a less direct impact on human beings.
I would choose to invest my money and efforts in eradicating malaria. I agree with Edeline and Raya that it is a more pressing issue. Yes, people who fall victim to the horrors of racism may disagree. But, the only way to make a clear decision is to look at it from an unbiased angle, without any lenience or leaning to either side.
It is this along with the fact that I do not believe racism is something that can be eradicated (atleaset not with money). Yes, you can invest you money in public speaking to convince people to live together as brethren, but there are hundreds of people already doing just that and who have already done just that.
Racism deals greatly with human behaviour and moral values. What are you going to do, pay people not to be prejudice? Or buy more prisons to lock up everyone who is?
Even if I was given the chance or rather choice to do that then I would still pick malaria as this is what causes people to die and cause suffering all around the world whereas racism is a thing that will never be able to stop no matter how much you spend on humanity. Cures for malaria could be bought by investigating but there will never be a cure for racism; it's just the way people react to others around them.
Racism is all about dialogue and opening people up to all the failures of human thought - money can never overrule discourse. So the logical thing to do would be to spend that money on eradicating malaria.
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