Kristen Gyles | Prejudice can make a monster

It would do us well to pause every now and again and consider the impact, if any, that our circumstances are having on our humanity and on the compassion we feel for each other. Yes, there’s a lot of injustice in the world. Yes, life isn’t fair. And yes, good people suffer. And often we see ourselves as the ‘good people’ who are suffering. But for the sake of our own sanity and mental well-being, regardless of our circumstances, it’s important to look internally and assess whether the sentiments we harbour about others are threatening to our morality or protective of it.

Many who live a life of struggle and hardship have found enemies in those who are more privileged than they are – not because these privileged people have wronged them in any way, but simply because of a phenomenon Jamaicans like to call ‘badmind’. It first starts as an assumption that all rich people are selfish, wicked and dishonest. Then it grows into a criticism of how these evil, rich people spend their undeserved, ill-gotten gain.

We are told to beware of covetousness. More than a few become hateful and envious of others simply because others are able to enjoy what they can’t. Unfortunately, this hate and envy is often the birthing ground for many criminal acts like theft and murder.

Most of us have heard the news of the missing submersible, Titan, which is thought to have ventured over two miles down into the Atlantic Ocean, on Sunday, on an expedition to explore the ruins of the sunken Titanic ship. Five people were on-board the vessel, which is about the size of a minivan. Somehow, the submersible lost contact with its support ship and as at the time of writing, has still not been found. The four-day oxygen supply within the vessel is thought to have been all but used up by now and the passengers would have taken hardly any food or water on-board since the trip was expected to last no more than eight hours. To make matters worse, the vessel may have sunken so deep that some experts believe it may have imploded long ago under the pressure of the ocean waters.

Of course, there are sane people, who offer sympathies to the families of these men, who have a slim chance [based on reports at the time of writing this column on Wednesday night] to come out of the ordeal alive. And there are other sane people who may simply take note and move along without giving much thought. But there is a unique set of very damaged people, who find it appropriate to paint these explorers as selfish after learning that the five men, one of who is a British billionaire, paid US$250,000 for a ‘seat’ crammed in what is essentially a large tin can in order to view the Titanic. Some have gone as far as to question the need for a continued search operation to find them.

UNDILUTED HATRED

It was all “sorrows, sorrows and prayers” until we heard these were rich people. Then came flooding in all the vitriolic and undiluted hatred. Why are we like this? Our humanity and love for each other shouldn’t be so limited and conditional that we so easily see those who are unlike us as enemies. Poetic commentary from one social media user sounds like this:

“Dying in an ocean as deep as your pockets…

In a vessel as tiny as the shanty houses you turned your noses up at…

In a darkness as expansive as your ego…

Going to see the final resting place of the souls whom you disturbed with your curiosity,

But they still eagerly welcomed you.”

CULTIVATED BIASES

When did we learn so much about these people we have never met? When did we learn about the things they turn their noses up at and the expansiveness of their egos? Biases are cultivated and nurtured. In the same way that many very privileged people have their own warped perceptions of the poor, many living in want have also allowed envy and covetousness to eat away at their moral sensitivities.

There is room to discuss the nature and strength of the rescue efforts that have or have not been deployed in other cases, and whether the wealth of these men have impacted on the efforts being made to find them. That is not an unreasonable discussion. But it is inconceivable that a healthy mind could ever find pleasure in advocating for persons to be left for dead as punishment either for a careless decision or for spending lots of money making a careless decision.

Also, since we are on this subject, let’s remember that it is always easy to pass judgement on how these oh so good-for-nothing rich people spend large amounts of money that we have never come across in our lives. For example, it must be easy to determine that anybody who has the equivalent of J$38,000,000 lying around for an underwater escapade should instead give that money to charity. But frankly, if it is not your money, it is not yours to spend. We also don’t speak rationally when we accuse people of being uncharitable, simply because they engage in luxury spending, when we actually have no idea how charitable or uncharitable they are.

We can’t do much to change the world, but we can examine our own selves and the impact we have on the world. Our emotional biases and prejudices are ours to control. Let’s not forget.

Kristen Gyles is a free-thinking public affairs opinionator. Send feedback to kristengyles@gmail.com.