All human lives are not equal

THE EDITOR, Madam:

I am writing with reference to the letter ‘Spare a thought for migrants perished in the sea’, published on June 24. In regard to the five wealthy men who perished in the Titanic-tour submarine disaster, Guardian columnist Ash Sarkar cynically/sarcastically tweeted that “Migrants are ‘meant’ to die at sea; billionaires aren’t”.

I understand and largely agree with the tweet; and, sadly, it needs to be publicly stated much more often. Clearly, all human life on this planet is not perceived as being of equal value/worth, when morally we all definitely should, and even could be.

In fact, human beings can actually be perceived and treated as though they are disposable and, by extension, their suffering and death are somehow less worthy of external concern, sometimes even by otherwise democratic and relatively civilised nations.

A somewhat similar inhumane devaluation is observable in external attitudes, albeit perhaps on a subconscious level, toward the daily civilian lives lost in protracted devastating war zones and famine-stricken nations.

The worth of such life will be measured by its overabundance and/or the protracted conditions under which it suffers; and those people can eventually receive meagre column inches on the back page of the First-World’s daily news.

FRANK STERLE JR

White Rock, B.C.

Canada