I can't be the only person struck by the irony. Within the past week, hundreds of refugees fleeing violence, oppression, and hunger drowned in the Mediterranean when the repurposed fishing boat they were crammed aboard sank after drifting for hours, its engines dead. Reportedly, other vessels circled nearby, but did nothing. Reportedly, the reason for doing nothing was that the crew of the boat, facing various potential legal liabilities, declined official assistance. Reportedly, the victims included hundreds of children and women who had been forced into the boat's hold. Rescue efforts both before and after the sinking can most charitably be described as lackadaisical to nonexistent. Contrast that with the huge, energetic, immensely costly efforts presently under way to save five rich tourists whose venture aboard an experimental submersible to gawk for a few minutes at the Titanic, 12,500 feet down in the Atlantic, went disastrously wrong. The campaign continues even after, according to the most optimistic calculations of the best case scenario, the wealthy thrill seekers could not have survived. It would be inhuman to begrudge them their rescue. By the same token, it is difficult to swallow the disparity in attention these two cases have received and likely will receive. Who will wager that new regulations governing commercial submersibles aren't adopted long before measures are taken to ensure humane and safe transit for refugees?
