Accidentals: A Lasting Curse of Historic Mistakes

Photo by Sigmund on Unsplash

      History sometimes reveals unsavory portraits of previously admired epochs, people, or events. At the time, they were great contributions to the wellbeing of the community... today, they are horrid consequences of poor judgement. Such is the case with racial discrimination.

      Nature is not, necessarily, fair. People of old did not look favorably upon those who are different. Shunning differences came naturally because discrimination can be viewed as an act of self-preservation. What we don't know could hurt us; so, it is best to isolate ourselves from it and what better way to do so other than isolate it! Thus, came ostracization. Sadly, consciously or unconsciously, we continue to discriminate to this date, or at least propagate the effects of a history long gone.

      One interesting case study is that of taxation. People do not give money willingly, nor do they give it without the expectation of getting it back in some form. Essentially, people pay taxes expecting some sort of service in return. Notice that it is a service in return, not an action by the governing body. Ultimately, the wealthy get better schools, and the poor get forever worsening education because historically socio-economic classes are geographically segregated, different tax districts.

      While I do not know if there is fear of being labeled as a socialist economy if we choose to take care of those systemically disadvantaged, I do know that if we don't, it is unlikely that we'll continue to be a developing economy for much longer. Worst case scenario a plague originates in a poor district and quickly spreads to the rest of the country due to inability to afford, or altogether get, access to medical services of citizens in that district.