Rescue of Chilean miners an isolated act of humanitarianism

The ordeal of the 33 Chilean miners is over. In a dramatic rescue operation they have all been brought back safely to the surface of the earth. The whole world was able to watch the last hours of this operation live on TV, and a sigh of relief went around the world after the successful completion. This last day was seen as a big victory for technology and humanity.

Was it really?

No doubt, technology has made a lot of progress. Years ago a similar operation had not been possible, or at least not in this timeframe. And there was no quibble about the cost of the operation – at least not visible to the public.

But what about humanity? The rescue of the miners was definitely a big humanitarian act. But I wonder how many viewers of the operation were just looking forward to a last-minute disaster. This would have been the real thrill, much more interesting than the smooth operation.

During the 69 days entrapment of the miners many more than 33 people have been killed deliberately worldwide, by criminals, by terrorists, by soldiers and some even by the justice systems. And many of these “incidents” are not even worth a mention in the news. Who cares, if it is not a high-profile case?

Millions of soldiers worldwide are well trained and prepared to destroy and to kill, and they are all well equipped for this purpose. Money is no objection when it comes to the equipment of armies with high-tech weapons. It is only an objection when it comes to such unimportant things like fighting the hunger in the world and improving the living condition for the poorest.

When politicians like George W. Bush, Tony Blair and many others say so, soldiers just do their dirty work without asking. Who cares? It has always been like this. Soldiers on “our side” are the good ones and the heroes, whereas the soldiers on the “other side” are the bad ones and the criminals. If it wasn’t the sad reality, it could just be a children’s game.

Humanity, I think, has still a very long way to go before it makes any significant progress, and isolated incidents like the rescue operation of the miners do not constitute a major change. And most of us will not see a real progress during our lifetimes.

Anyway, the rescue of the miners is already “news from yesterday”, and who will care about this story today apart from those who will try to recover their financial investment in the operation?

 

Helmuth Porschen

Avgorou

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