Isn't an African Life as Valuable as Ours?
Thursday. I was half asleep from the dulcet lecture of my tiny professor of Development Economics. Brusquely she brought me to my senses fully by saying this:
"Jeffrey Sachs (the economist) supports sending medications to Africa and my counter-argument is Africans with diseases like AIDS are spreading the diseases more to other people because they are getting medications from America which prolong their diseased life."
I cannot stop from interrupting such a morally weak advice to us. The minute I opened my mouth she said "Oh come on, don't paint me as a heartless economist." I said I didn't. Because I couldn't attack her morally because of her indirect plea and also she is my teacher whom I don't want to embarrass in front of the class. I went to argue scientifically and economically but I know It wasn't strong to make my point in this case. So another girl student jumped in and supported the teacher's argument. I let the argument go.
I came home and vented to Debbie about what the professor said and thought of the famous neurologist Antonio Damasio's book "Descarte's Error" which mentioned how many of his patients who have prefrontal cortical damage cannot identify emotions in others faces or lack emotional aptitude in their decision making. Debbie soothed me by sayinng wonderfully in a single line "Why didn't the professor recommend dropping a nuclear bomb in Africa to stop the spread of AIDS?" I felt peaceful after that and pondered on that. Even though my teacher comes across as religious and spiritual (I understand to be morally right you don't need to be religious) I wonder about that. I believe it is easy to be morally straight if you are religious and spiritual. These thoughts made me take and read "Uncle Tom's Cabin" sitting on my bookshelf for a while since Debbie strongly recommended it and bought it for me. I postponed reading that book because I prefer non-fiction to fiction. Even though I have read many non-fiction books on slavery this moment called for this book written on 1852 by a pious, small woman (just like my professor) born as a daughter of a famous pastor Lyman Beecher. When Lincoln met her in White House, he said "so you are the little woman who wrote this book and brought us the Civil War." This blockbuster book moved me within first few pages into it.
The theme of this poignant book given in the introduction by Jeremy Larner qualifies to be quoted to my Development Economics professor:
"Idea that all men have immortal souls, from which it follows that to treat a man as a "thing" - or a piece of property - is to commit a crime against god as well as man."