FEBRUARY 16th - The World is a Messed Up Place



On this day in 2014, twelve illegal gold miners were rescued from a mine in South Africa. Hundreds of others were trapped in the mine, supposedly by a rival gang of miners or zama-zamas. And some of the others could have been rescued, but refused to come out because the twelve rescued miners were immediately arrested. I know little about the conditions in South African prisons or the dire straits that make the “zama zamas” risk their lives in abandoned gold mines. The whole thing seems outrageous. Underground gangs hunting for gold? Sounds like The Goonies. Except not heartwarming. Or funny. I’m not unaware that this seems so foreign to me because of the abundance of riches that I have. I mean I’m not Mark Zuckerberg or even Tom from MySpace, but I don’t have to risk my life on a daily basis for the mere hope finding some gold. It does seem a bit extreme to stay down in a mine rather than be arrested, but as I said, I don’t have enough familiarity with the situation. In any case it is good to be reminded of how great it is to live in this country, especially at time when it easy to get bogged down in the cynicism provided by all the political ass-hats that are vying to run this country. The world is a messed up place, and people have to do some pretty awful things just to survive. I hope a time comes when that is not the case. Sorry to remind you of such awful things, but I also reminded you of The Goonies. It's always nice to be reminded of The Goonies.

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