While reading about the warm water bidet toilet seat which cleanses way better than the softest bathroom tissue, I couldn’t help but think of the millions who are forced into open defecation, the millions without bathrooms or those who maybe only have an outdoor privy. The luxury bidet starts at $250 and goes up to $1700. That’s the income of several months or perhaps several years for the multitude who live on $1.25 a day. For those who can afford the warm water bidet toilet seat, however, the article’s author vouches for not being able to do without it once you’ve tried it.
The world is full of inequalities, some more striking than others, some more vital than others. According to a new study in the Lancet, five billion people in the world have no access to safe surgeries. That means that numerous people are dying from treatable conditions, such as appendicitis or obstructed labor. True, most live in low and middle income countries, but not all. Not having access to needed surgeries can happen in the U.S. or in any industrialized country without a health care system that is affordable and accessible to all. What experts say is noteworthy about this study is that the number without access to safe surgery is far greater than previously believed.
We tend to accept inequalities between Western and non-western countries, between industrialized and poor nations, still our acceptance should not make us immune to the underlying moral issues they represent. Maybe inequalities are deeper and more glaring between rich and poor nations, and yet within our own societies some inequalities exist which are hard to morally justify. For many of us though here or there makes no difference, anywhere there is this kind of inequality, it carries a moral undertone.
A Moral Undertone
