If you are a Syrian refugee, seeking asylum in Great Britain, you have to buy a berth on a crowded inflatable boat. You climb aboard before dawn on a beach on the north coast of France. Many of you are forced aboard by people smugglers. You are frightened but hope that you will make it into British waters. Later, the authorities will process you and the lengthy asylum granting process will begin. You will have little money and officially at least you won't be allowed to work. The years ahead will be quite miserable.
If you are a rich Russian oligarch, seeking a new home in England, you will fly in aboard a private jet. Then a chauffeur-driven car will whisk you away to an expensive hotel or to the luxurious mansion you bought ahead of time. Nobody will investigate your finances, focusing on how you actually accrued that wealth. You will have a special visa giving you residency rights and soon you will be visiting Ascot or mingling with other oligarchs in Michelin starred restaurants. Your children will attend the best fee-paying schools. The years ahead will be fine and dandy.
What a great contrast! It boils down to money.
ReplyDeleteOf course we all know about such blatant unfairness. I just wanted to present it in a sharply contrasted manner.
DeleteOne rule for the rich and another rule for the poor.
ReplyDeleteTwas ever thus I guess.
DeleteWhat a difference the almighty dollar (pound, euro) makes. And it is so unfair, this crazy system. The rich never even think that without the poor slaving away in factories etc, "they" wouldn't have the fancy planes and cars, clothes and shoes. They look upon the poor as "nothings, nobodys.
ReplyDeleteThe fabulously rich make up a tiny percentage of this planet's population but they get far too much airtime and far less scrutiny than they deserve.
DeleteWhen has life ever been fair?
ReplyDeleteI understand that earlier this week the right to the special visa has been withdrawn, though those with money will soon find a way round the problem. Money talks.
YP, you've pointed out the difference between those who can pay their way, and those who, through no fault of their own, are likely to become a burden on an already overloaded welfare system.
Generally, the Russians are not escaping from anything but in contrast the Syrians are fleeing for their lives. That difference should count for something.
DeleteI don't know why Britain allowed all the incredibly rich Russians into the country, but it is not about race. It is about wealth and are they of good character? How did their extreme wealth in a communist country come about?
ReplyDeleteYour questions are the same as mine.
DeleteThe same as it ever was.
ReplyDeleteThat's the refrain from "Once in a Lifetime" by Talking Heads.
DeleteExcellent song.
DeleteFrom the time they were very small, I told my children "life isn't fair". It's true.
It hurts my heart, truly.
ReplyDeleteBravo to you for identifying the refrain from "Once in a Lifetime."
It was and is a great song. Talking Heads were so different from the rest weren't they Colette?
DeleteOne would have thought that by now, humans could have figured out a more equatable and empathetic way of living on this planet. But no. Not at all.
ReplyDeleteNo. In general, humans prove that they are not entirely civilised day after day.
DeleteIt's enough to make me weep.
ReplyDeleteI did weep when I watched the Channel 4 item mentioned in my previous post.
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