I've been fortunate enough to do some travelling this year. While I wish my travels hadn't been cut short, I reflect on my experiences with a deep sense of gratitude towards the people I've met and the places I've seen. I'm also increasingly convinced of how lucky I am to live in a first-world country, where my biggest struggles are perhaps how to succeed in the workforce or what hobbies I should pursue in my free time, and not whether I will make enough money to travel home or whether I can afford to eat today.
To see the world as a citizen of a first-world country is to discover one's privilege.
You'd be surprised at how similar a suburban Chinese mall is to a Turkish bazaar. Migrant workers flood the streets, striking up friendly conversations with unsuspecting foreign tourists, all the while hoping foreigners end up purchasing their knock-off designer goods. We cringe at the thought of a sleazy third-world salesman, but we rarely consider how lucky we are to have been born into a different life path. Somewhere around the world, there's a 22-year-old boy with the same capabilities and aspirations as me, who loves technology and also wants to start his own company. Only he won't. He'll likely never get the chance to. Instead, he wakes up worrying about how many fake Dior handbags he can sell to middle-class American travellers. His family back in the countryside depends on him. If he works hard, he'll have enough extra cash to buy a train ticket home. I don't know why this is my life, and that is his.
This global pandemic and subsequent lockdowns have disproportionately hit the poor. But we won't know about it. It won't be covered in the news, packaged as a nice New York Times article, nor will it be trending on Twitter. The poorest people do not own phones and do not have access to the internet. Forget about CERB; their economies are unlikely to provide much government support, if any. For all we know, they don't exist.
We spend much of our time berating tech billionaires for widening America's wealth gap, yet rarely think about the US's role in widening the world's. And why should we? Poverty has always existed. We're already struggling with our own set of problems. Why add global income inequality to the mix?
I'm realizing that being sheltered from thinking about income inequality is in itself, a huge blessing. I have a responsibility to others, and I'll work to do the best I can.