THE PRICE OF LUXURY VERSUS THE RISK OF NECESSITY

The Vulcan accident resulted in the death of five Titanic-obsessed, who paid hard cash to satisfy their little obsession. The rescue was impressive, international, expensive and relentless. The coverage by the media wiped all other relevant news from the screen. The accident became the ultimate show and the pictures of the five soiled passengers continue to stare at us. A sad ending for a folly à cinq.  It remains to be seen if the bluff or the malfunction will be the main culprit in this sordid, journey into a David Cameron "remake" for the meek.

In 2015 the drowning of the Syrian toddler Aylan Kurdi in the Mediterranean provoked an universal revulsion and emotion. Today the same sea has become the catacomb of too many who were cheated into paying for a dangerous passage for an arbitrary opportunity to fare better in the illusion of Western Europe. Both the journey, and the arrival for those who make it, are stories of humiliation and disappointment with no end. They don't receive the dignity of regret, and there is hardly a coast guard which comes to their rescue.

The Vulcan saga became the thing, obliterating Ukraine, Sudan or the Rohingya, i.a. The news cycle and the chase to find a quantitative niche therein are distorting truth and urgency. The race to be in the news has killed conviction, truth and reliability. The Twitter policies favor quick indistinguishable uninformed resolution over illuminating consideration. The Vulcan had it all going: money, celebrity, arrogance, and it's demise is sad indeed. The hundreds of refugees remain nameless, packed on the deck of their coffin to be. Few notice. In death and in life they are hardly worth a penny.

C'est la vie, c'est la mort de beaucoup.