Gators for Refugee Medical Relief (GRMR) aims to inform and educate its members, the University of Florida, and the greater community concerning refugees and advocacy for their struggles and hardships. With the looming conflict and war in the Gaza Strip, we aim to detail the number of Palestinian refugees in the area, the many difficulties they face, and ways for others to assist.
How a Boat Carrying Refugees and a Submarine Carrying Millionaires Demonstrated Socioeconomic Inequality on a Global Scale
Perhaps one of the most quintessential and endlessly-fascinating philosophical debates arises from the so-called “Trolley Problem”. Created by British philosopher Philippa Foot in 1967, it involves a person making the seemingly impossible decision of who to kill given a set of two options and their presence on a trolley that is unable to stop before striking whichever person they choose to die (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 2021). While in most cases, the decision is rather straightforward, such as choosing to let 750 people live instead of only 5, the level of difficulty of this task can vary with different factors added in.
Unmasking White Saviors to the Rescue
Last year I watched the film adaptation of Frank Herbert’s science fiction novel Dune about a boy named Paul who tries to protect the desert planet of Arrakis, its inhabitants, referred to as Fremen, and its valuable spice reserves from brutal Harkonnen rule. If you are like me and did not read the book you too were surprised by the amount of worldbuilding reminiscent of Islamic or Arab traditions. Ironically however, none of the main actors portray Middle Eastern/North African (MENA) or Muslim backgrounds; rather, the protagonist communicated as meant to rescue Arrakis’ largely colored Fremen population turns out to be a white male. While Dune and its characters reside in the fictitious realm the storyline is one replicated far too often in the real world.
Authoritarian Regimes Masked as Socialists: Venezuela and Cuba
As the phrase “SOS Venezuela” enveloped cars, signs, and news outlets during the 2014 protests against the Maduro Regime, Cuban refugees around the world shuddered with empathy as they were witnessing a sight that was far too familiar and painful. The political and economic collapse of Venezuela over the past two decades serves as an eerie allusion to that of Cuba’s during the Castro Regime and ensuing years. In both instances, political and economic reforms which aimed to uplift the lower classes, left the majority of the populations with an inability to afford or even have access to food, clothing, and medical care, among other basic human necessities. As a result…