Refund by Karen E. Bender: My Review

Refund by Karen E. Bender: My Review

“What did one owe for being alive? What was the right way to breathe, to taste a strawberry, to love?” This story is about political economy (money) circumstantial/economic coercion under capitalism, which drags a loving, good-hearted couple into pulling a scam by advertising their apartment, which they do not own, forsake their child’s child education. Privatisation makes teaching a business that works for prof i t and generates a competitive atmosphere where proper education becomes an asset only available to those who can afford it. They call it “survival of the fi ttest, " a phrase coined by Herbert Spencer while theorising Social Darwinism. This conception lurks behind the very fabric of the capitalist economy as its inherent logic legitimises treating humans as beasts and turning society into a jungle where only those with wealth have the right to be alive, breathe, taste food, and love. Another signif i cant event discussed in the story is the 9/11 attack on the T…