Susnot

What money can do for... just about anyone... or anything for that matter.

The horse racing world is a a-twitter over the fracturing of Barbaro's right rear leg which currently looks a little more like a piece of wood some children practiced hammering on instead of a surgical plate and screws.

Which makes me wonder.

What about the other horses in the world whose owners aren't multimillionares? Are their survival chances less than 50-50 simply because their owners cannot afford to hire doctors like Dr. Dean Richardson of University of Pennsylvania? Because there certainly isn't widely available medical insurance for what would otherwise be categorized as farm animals.

Sure your average horse might not earn you millions of dollars by winning a race - but does that mean they are any less loved by their economically challenged owners? Is it fair the less fortunate horses may be automatically put to rest while Barbaro is carefully cared for complete with a swimming pool for physical therapy?

While survival of the fittest may have once been dependent on genetic strength, nowadays, survival seems to be more dependent on the size of one's bank account. And this now seems to extend to horses as well.

Whether legally or not, here are some observations I have made of the wonders that money can buy you:

• People who need organs can now buy them on the black market.
• People who want babies can now buy them or pay someone else to birth them for you.
• If your faith in modern medicine is great, you can pay for your full body or just your head to be frozen so that someday, they can resuscitate you.
• Don't like the body you have? Thanks to the marvel of plastic surgery your boobs butt and abs can be enhanced or made the way you've alwalys dreamed of.
• If you a kidnapped (real or fake), it helps if you are attractive, female, white... and your parents are rich.
• The same works for horses who are injured.

I will say this though. If you've got it, you're entitled to using it. It is your money after all. I am hardly in a place to judge. Anyone who resents that fact is either a Democrat, Communist or just a hater.

posted by Susnot @ 3:00 PM