What has THE elephant become?

Hazel Hepburn
An Idea (by Ingenious Piece)
2 min readJul 6, 2022
I was imagining the Little Prince gazing into the stars in the year of 2022.

Once upon a time, the Little Prince was terrified by this hat image. In his mind, he thought that it was a gluttony sneak who ate the elephant.

***

“What kind of story Antoine de Saint-Exupery would write in the era of the 2020s if he were friends with Branko Milanovic?” I asked myself.

***

“Elephant chart” was published in 2013.

In this famous chart, Branko Milanovic summarized this complex pattern of winners and losers during globalization.

The graphic illustrated the phenomenon during 1988–2008 when the rising working class, particularly in South-East Asia, took advantage of the globalization economy (A). The middle class in Europe and North America suffer from globalization with a fraction of improvement or decline in their living standard or almost stagnant wages (B). There were also ultra-rich elites in Europe and North America, who have gained the income surge and benefited from the globalization economy (C).

***

The recent news on disturbing Covid, resentful trade wars, and catastrophic conflict in the old parts of the Soviet Union have created collective mental distress worldwide.

***

I was imagining the Little Prince gazing into the stars in the year of 2022.

Perhaps, after living through terrifying adolescence, the Little Prince has grown up and can calmly tame the elephant. This time, he tried not to upset the over-stretched sneak’s stomach too much.

*** The End ***

P.S. This article is mini, but the idea is not. If you like to read more stuff like this in Medium, consider supportingAn Ideaby signing up for a membership.

(Thanks, and have a wonderful day!)

--

--

Hazel Hepburn
An Idea (by Ingenious Piece)

Hello there, we are Hazel and Hepburn. We love art, cities, and everything in between.