The Miners' Mindset

An article in the New York times described how the Secrecy Pact is Eroding.

When the 33 Chilean miners were rescued, the collective sigh of relief from everyone keeping up with them could almost be felt anywhere. The men, who had survived being over 2,000 feet underground, had made a pact of secrecy during the 69 days that they were trapped in the mine. They were going tell the story together, and they were going to share the money from it.

However, when they made it up to the surface, it seemed that the pact was not as tight as it was supposed to be. As news outlets from around the world began offering the miners, who are poor for the most part, good compensation for their stories it became too hard to refuse for some. Some of the men have already given interviews, while others are set to give them later on.

I believe that it is very noble for the miners, who depended on each other for over two months, to try to share their profits. However, I also believe that it is going to be extremely hard from here on out to accomplish that in anyway. Even with their book, some miners will contribute more than others, and will want to be compensated for that.

It means a lot that they have not yet given any real detail as to what went on in the collapsed mine, even though they have given several interviews separately. I just find it hard to believe that they will be able to keep it up, at the rate that they are being offered large sums of many from many news outlets.

One thing is certain, though. The miners have made it through an amazing ordeal, and after this initial storm of media coverage, should be able to live well in the long run. I pray that they can continue being on friendly terms, and that their are no disputes, for their sakes.