I'm asking these questions because of a New York Times article I saw that was concerning corporations and individuals trying to illuminate Africa. I think it's safe to say that it is almost becoming a culturally cool thing to do, give back to the third world. I can't quite put my finger on why people would want to do this for a number of reasons. One thing I think of is why some societies and cultures would want to help preserve a culture that they really do not stand anything to gain from while others would be so bent on destroying it. Why are there regimes in the Congo that want to destroy entire races of people and effectively destroy their own homeland while there are other groups across an ocean that have invested so much in helping. I know from a corporate standpoint, it is definitely beneficial and good press to look like a humanitarian organization, but I am still asking why. Why is our society so into helping these people. One conclusion that I have come up with is that, while it is true that we are helping these people, we are also hurting them at the same time. The evils that we are bringing upon these people often are not as clear or widely talked about because they're taboos and issues that we simply choose to ignore. I am just as guilty as everyone else for the very same reason that we are all guilty- inadvertent benefit and failure to realize, identify, and renounce the injustices made every day. Now the one that we would all have difficulty doing at first would probably be the first part- just because it is hard to calculate and understand. I'm honestly not sure what the extend of these injustices are, but I hope I would not be considered presumptuous in suggesting that these issues are not worth noting. Because this idea is so abstract, it cannot be the basis of why we do what we do. It is just something to keep in the back of the mind. It also does not detract from the idea that people are helping, it can just be an indication of the extent to which we would be inconvenienced to help others. If our true assistance of the Third World required us to give up the things we hold dear, I wonder how "cool" it would be to do it.
I guess this gets into another point. I'm picturing a Whole Foods Market and the people who go there in my head as I write this paragraph. It tends to be a more well-off group of people who go to Whole Foods, primarily because of the prices. They have excess money to buy everything organic and they can afford to worry about how many pesticides are put into their food or how much it saves their carbon footprint or how few animals were hurt in the making of the product. I have no problem with this, but it is these efforts that come from excess resources. Those people who are less well-off in America do not shop at Whole Foods because they are simply not looking to save the world through their spending, they are trying to get the best deal that can best feed their family. So tying this back to my first point, maybe some of the reason people give is because it is a status symbol. If you have enough to give away, you surely must have enough for yourself. I don't want to suggest that those who have money give more or those who have less give less, because that is not necessarily the case. I'm only stating that this could be a trend because it is now the cool thing to do when you have money. Being more conscious about the world around you is now becoming an issue and a true sector that others will gladly judge you by. I didn't answer the first question in the first sentence I posed, but I guess I'll get to that later. I sort of took the idea and ran with it. Word.
Song of the day:
If Rap Gets Jealous by K'naan
No comments:
Post a Comment