I received some verbal criticism from Shelley for my thoughts on a recent post We might need their help more than they need ours, particularly centred on privilege and romanticising people that I have had no contact with. I want to elaborate a little bit on these criticisms; they are important to think about.
Haiti is economically the poorest country in the Western hemisphere, likely because of various political reasons that I do not claim to fully know or understand. To add salt to these obvious wounds, the 12 January 2010 earthquake demolished entire inhabited areas of Haiti, with many building structures collapsing because of poor building codes. It is clear when you see pictures that there was intense social devastation caused by the earthquake. But I don't think the pictures are telling the whole story.
Over the past few years, I have been listening to stories about the recovery efforts underway in Haiti, stories about art and cultural preservation, about people from the US giving up their lives here to lend their hands and their hearts to the Haitians. In each of the stories that I have listened to, in each interview with a Haitian, I have come away time and again with the sense that the resiliency of many Haitians allows them to find a silver lining to most any situation. These stories have made me consider moving to Haiti, at least for a while, to see and to understand, if possible, what this is all about.
However, I was criticised for two reasons. Firstly, I was told that unless I navigated my time with the Haitians carefully, I would be taking advantage of them because of my privilege. In many historical cases of anthropological studies of underprivileged, disenfranchised people, the studied group has been taken advantage of, particularly because the studies in no way empower the group of people to change the situation they are in. Secondly, I was told that I don't know the Haitians, and that making blanket statements about their optimism or whatever else is dangerous, romantic, and just plain wrong.
I must admit that my intentions have been to understand a different culture, not for some sort of intellectual gratification or "to find myself", but rather to relay messages, customs, and worldviews that allow the optimism and hope that I hear from the stories. Honestly, it is difficult not to be in awe of the people that I have listened to, especially because I imagine that their compassion and empathy, if allowed to unfold in other contexts, can allow a markedly different world, one much less materialistic and ecologically degrading. I recognise at the same time that Haiti has staggering ecological problems, particularly those of deforestation and soil erosion, because of the demand for wood as fuel, degrading agricultural practices, and population growth.
How to navigate the privilege that even allows me to go to Haiti is challenging, and I don't think I could be able to chart a path without a complete immersion. Furthermore, it is important to be constantly aware that because of privilege, one can extricate oneself from most any situation, consequently leaving the underprivileged high and dry in their situation.
I think these issues are essential to think about when engaging in international work, particularly that of the (unfortunately) dominant "sustainable development."
Showing posts with label optimism. Show all posts
Showing posts with label optimism. Show all posts
Monday, January 23, 2012
Tuesday, January 3, 2012
An optimistic future
There is something so arbitrary about New Year's Day. The new year could be celebrated on any day, really. Who is to say that the new year should start on the first of January? What if the first of January was two weeks from now? Or two months?
Yet, there is something so defining about New Year's Day. Somehow, mentally, we are cleansed of the burdens of the past year, and we look, almost always optimistically, to the future. And it seems to make sense. Why would so many people be so happy that it is the new year? The new year represents, in a way, a clean slate--days of new adventures, days of new beginnings, days of new changes.
The changes that are needed in our individual and collective lives are not arbitrary, but are rather deliberate, intentional, and essential, and they need to be happening now. One thing that is particularly true, especially for the younger generations alive today, is that major changes will be seen in our lives. Now, it is up to us to decide whether we will continue to be passive and have those choices and changes made for us, or whether we find leadership in ourselves, and actively shape a future of justice and minimal ecological impact.
One of the great things of today's time is that the cracks of this culture are clearly visible more than ever before--the ongoing debt crises in Europe and the US, the mortgage debacle, the increasing gap between the rich and poor, the increasing corporatism of government, the ever increasing greenhouse gas emissions. If one pays even cursory attention to the political debates surrounding these issues, one can see quite clearly that all that is being done is that the stone of the problem is being kicked down the road.
Therefore, it is easy to conclude that the optimistic future we celebrate is one that involves major changes. This is an incredibly positive thing.
What was your New Year's resolution?
Yet, there is something so defining about New Year's Day. Somehow, mentally, we are cleansed of the burdens of the past year, and we look, almost always optimistically, to the future. And it seems to make sense. Why would so many people be so happy that it is the new year? The new year represents, in a way, a clean slate--days of new adventures, days of new beginnings, days of new changes.
The changes that are needed in our individual and collective lives are not arbitrary, but are rather deliberate, intentional, and essential, and they need to be happening now. One thing that is particularly true, especially for the younger generations alive today, is that major changes will be seen in our lives. Now, it is up to us to decide whether we will continue to be passive and have those choices and changes made for us, or whether we find leadership in ourselves, and actively shape a future of justice and minimal ecological impact.
One of the great things of today's time is that the cracks of this culture are clearly visible more than ever before--the ongoing debt crises in Europe and the US, the mortgage debacle, the increasing gap between the rich and poor, the increasing corporatism of government, the ever increasing greenhouse gas emissions. If one pays even cursory attention to the political debates surrounding these issues, one can see quite clearly that all that is being done is that the stone of the problem is being kicked down the road.
Therefore, it is easy to conclude that the optimistic future we celebrate is one that involves major changes. This is an incredibly positive thing.
What was your New Year's resolution?
Tuesday, August 16, 2011
One more time...
It's election season again. Can't you tell?
Today, I watched Texas Governor Rick Perry's speech in which he threw his hat in the ring for Republican candidate for President of the US. The man is a forceful speaker, zealous and passionate, and you can tell that he is a firm believer in what he stands for. But I had a hard time understanding his arguments, and why people were cheering his every word. Many of the things he said were things we have heard before, in the last election...and the election before that...and before that...that "the USA really is the greatest last hope of mankind," that "it's time to get America working again," that "change" needs to be brought to Washington, and he is the man to make it happen. Change is a platform nearly every candidate at every level of government has run on, it's just Obama that articulated that message more eloquently than others.
And one more time, we are requested to vote, to pick a side in this toxic politics, a politics that pays no heed to you or me, or the Earth we tread on, the air we breathe, the water we drink. Yes, we now have a plethora of environmental laws that have been passed to "protect:" the American people, and yes, there is much more we could be doing to effectively use those laws to ensure a less polluted present and future. But I am not reassured by the short-sightedness that characterises elections. Candidates seem to be interested in stemming the flow of blood, while the infection grows deeper, evermore complicated. Someone might say, "Well, that's what sells, Darshan." While this may be true, I wonder when time will come when a truer picture of our actions will be painted for voters, if ever.
I do not mean to harp on Rick Perry, or any candidate for that matter, because most all of them look the same to me, regardless of party affiliation. Each candidate seems to cling on to a bullishness that pervades this culture, that we are the best, that we have the "greatest fighting force on the face of this Earth, the US military," that our economy is the only way an economy can be. (In the end, the only differences between policies of the dominant parties are cosmetic.) Some people might mistake bullishness for optimism. Actually, there is a vast difference between the two. Bullishness says we can do no wrong, we've never done wrong, and that "we are the greatest last hope of mankind." Optimism builds on experience, with an understanding that people and institutions are fallible, and that we can remedy our mistakes, and hope that we don't do them again. Indeed, optimism comes out of a security in knowing that we can do better. Bullishness, on the other hand, comes out of insecurity. This insecurity is well-deserved - social structures like "health care" and "social security" and "the economy" are crumbling all around us. They have been propped up by burdening ourselves and the future with ecological crises that are truly vast.
I would hope that each one of us has the optimism that we can envision a vastly different future for ourselves, one in which we consider the impacts of our choices on our communities and neighbourhoods, those that we live in, and those that others live in. We must bear in mind that regardless of what economy and politics we subscribe to, a pristine environment is more important than them. We must reject the bullishness of our ways by recognising the deep insecurities of this violent culture. We all want this world to be a better place, and for that to happen, we must be better people.
Today, I watched Texas Governor Rick Perry's speech in which he threw his hat in the ring for Republican candidate for President of the US. The man is a forceful speaker, zealous and passionate, and you can tell that he is a firm believer in what he stands for. But I had a hard time understanding his arguments, and why people were cheering his every word. Many of the things he said were things we have heard before, in the last election...and the election before that...and before that...that "the USA really is the greatest last hope of mankind," that "it's time to get America working again," that "change" needs to be brought to Washington, and he is the man to make it happen. Change is a platform nearly every candidate at every level of government has run on, it's just Obama that articulated that message more eloquently than others.
And one more time, we are requested to vote, to pick a side in this toxic politics, a politics that pays no heed to you or me, or the Earth we tread on, the air we breathe, the water we drink. Yes, we now have a plethora of environmental laws that have been passed to "protect:" the American people, and yes, there is much more we could be doing to effectively use those laws to ensure a less polluted present and future. But I am not reassured by the short-sightedness that characterises elections. Candidates seem to be interested in stemming the flow of blood, while the infection grows deeper, evermore complicated. Someone might say, "Well, that's what sells, Darshan." While this may be true, I wonder when time will come when a truer picture of our actions will be painted for voters, if ever.
I do not mean to harp on Rick Perry, or any candidate for that matter, because most all of them look the same to me, regardless of party affiliation. Each candidate seems to cling on to a bullishness that pervades this culture, that we are the best, that we have the "greatest fighting force on the face of this Earth, the US military," that our economy is the only way an economy can be. (In the end, the only differences between policies of the dominant parties are cosmetic.) Some people might mistake bullishness for optimism. Actually, there is a vast difference between the two. Bullishness says we can do no wrong, we've never done wrong, and that "we are the greatest last hope of mankind." Optimism builds on experience, with an understanding that people and institutions are fallible, and that we can remedy our mistakes, and hope that we don't do them again. Indeed, optimism comes out of a security in knowing that we can do better. Bullishness, on the other hand, comes out of insecurity. This insecurity is well-deserved - social structures like "health care" and "social security" and "the economy" are crumbling all around us. They have been propped up by burdening ourselves and the future with ecological crises that are truly vast.
I would hope that each one of us has the optimism that we can envision a vastly different future for ourselves, one in which we consider the impacts of our choices on our communities and neighbourhoods, those that we live in, and those that others live in. We must bear in mind that regardless of what economy and politics we subscribe to, a pristine environment is more important than them. We must reject the bullishness of our ways by recognising the deep insecurities of this violent culture. We all want this world to be a better place, and for that to happen, we must be better people.
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