I’ve struggled with this issue for a while. When I was younger I used to just dismiss worries like those addressed in this post under the belief that they were unscientific postmodern claims that distorted empirical reality to avoid the uncomfortable acknowledgment that poor people suffer greatly. After living in developing countries, though, I’ve realized there really is something to it—for the most part, they don’t look at all like the always-grim pictures we get from charities.
It’s tough though, because we also want to acknowledge the suffering and persuade people to address it. My boss Dean Karlan had a slideshow in his economic development class that got a student very upset because it depicted Africa’s poverty but none of its beauty. At the same time, people like him do a lot of good for people in Africa and it seems tough to always have to portray such a complex message depending on the context. I blogged about some of the ways I’ve dealt with it here: http://www.zachgroff.com/2016/04/a-question-i-wrestle-with-at-night.html
I think portraying resilience and more nuanced pictures is a good way to go, but it’s probably a tension that’s inevitable when you want to portray suffering without portraying lower status.
I’ve struggled with this issue for a while. When I was younger I used to just dismiss worries like those addressed in this post under the belief that they were unscientific postmodern claims that distorted empirical reality to avoid the uncomfortable acknowledgment that poor people suffer greatly. After living in developing countries, though, I’ve realized there really is something to it—for the most part, they don’t look at all like the always-grim pictures we get from charities.
It’s tough though, because we also want to acknowledge the suffering and persuade people to address it. My boss Dean Karlan had a slideshow in his economic development class that got a student very upset because it depicted Africa’s poverty but none of its beauty. At the same time, people like him do a lot of good for people in Africa and it seems tough to always have to portray such a complex message depending on the context. I blogged about some of the ways I’ve dealt with it here: http://www.zachgroff.com/2016/04/a-question-i-wrestle-with-at-night.html
I think portraying resilience and more nuanced pictures is a good way to go, but it’s probably a tension that’s inevitable when you want to portray suffering without portraying lower status.