A while ago I attended a symposium concerning the value of human life at my school. It was rather interesting, each of the people presenting had a different take on just how much a human life is worth. After all of the presentations, there was a separate presentation given in an effort to raise money for the charity “The Water Project”. The Water Project is a group that raises money to build wells in third-world countries, so that those without access to clean water are able to gain access to clean water. The work the organization does seems legitimate, my only concern with it’s work is that it is a Christian organization and often times Christian organizations force their religion onto those who help (I actually did not know they were a Christian charity until a friend informed me, the person presenting the charity neglected to tell us).
It is not the work of the organization I have a problem with. It was the way it was presented to me. A large part of the presentation was showing pictures of people in third-world countries and commenting on how horrible there lives were. This struck a very-privileged chord with me. It sounded a lot like the justification that was used to colonize different parts of the world. The person presenting the charity seemed to say “look how awful the lives of these people are, you have a duty as an American to make their life better”. I am a firm believer that we should help those less fortunate, and that it is our duty to be citizens of the world and not just the United States, but I couldn’t bring myself to agree with the presenter on stage.
I remembered what I had read on tumblr and other places about “poverty porn”. “Poverty porn” was described for me as when the life of those in poverty is purposely shown in the worst light possible. This is often used in order to solicit help for those less fortunate, but it often ends up dehumanizing those it is trying to help.
As I looked at picture after picture of people who were described as “poor” and “dirty” and “helpless”, I couldn’t help but be turned off by the charity. I wanted to donate, because I thought the work they did was legitimate, but I couldn’t justify giving my money to something that had such a vile sales pitch.
There is a very thin line between helping people and exploiting them. If we wish to help people in third-world countries, we must evaluate how we are treating them in the first place. Are we treating them as sub-human helpless creatures? Or are we treating them with respect and dignity, with knowledge of their actual wants, needs and desires? I would have no problem donating to a charity that showed me pictures of the good they did or testimonials from people they’ve helped. I just can’t help but feel that soliciting money using pictures of those in poverty in the worst possible light is immoral. I do not have a duty to help those who are less fortunate because they are less fortunate, I have a duty as a human being to help other humans because they are human.
Bringing this back because it is relevant to my discussions with my BFF today. I need to write a post on TOMS…
