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H 17°, L 4°You do not really care about Haiti, just like you didn’t really care about the 2004 tsunami victims. And no matter how many Livestrong bracelets adorn your wrist, you probably don’t actually care about testicular cancer, either.
I am not saying no one cared about Haiti. If you just came back from a Haitian field hospital or have been combating abysmal Haitian poverty rates for the past 10 years, you probably care. But on average, most of us feel there are better uses of our time.
It feels like we care because only the stoniest among us were not saddened when searing images of Haitians trapped under piles of rubble flickered across our screens. This momentary sympathy, however, does not amount to true concern.
How do I know there is a general lack of concern for the Haitian people? According to that latest available figure from the United Nations Development Program, roughly 55 percent of Haitians live on less that $1.25 a day, with that number jumping to a whopping 72 percent when the amount is increased to $2.
Many of Haiti’s problems can be traced to massive deforestation and lack of indigenous industry, exacerbated by unfair free trade treaties. Americans, for the most part, are unmoved by these problems, due to their lack of “sex appeal.”
For us to care about a problem, it has to be glamorous. In the United States, 7,500-8,000 men are diagnosed with testicular cancer every year. Yet, it was not until Lance Armstrong introduced his trendy yellow bracelets that most Americans took the time to donate money, and many only did it to get the year’s hottest fashion item.
There are two causes behind the current glamorization of social activism: the 24-hour news cycle and the Vietnam War. The 24-hour news cycle has severely lowered the attention spans of most Americans. International catastrophes have been boiled down from their complex origins into dramatic 15-second video images — calamities have turned into movie trailers. We remember powerful and emotive disaster images, while often being ignorant of harder to digest historical injustices.
The Vietnam War protests also deeply changed the face of social activism by fusing activism and style. Some in the anti-war camp were deeply against unnecessary war and U.S. military interventionism, but many were also just following a trend. Flower Power was as much a commercial slogan as it was a peace slogan.
Vietnam is often considered the gold standard of activism. While arguably being the “hippest” protest of all time, it was not in fact all that effective. The first anti-war protests took place in 1965, but American involvement in the conflict did not end until 1973. It was Richard Nixon, not anti-war candidate George McGovern, who was elected president in 1972, and it took the unabashedly conservative, hippie-hating Tricky Dick to finally end the conflict. The immortalization of Vietnam era protests is proof of Americans valuing the culture, fashion and music of social protests just as much as the cause.
The need to make Haitian earthquake relief effort cool was almost immediate here in Madison. On Jan. 28 a dance party was held at the Majestic, with all proceeds going to the Doctors Without Border operation in Haiti. I am not criticizing the organizers of the event; they knew in order to get vital money flowing to Haiti they needed to make Haiti relief trendy. It does, however, serve as a sad commentary on contemporary America, that when people are devastated by natural disaster we feel the appropriate response is to dance, drink and party.
Many organizations and individuals have done a lot for the Haitian people before and after the devastating earthquake hit Haiti on Jan. 12, 2010. It is truly great that so many have opened their wallets and spent their time in the aid of the desperate nation. But before we give ourselves a pat on the back, please remember in six months when we’re no longer donating and all the celebrities have forgotten, Haiti will still be the poorest nation in the Western Hemisphere.
Max Manasevit ([email protected]) is a sophomore majoring in fire. [Ed. Note: Max Manasevit is actually a sophomore majoring in philosophy, but we respect his wishes if he chooses to explore more elemental studies.]
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congrats on figuring out how people work, im sure that took a lot of effort.
Also, I’m not really sure I care that Haiti will still be poor in 6 months.
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this is a heck of a piece…great job max. tackling an issue most seem to ignore.
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Alright Max. This is a pretty stupid column. So allow me to explain why it’s a waste of everyone’s time (and entertain at the same time).
“You do not really care about Haiti, just like you didn�t really care about the 2004 tsunami victims. And no matter how many Livestrong bracelets adorn your wrist, you probably don�t actually care about testicular cancer, either.”
Oh, I didn’t? Well, thanks for letting me know. I saw the images of people dying and I THOUGHT that I cared, but now I know that I must have a medical condition where money flies out of my ass when images of tragedy are placed in front of me. They call it “Oprah Winfrey Syndrom” or OWS.
Next time, try not to start a column by insulting your audience.
“How do I know there is a general lack of concern for the Haitian people? According to that latest available figure from the United Nations Development Program, roughly 55 percent of Haitians live on less that $1.25 a day, with that number jumping to a whopping 72 percent when the amount is increased to $2.”
So because people live in poverty, no one cares? You can say people are awful with helping or you can say our government doesn’t care, but more often than not our citizens don’t KNOW. Fuck, most Americans don’t know that Mauritania exists. You think people actually know what goes on in their world simply because the Internet exists?
“For us to care about a problem, it has to be glamorous. In the United States, 7,500-8,000 men are diagnosed with testicular cancer every year. Yet, it was not until Lance Armstrong introduced his trendy yellow bracelets that most Americans took the time to donate money, and many only did it to get the year�s hottest fashion item.”
Are you assuming Testicular cancer needed MORE attention than it was getting? It’s one of the most curable form of cancer if caught early, so why compare the lack of interest in this disease to massive loss of life? It’s not glamorous, but it also isn’t a catastrophe of epic proportions. Get your priorities straight.
“The 24-hour news cycle has severely lowered the attention spans of most Americans.”
What shit are you smoking? Not even a quarter of this country regularly watches cable news. And it certainly isn’t what caused us to have short attention spans. If you think American’s became brain dead only in the last 20 years, you’re giving Ted Turner way too much credit for controlling U.S. brainwaves. American Idol watched on Tivo for six straight hours (because it conflicted with an Orange Housewives marathon) has a lot more to do with our rotted heads than CNN does.
“While arguably being the �hippest� protest of all time, it was not in fact all that effective.”
What? Are you kidding me? After the Tet Offensive we were essentially winning Vietnam, but public sentiment at home made sure we went no further. It was one of the most unified and forceful resistance movements of the last 60 years! Plus, there’s this thing called detente. Might want to look it up.
“It does, however, serve as a sad commentary on contemporary America, that when people are devastated by natural disaster we feel the appropriate response is to dance, drink and party.”
What exactly do you want to do — fly out to Haiti and tend to their wounds ourselves? We’re not all doctors and a lot of us would just get in the way. We need to support it with money but we shouldn’t have to stop our lives to help others. Charity is charity. Why is it “sad” that people actually cared enough to donate in the first place? Would you rather this turned out like the earthquake in Iran where we just said “Fuck this shit?”
Listen — we’re not able to save everyone who is suffering. We should do more, but shaming us isn’t going to get there.
Maybe you’d realize that if you had majored in something other than fire. Dumbass.
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Max, if this is another attempt to bring back the PC 90’s, forget it! If you want to see the Haiti relief effort kick in to high gear, tell your messiah president to bring our troops home from Iraq and Afghanistan and send them to Haiti to help transport badly needed supplies. Unfortunately, Washington DC is snowed in for the week-God’s punishment for bad government. And we’ve had bad government for a long time from both Democrats and Republicans, so don’t think I’m singling out the Democrats.
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2:32AM wrote: “After the Tet Offensive we were essentially winning Vietnam, but public sentiment at home made sure we went no further.”
Still blaming the media for our loss in Vietnam, eh? Dude, China and the USSR jumped in on North Vietnam’s side shortly after we put the draft into high gear. We lost a war we never should have let our leaders get us into.
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Max, Americans DO care! We’re doing everything we can just like a lot of other countries. Remember that we also have a few million homeless people here in the United States of America that need our help too. If your way of rallying Americans is to lay a guilt trip on them, you are not likely to see an improvement on the situation. Keep it friendly and you’ll get results. Okee-doke?
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I am angry because you’re correct and now I’m going to write an essay about how angry I am that you don’t think I care. I must prove to you that I care by devoting an afternoon to commenting on your article instead of doing something that matters. HOW DARE YOU SAY I DON’T CARE ABOUT A THING ARGLEBARGLEBARGLE
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that isn’t circular logic…
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Head on back to CommArts 101, champ.