I've moved on from the Haiti earthquake. I have to. Yes, it's a tragedy. Yes, innocent victims have died or are dying. I have to look at this situation like a MASH doctor or nurse manages patient Triage.
There are some cases you can't treat, you can't make the effort because there are so many other lives that can be saved. It's part of the exigencies of war. This sounds heartless and cold; people will resent my comments. I understand that. Please hear me out.
We have a unique medium in the 21st century that's about 70 years old. Television. Television makes the world smaller, and the tragedy of human misery enters our homes every day, often without an invitation.
Here's what Television missed:
President William McKinley assassinated.
The 1906 Earthquake and fire in San Francisco, California.
The sinking of the Titanic
World War I
The 1918 flu epidemic
The 1929 Stock Market Crash
The dust bowl.
Kristallnacht.
The great hurricane of 1938
The beginning of World War II
The Blitz on London.
The attack on Pearl Harbor.
The concentration camps of Nazi Germany
The firebombing of Dresden
Hiroshima and Nagasaki
Each of these events is a tragedy in itself. Without the benefit of Television, they are relegated to the history books or Wikipedia. I don't have a scale to measure human suffering, one human's misery can't be seen as better or worse than another's misery.
Some believe that we only get one appearance on planet Earth. So I have to view this disaster the way a doc or a nurse views Triage in a MASH. I have to move on.
Because I need to focus somewhere I might make a difference. Aren't there Katrina victims that still need a job or a home? Aren't there homeless people in my community? Is there a person who needs medical treatment but doesn't have insurance? Is there a family who needs a job so they can hold on to their home?
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Erica K
vanessa seijo
MichelleD
elizabethkirby
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Margaret Feike
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You're right to continue helping those you *can* do something for. Haiti has plenty of aid heading their way, and you (or anyone) watching the news and getting distressed isn't going to improve anyone's life.
John/designanator has an interesting post, as Harvard has a long history of working in Haiti. So, I understand what you're saying, but I think it helps us to pause and reflect, even if we can't go back in time to an era before TV and the instantaneous. I don't think one can make a ready value judgement on what is better, it's just different. Thanks for your thoughts on this.
Not looking to argue, just considering.
Any of these disasters (man made or natural) happen to all of humanity. It just seems a little callous to think that some of the human population is less worthy of compassion than others.
"one human's misery can't be seen as better or worse than another's misery." I guess you haven't listened to Limbaugh or Robertson lately.
Say whatever you like about colonialism but visit the BVIs or the French islands of the Caribbean. Sure there is poverty, but nothing like Haiti.
The first time I visited Haiti I was about 8 years old. Naked children swarmed us in the streets, begging for anything we might have to give them. I can still recall the stink of raw sewage in the streets. That was sad and horrifying to see, child or no, but the stuff of nightmares was the huge, uniformed policeman who suddenly appeared with a giant bullwhip. He whipped those children, children the same age as I, and sent them screaming and crying away from us.
Over the years thousands of Haitians have died trying to escape their miserable lot in life. Many drowned or were devoured by sharks. Some who made it to the Bahamas were able to work illegally there but if caught they were instantly deported, no matter how long they had been in the country.
Unlike the Cubans if a Haitian makes it to US soil they will still be deported if they are caught. No one wants the Haitians.
I hope that there is a silver lining to this tragic disaster, but for the life of me I can't imagine what that could be.
And you are spot on!
No contradiction there that I can see.
As for heat...you want heat...step just a little further into the kitchen!
HF -- TV is glass that overmagnifies, over emphasizes.
Barry -- I appreciate this comment and the PM. We get caught up in the moment and the magnification of the event. I can only spend so much focused on one thing when I know there are others in need.
Patricia -- I grieve for the senseless and preventable loss of death. Who can imagine a country without building codes? But then you look at the history of this country, this former colony, and the abuses of the people by its so called leaders. The level of misery in that country is astounding. Not too long ago our some of our own country's leaders said we shouldn't be involved in Haiti's affairs.
I can't spend all my time seeing these images and reading about this tragedy. I have to move on.
As for Haiti, I am certain that we can't save everyone or make it right for anyone, but we can do plenty to relieve the suffering. If we don't, how is that different than failing to call the fire department when a neighbor's house is on fire. How is it different than offering that neighbor blankets or a place to stay the night in the guest room?
The fact that we are not done righting the wrongs of the past few years is no reason to fail to demonstrate compassion in the face of a real tragedy in the present, and perhaps to remember that we are not done yet here, and that maybe, this event is a reminder to stay engaged. I think this is what you meant to say.
Dear Reader -- This tragedy is the sum total of years of neglect.
Ablonde -- Well said and thanks.
Frank -- About the heat: "my bad." ;)
Jeanette -- I'd like to see real data to support your hyposthesis, because, I think this is an either or response.
But I am not going to allow myself to watch hours and hours of news coverage. I know it does me no good and won't help them. I am going to donate what I can to the relief efforts and encourage others to do the same. Then I have to keep moving forward.
not health care, where some of our current rights are still salvageable, not equal marriage rights, not murderers who may get a "god told me to" walk, not gutting the EPA to give more privileges to oil and coal companies... ad infinitum.
I donated money for relief in Haiti. I then donated money to Croakley in Mass.
If they had any real integrity, they'd cancel the bread & circuses of the Olympics & spend the savings on Haiti...
Also, the tragedy in Haiti did not begin a few days ago with a massive earthquake. It began when imperial powers brought slaves from Africa there to torment for profit on plantations.
What strikes me wrong about this is that charity should begin at home and, until there are no Americans suffering as they are suffering now, I cannot stomach watching the orgy of self-flagellation over this latest calamity.
I'm tired of people writing about how embarrassed they are about their self-absorption in the face of this tragedy when, in fact, self-absorption is precisely what people need to get through times like these, in Haiti and here at home.
Unfortunately....I don't always practice as I preach. I still feel like I should be flying to Haiti to do something with my own hands, but I know better. I would just get in the way.
So, for me, when I viewed photos of the horrors of Haiti this morning, I couldn’t stop weeping and I got on line and had to donate and then get on Facebook & ask my family/friends to donate too.
I totally understand your sensory overload with this last-straw-of-a-disaster in Haiti. I envy you the ability to triage it out of your head. Even though I’ve never been to the West Indies, my roots are down there and I have to feel the pain and help all I can. I know we all respond to those world’s disasters that hit us where we live. My heart lives in the West Indies. It’s OK that your’s doesn’t. Peace puppy.
It is important to keep life in perspective, and not allow media sensationalism blur our vision. Thank you for your timely post.
~R
R
And I'd rather get this overload than most of the crap that is irrelevant to anything.
And if we had seen videos of the holocaust maybe we would have prevented it.
Here's what I think it is related to. All the events you listed were tragedies and rough times. The situation in Haiti is enormously tragic. We find them troubling. They are all facets of life, as life is difficult. These are human beings born into chaos - they didn't choose it. That doesn't make their suffering any less real than the Katrina victims, or the homeless guys in my hometown. They each have a story and each is suffering. My heart and hand goes out to all - no comparisons about who deserves what, when or where. It's just life on life's terms. It's always been that way as far as I know.
When I get overload from the media, I change channels, turn it off, do something else. The media is a problem at times, but they are not the problem here. They are just showing us the hell side of life, and we don't like it.
And I can text my $10.00 to Haiti and it may not seem like much - but who knows, it might help one child make it just long enough to help change that godforsaken island wasteland. Maybe not. I'm choosing to watch, figure out how I might help, and keep on helping people here too. Besides, it keeps me from focusing too much on myself - and that's always a good strategy. Sorry for being so long winded.
Good on you for writing about it.
And besides----this post prompted Bill Beck to write "this world is a bag of dicks" which might be my new favorite phrase.
Interesting post, Sheepie, thank you.
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But there is no limit, in my heart, for pity and compassion and the desire to help or to find ways to help any human being wherever that person may live in the whole world, neither down the street or far away. The Revolution may be, indeed, televised, but I still want to help. I respect your thoughts, of course.
700 children dead after their school collapses? Now I am a part of what I've tried not to hear. I'm going in the living room to join the survivors in their grief.
Roger -- Two very good points about truthfulness and about Nikki and Bill. They are both good people.
junk1 -- We shouldn't forget, yet we can't let this dominate our lives.
FF -- How hard it must be for little kids who just see all this coverage.
Odette -- Again I guess I didn't make myself clear earlier. By all means provide support. Allow the work to be done, but not focus 24/7 on it.
Amanda -- Thanks for stopping by. I wish I could offer more help for your son other than my suggestion the other day. He's in my thoughts.
Joan H - I respect what you have to do.
I always do.
Unfortunately, I also hear stories about people making a living out of it...but...
...I have a hard time passing a panhandler up.
I see your. However, the situation in Haiti is not that extreme so we should be concerened. Besides they are our neighbors. I already gave at work and at my daughters school to help the Haitians.
R
Are the Haiti earthquake survivors somehow MORE deserving of our attention than the 1 billion people elsewhere who are in fairly immediate danger of starvation?
I agree with previous comments on compassion overload. I KNOW that every day there is tons of suffering in the world. Sometime, years ago I seem to have reached a point of mental exhaustion where I find it hard to think globally - it's just too overwhelming and I don't seem to be able to "process" it.
Before TV we were oblivious to much of the suffering in the world, but now we are fed a steady diet of tragedy by the media because it drives ratings.
Not sure what the answer is, but I think my own awareness of the massive amounts of suffering in the world has greatly changed the lens through which I view life - causing me to see it more from a detached perspective and try to see it in the context of a larger "plan" or process that is unfolding over a vast period of time.
I didn't mean to insult you in any way. It's just, I guess you're right. I don't really understand the post then. I thought not worrying 24/7 went without saying, I suppose. I didn't mean to make you angry.
Why does this come up when a Black people are suffering?
See ya in a couple of days.
The question of whether people at a distance from a disaster get more emotional and empathetic than people did before TV and the Internet - good topic for a grad student in poli sci?
I can't give hands-on help to the people in Haiti but I'm participating in a fund-raising event this Saturday and will give some money of my own.
I am in a better position to help Americans in need because they're closer. Is that "triage?" Perhaps. I do what I can and don't beat myself up about what I can't.
As individuals, we may have to pick and choose.
As a people, we must try to do as much we can everywhere we can.
Nothing is more important than helping others, here at home or across the seas. Nothing en-nobles humanity more.
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Sometimes I long for the days of my childhood when news only appeared for 30 min once a day on TV or in the newspaper. The wall to wall coverage of disasters and other events by the likes of CNN et al makes me nuts. No, I don't have to watch it - I actually don't. I've watched short bursts of the Haiti coverage, just to keep abreast of what's happening and otherwise relied on less exploitative and more condensed coverage in paper and online newspapers.