Extracted from NGOs and the victim industry, by Bernard Hours
“The ideology behind humanitarian aid depends on three principles. There must be universal human rights – a worthy premise, but problematic. You create victims whom you can save. Then you assert the right to have access to these victims.
“The right to life is a product of the late 20th century, the “humanitarian age” which began with the presence of the Red Cross/Red Crescent, but developed in the depoliticised and moralising 1980s.
“Most people do not see themselves as victims but as individuals confronting a crisis… It’s others who see them as victims. Ambulances come only when you call them: aid agencies just turn up and declare an emergency. They save lives, but on their own terms.
“Although most people involved are genuine, the humanitarian industry abuses the spectacle of other people’s misfortune. Young people stand outside metro stations aggressively marketing NGOs and charities as if they were brands of toothpaste. But the public is suffering from donor fatigue, from having their heartstrings tugged so often by so many causes.
“humanitarian work has become a world of populist politicians; tired, concerned professionals; international funders caught in a bureaucratic, financial rationale; and suspicious or blasé donors who prefer local causes. The circus follows the show – the misfortune of others – a media product in ever greater demand.
“Governments, businesses and donors are paying a moral tax, trying to claim they are part of a moral humanity, through their pledges of morality, pseudo-transparency and charity.
“Professionals and voluntary workers try to plug the leaks in this sinking ship. What they do is useful and generous, but it’s not the solution. Aid work, by focusing on the struggle against poverty, has, in part, eclipsed development. It is like using first aid to treat a disease.
“Is this moral or humane? Contrary to the aspirations of the Enlightenment, it legitimises the idea of a world divided between the successful and the weak. This way of dealing with disaster contributes to a global apartheid, where people are subject to a global moral order.
“We live in a world of emotion which seems to eclipse any real sense of injustice: the defeated may rebel, but it is the victims who make you cry; they are worse off than you. Compassion produces little more than indignation, and it obstructs rebellion.”
November 13th, 2008 at 4:57 am
So when are you coming back? Lumi Lime needs a website. :-)
November 13th, 2008 at 5:24 am
I read the article on the website… you did cut out the best lines, and the whole article was powerful. i wish everyone was active about finding this type of information before jumping in to save the world. its always better to have both sides of the story, and the middle is usually the best way, eh? but i guess in this circumstance, there really can’t be too much compromise. its either give or not. you can’t really half give. well i guess you can, that’s what we pretty much have been doing. not really giving enough to see results, but enough to see 50 trillion do much harm and little good. cost benefit at every step of the way makes it so the end doesn’t justify the means
November 13th, 2008 at 10:07 pm
Goh, I’ll be back for the Christmas family gathering.
Daniel, I think the middle ground is, in short, being fairly generous for good service and products, to promote ‘natural’ development, rather than giving hand outs for some but not others.
November 19th, 2008 at 1:24 pm
Thanks Joe. That is actually a quite sophisticated answer, i appreciate your insight and response to my seemingly rambling response!
November 24th, 2008 at 6:38 am
Hi Joe!
I miss you and hope you’re doing more than well in Arusha. But reading you’re blog seems like you’ve encountered some interesting challenges like white pussy eggs in your toe? Lovely… I will never read your blog while eating dinner again. I tried giving you a call this past week but no answer. I just talked to Daniel, and he said your phone is broken?? I will try again tonight (your mid morning), and will try Stephen’s line too. Send me an email when you can, about how I can call you! Oh PS I think this is my favorite blog entry of the ones I’ve read… we talk about this in my International Development Studies major, but I think this quote I came across a while back always stuck in my mind “If you have come to help me, you are wasting your time. But if you have come because your liberation is bound up with mine, then let us work together” by ???
Hope to hear from you soon!
November 28th, 2008 at 6:26 pm
Glad this is your favorite post, Zhetty. It’s not written by me :-)
I agree very much with your quote by ?. I came to realize that a true sustainable solution is when the motivation to achieve it flavors the benefits of the executors. Does that make sense?