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IB propaganda about exploitation of poor


drolek

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Hi guys!

Title of this topic might seem a little bit harsh, but so is my opinion. Here we go, me 

I don't know really how many times already I have came into contact with the following: IB really wants student to know about poor and exploited. German B SL, I had two classes about how the jeans in their process of production are made all over the world often by poor and overused people, so then they can be found in Europe with attractive prices. Or there was a class bout the cacao platations workers in Ivory Coast in Africa, paid nothing for their hard work. Then it was in economics, when we have wathced a one hour long video about coffee production, and how giant corporations make people to sell them their coffee beans for cheap and about differences in prices of it in Africa and in Europe. I am always concerned, as: Yes, it is not right. But during German classes educating us about it has a form of: oh, those poor black people, used by others again. Lets watch the video about it and get sad. In my school there are number of project fundraising for, for example, building wells in Africa or just going there and providing them with goods. Is this really a solution? Give poor a fish and you will meet him being hungry very next day. Give him a rod and you will not meet him anymore. I don't know what is a solution about it, but I often feel that this is too much. And as I am quite extreme right, I wonder: are those people really forced by reality to work like that? Don't they have any other choice? I often hear that they can't own a land to farm on which then they would pass to later generation as it is a land of a government. Problem with government? Why don't they change it, huh? Isn't it their government? 

I am sure I am very wrong at many points, show me why please as I really would like to know where.

 

 

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I find it solely positive IB informs us about these things as the world citizens (what IB tries to make us, not that I have anything against it) we also must know about the global problems, and poverty is a huge one.

And why do you see it as a problem your school has those projects ? It's not like you are forced to give away your money, is it?

And building wells IS a long term solution. Giving a water bottle is not. Some goods like medicination practically has to be provided from outside, as those countries don't always have developed enough industry.

Yes, there is corruption in governments. Indeed that's a big problem too. But those poor people are not responsible for that and so fore should not be punished for the acts of bosses.

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Unfortunately, it isn't propaganda. Anyway, what would the IB gain by placing this picture instead of the prosperity a lot of people face at the moment?

 

One thing you can do is just research the poverty cycle in the US and then add the information that they're still some of the best off people in the world. For a democratic country like America, they have the opportunity to vote but for countries in different political systems, being poor can be extremely problematic because there's not much incentive to change the way the country is. 

 

The questions about whether or not they can just change it or just get a better job or something shows the assumptions you're working with when looking at places like that. 1) jobs that are better is every aspect are freely available 2) the country is democratic. 

 

Of course, there are arguments to be made against aid but I don't think that alone is enough to say that exposing such problems is a type of propaganda. 

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Hi drolek, 

 

I'm sure many people when reading your post, will get severely indignant and will want you to berate you for your thoughts on this. However, I'll try to provide my thoughts on each of your points, then you can make up your mind. I say thoughts and not answers because the points you raise are legitimately difficult problems with no clear answer in sight. 

 

 

. But during German classes educating us about it has a form of: oh, those poor black people, used by others again. Lets watch the video about it and get sad.

 

This is an issue I myself have raised before. With the recent growth of social media, everyone with a camera can take videos and share them with a ton of people. So often, the videos are not of great quality in terms of content; and people being people, videos about poverty and disease become competitions of who can make the most jarring videos. Who can create videos with the most shock value; not shock value like watching the Exorcist, but by watching something like 12 years a slave (though that's very far from "someone with a camera"). You can take a look at the thousands of "social awareness" videos made by people, and you'll realize a ton of them have some self righteous teenager behind them, feeling superior to everyone else. This person is after the shock value, not the reality. This is one part of the problem. 

 

The other part of the problem is that people like you and I, have become desensitized to these videos. We have turned it into a genre, like horror, comedy, social justice and thriller. We fuel the need for increasingly dramatized and unrealistic videos. 

 

The original point of these videos were to show you what is happening, things you may not be aware of. That point has been lost; these videos recently focus on the plight of the little kid making matchsticks, his small hands bleeding. They bring you so close in, with emotional music and artistic shots; and you think to yourself: "oh man, we must end child labour". But you don't see that kid getting a small salary, and that same salary helping his family out, or even paying for his basic education. This is but a very, very simplified example, but you get my point. 

 

So yes, what you have noticed is absolutely right. Sometimes watching these videos make me think its a giant circle jerk for "informed" people. 

 

However, with all this said; we must also realize it is essential that these videos are made. Something is better than nothing. Out of a million people that these videos reach, maybe a 100 will become really committed to fixing the problems somehow. You may not be one of them; but the hope is that someone in your class is, and that the video played in class somehow truly reaches out to them. 

 

 

In my school there are number of project fundraising for, for example, building wells in Africa or just going there and providing them with goods. Is this really a solution? Give poor a fish and you will meet him being hungry very next day. Give him a rod and you will not meet him anymore. I don't know what is a solution about it, but I often feel that this is too much.

 

It's not a solution; but it educates and informs. You don't know what Africa is like until you go there and experience just a little bit of their life. You cannot comprehend the grimness of their reality. Are "service trips" from schools useless? I mean, we go there to serve and help, but after our service is done for the day, we go back to our comforts. We retreat to our hotel rooms, with wifi and water and a heater. Meanwhile the bricks in the well you just laid are loose - someone from the village has to go and fix them for you. Yes, you are being useless and a burden, really, but once again, the hope is that you develop as a person, and that a tiny percentage of people find it in their hearts to really commit to service. 

 

Providing them with goods is essential. Until the proverbial rod is invented, you have to give the man fish - else he dies. How would you provide basic medical supplies to a war torn, impoverished area if there are no hospitals nearby that are stocked, no spare vehicles, no one with any medical expertise, etc? Aid is essential - you can't get around it immediately. You're right in that it encourages dependency, but perhaps then its also on us to create a way for them to be sufficient. It's not a burden on us - we have infinitely more resources. 

 

 

And as I am quite extreme right, I wonder: are those people really forced by reality to work like that? Don't they have any other choice? I often hear that they can't own a land to farm on which then they would pass to later generation as it is a land of a government. Problem with government? Why don't they change it, huh? Isn't it their government? 

 

Right, left and centre work in lovely european (and U.S.) goverments, where human rights are prized. 

 

I could explain why you must be severely mistaken on this point, but I think perhaps there might be a simpler way: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Idi_Amin

 

I was considering posting 20 links like that just to make my point - but I think if you google "dictator" you will get it anyway. 

 

 

 

I am sure I am very wrong at many points, show me why please as I really would like to know where.

 

I actually thought you had some very valid questions. Questions like that are essential; and when you answer them for yourself, compassion is essential too.

 

A willingness to step into someone else's shoe is vital. I felt like I couldn't do this last year, and toured much of Asia and sub-saharan Africa. Reality is nothing like what the videos show you. There is a great deal more to their lives than the terrible conditions on the farm; the horrors they experience are also on a scale you cannot imagine. 

 

If you too want answers, take a step outside your comfort zone. See for yourself - and you'll have your answers. 

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