*The examples
in this post are overly simplified for the sake of understanding and illustration.
If you are interested in learning more I have several good books I can
recommend or you can just apply to a Ph.D. program in developing economics ;).
When I first
came to Tanzania so many things were new that it was hard to pay attention to
everything. There were so many new experiences, different foods (poop soup with interesting smell), several
new languages, and variously colored money that it could at times be
overwhelming. The one thing that was not surprising was the poverty. I mean
come on, its African right, everyone is poor!?! I have seen the pictures and
TV commercials. I watched Slum Dog Millionaire (which I hope most people
rightly point out was in India and not Africa). So when someone would come up
and beg for something to eat, I didn't think anything about their poverty. When people would beg me to buy something from them so
that they would be able to buy some food I was glad that they were working
instead of just begging. It was not until later that I realized it was still a
form of begging. It was not until later that I realized I was watching one of
the worst affects that poverty, long-term, generational poverty, can have on
people. It was not until later, after some relationships, experiences, and some
good books, that I realized what I was seeing. I was seeing a group of people
who have accepted the message that their suffering is worth more than their
work. I was seeing a group of people who have learned to see that their
darkest, weakest moments are greater assets than their strength, light, and
ability. How many years does that kind of message take to set in? I don’t know, but it has been
going on for long enough here, that is for sure. What does it take for a group
of proud, tough people like the warrior Kuria tribe to turn into beggars? When
did they learn that their suffering was worth more than their work? There is
probably a deeper history here than I have the education and experience to
express, but let me give you two snap-shots and maybe you will come to the same
understanding that I have (maybe not).
Snap-shot #1:
A company
starts up a business in a developing country. They produce a product that the
American public wants and they produce it cheaply so that the American public will
buy it and the company can still make a product. A good business model so far,
right? However, they are able to produce it cheaply because they pay low wages
to workers in bad conditions. So the American consumer receives a cheap
product, but has to pay taxes because the American government is sending
billions of dollars a year to this same developing country for development
because the people of that country are suffering. This scenario doesn’t even
get into the money that goes on under the table in order to reach an agreement
that assures a low tax bracket for the international company making a cheap
product by way of cheap resources and labor. Before you start crying foul on
the big company, the only reason they do this is because we continue to choose
cheap products over more expensive products that people are paid decent money
to make.
"So how does this result in me rewarding suffering over hard effort?" you ask. Good question, your answer is found in snap-shot #2.
Snap-shot #2:
This bring
this onto a more personal level. Have you ever shopped at Walmart in order to
save money? (see example above) Have you also bought a pair of TOMS so that another
person would have a pair of shoes? If you have done both of these things you
have said to someone through your purchases that their work, the actual labor
they put into making a product for me to use is not worth me paying an
increased price, say $40 for a pair of shoes instead of $20. However, your
suffering is worth me paying $58 (just checked the website) for a pair of shoes
so that your child can be given a pair of shoes that you can’t afford on your
own. Your work is not worth enough for me to pay a fair price so that you can
buy your own shoes and a pair of socks to go with them, but your suffering is
worth enough for me to give you a pair of shoes...as long as you don't work for
them.
Over and over
again we are telling people that their suffering is worth more than their work,
and they are listening. I know they are listening because I can walk around
town and am hit up to buy things, not because of the value of the product, but
because of the suffering of the person. They had to have learned this from
somewhere. They now think that good advertising means advertising their need,
instead of advertising their skills or products (the result of their work). I
know this because the hard workers I know here in Tanzania work 6-7 days a week
trying to provide for their families and instead of seeing Africa as a place of
investment, we more often see it as a place of charity. I hear in it the common
cries of children asking for money, as if every foreigner is rich and every
African is poor.
The way that
we approach helping the poor says so much about what we value in the poor, and
what we find in their lives that is worthy of our response. Most often it is not their work and effort, but their suffering. We unintentionally reward
suffering and elevate the despair of a people without many options instead of purposefully
rewarding hard work and elevating hope.
SOO what is next? I am hoping you are asking that question. I hope that you don't think I am being self-righteous or am just out trying to make everyone feel bad. There is a point to this and there is a solution.
Please read the follow up to this article
which will be published in a few days. It goes from this picture of current
circumstances and tries to offer a few options for where we can go from here in
rewarding work and promoting hope. Join us in this work, or at least what we are trying to do.
No comments:
Post a Comment