Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2005/09/02
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Sorry - I thought I was posting this off-list to Tina, and as soon as I pushed the button, I resubscribed to the Forum - so anyone who wants to kick me, kick me over there. ;-) On 9/2/05 7:48 AM, "B. D. Colen" <bdcolen@comcast.net> wrote: > Tina, I suspect you've been spending far too much time in developing > countries, have become far too emotionally involved with them, and have > lost > sight of the realities in your own. > > I have only been to the Third World once - not the dozens of times you > have, > although my once was to Somalia, which would make Honduras look like LA. > But > I recall thinking returning to the U.S. and thinking, 'people here don't > even know what real poverty is, much less live in it.' > > But then as time passed, I returned not only to the U.S. but to reality, > and > I realized that poverty and standards of living are relative. First off, > the > poor of NO live under normal circumstances under conditions far better than > urban poor in most countries outside Europe. However, they are living as > they are in a country that claims to take care of its poor, that claims > that > all men are created equal, that holds itself up to the world as a shining > beacon of something or other. They live without hope, and with only the > barest of urban necessities, hidden from view in a rich, decadent city. > > And now the scrim is ripped away - we can see who these people are and how > they live. We can see that they were left behind to fend for themselves in > the hell hole that New Orleans is now, left behind while the middle and > upper class fled in their BMWs, Escalades, and F-150s, left behind by a > government that didn't even think to start dropping bottled water and food. > > If you want to condemn someone in the U.S., Tina, condemn the system that > has allowed this poverty to continue unabated since people first started > acknowledging it almost 50 years ago. The Mississippi Delta isn't much > different from the way it was in 1900 - and yet we condemn these people > because they don't pull together like the benighted poor of Central > America? > > Maybe its time that the church groups that so lovingly pour all their > resources into countries outside the U.S., and send photographers to > document their work, start shifting their focus to the poor in this > country. > For they are poor, and they are suffering, even if they are not "as poor" > as > the people in Honduras. > > B. D. > > > On 9/1/05 9:28 PM, "Tina Manley" <images@InfoAve.Net> wrote: > >> >>> Scott >> >> What unique conditions? No money, no job, no education, no >> infrastructure? All of that is present in rural Honduras > > > > _______________________________________________ > Leica Users Group. > See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information