Well we had a unpredictable conversation today. My intention was to as I said "push you off the edge" of the social construct of race/ethnicity or more importantly "difference" as if being different means something. Perhaps it means everything and nothing.
Today was an agree to be offended kind of conversation and I truly appreciate you being willing to stay in the conversation even when it was uncomfortable, confusing, or difficult to hear or talk about. Race, racism, are both social constructs but what do we need to really get about that to make a difference for our children's children and in what way? This conversation might be THE conversation of the semester for you. Maybe not. And if it isn't, it's all good. You'll pop anyhow. Promise!
PEOPLE ON THE MOVE: THE ROAD TO REFUGEE SETTLEMENT
I didn't get to have a conversation about Thok in the Conformity & Conflict chapter on refugees in class today. So you should share any thoughts about that chapter. Share in regards to this question if you like:
QUESTION: How does Thok's story influence your views of U.S. immigration policies? or immigration policies in your home country?After Losing Freedom, Some Immigrants Face Loss of Child Custody
“My parents were poor, and they never gave me to anyone,” Ms. Bail recalled. “I was not going to give my son to anyone either.”There was a related article in NYT about refugees that is a must read. One of the other TED Fellows brought it to my attention serendipitously just after class today.
TED TALK: A VENTURE CAPITALIST FOR POVERTY
I mentioned I wanted to share a TED talk related to the chapter.
This video was chosen inside the intention of having your POWERFULLY RELATED to what's possible of out the process of ethnography, out of the ethnographic method of participant-observation and interviewing.
Jacqueline Novogratz heads the venture-capitalist organization for poverty called THE ACUMEN FUND. Here's a short video about what the Acumen Fund is all about.
Posts
7 comments:
I really enjoyed the TED talk video. What was most outstanding was the process of listening but also what is key when asking the right questions and how to ask them. I think sometimes we ask questions or start a conversation to try to simply reinforce what we already believe instead of hearing the truth or another person's reality. Maybe in fear of being wrong or just having OUR reality completely crushed.
The most resounding overarching theme behind the talk was this idea that the free market cannot solve the discrepancies that exist in the world today.
There are people living on 50c a day being exploited by companies that are not sustainable over a long period of time, and the reason that they're not sustainable is because markets are not predictable. In order to succeed, people in impoverished nations have to work to create goods and services that the very people in their country can use. By creating cheap products and services, they can establish a chain of supply and demand for much cheaper than any imports and bring the impoverished nations into periphery in order to become more like China and India in order to be able to export goods to other nations for higher prices, and to continue the cycle of raising standards of living and average wages.
Health care of course, as mentioned, is of primary concern just as is it is the United States; without healthy workers, it is impossible to create a sustainable, self-sufficient economy. The solution to this problem is much more complicated than a comment on a blog, however.
In the Ted talk when she said one of the thing she learn was that dignity is more important to people than wealth, I can see how that is true. As humans we all have a sence of dignity and some have such a strong sence that they would reject any help from others. That is important to see that charities are not enough to help eliminate poverty in Africa.
I agree that in order to help people, it must be done in a way that they can help themselves. By simply doing things for them and not teaching them how they can continuously provide for themselves, the cycle of poverty never ends. People must be willing to learn, but those helping should also be willing to listen. Then they can better understand what it is that will help them become self-sufficient.
The TED talk video is great!
I thought it was amazing that the woman said that people that are impoverished do not have a sense of dignity and feel that when they are asked their opinion that the other person does not want the truth. Money should not belittle people in this way, but in a capitalist world, there is no other way of proving yourself. As an ethnographer I think she learned exactly what each ethnographer battles with, listening and coming up with the right questions. I feel that when doing my own ethnography I also ran into these problems often.
I agree with Eric in that dignity is more important than wealth. This video really illustrated this idea well, showing how people are willing to help and make a difference in this world. And it all started with one person deciding to go to Africa and save the world. This amount of ambition and eagerness to help is amazing and we can change this world if more and more people have this same motivation to give to others.
I really enjoyed the approach that Acumen Fund has to helping those living in poverty. Many people try to make a difference by providing aid to those who need it. However, the greatest thing you could do is to provide the tools which would allow the people to help themselves. This would not only be a more long term solution, but as mentioned in the video help save the dignity of the people. In the long run, instead of creating dependency it would strengthen the ability of the people to care for themselves and as a result truly "change" the world.
Post a Comment