Author Archive for Matthew Barker-Benfield
Where Are The Donations For Pakistan?
The flooding in Pakistan is the worst in 80 years, covering nearly 1/5th of the nation and displacing 20 million people, or 1/9th of the population. Thousands have already died, but the worst is on the way: aid groups are unable to distribute relief, drinking water supplies are tainted and unclean, and the monsoon season is not yet over. Ban Ki-Moon, the Secretary General of the United Nations, has called it the worst disaster he has ever seen, commenting “I have witnessed many natural disasters around the world, but nothing like this.”
Yet, here in the United States, the public response has been tepid at best. There’s no massive campaigns for $10 text message donations, no film or music stars opening up volunteering headquarters on the ground, no constant twitter chatter like we had with the earthquake in Haiti. So why is this?
Part of this reason is that Pakistan already holds a position in the American mindset, and it certainly isn’t as a victim. It’s closely associated with the war in Afghanistan which is — like most wars that go on for over 9 years — viewed negatively by much of the public. Furthermore, Pakistan’s role in the war is ambiguous at best, with stories addressing both their assistance in counter-terrorism operations, but also their alleged refuge and assistance to extremist organizations, including the Taliban.
And rather than a single earth-shattering event (the 2010 earthquake in Haiti, the 2004 tsunami in Southeast Asia, et cetera), the flooding in Pakistan started small and has slowly grown. It’s harder to connect with a disaster that’s been slowly growing in magnitude, and even more difficult to stay emotionally connected to it for so long.
Speaking of staying emotionally connected, “compassion fatigue” may also play a part in our apathy. Being inundated with disasters ranging from the recent earthquake in Haiti to the BP oil spill to the overall financial disaster that we’re still combating is incredibly taxing, both emotionally and financially. The idea behind compassion fatigue is that we have a limited amount of “compassion capital,” and it has been exhausted over the last two years.
What is really interesting is that we can’t chalk up the lack of donations to the economy. It’s not that people don’t have the money, there is simply no emotional connection. The economy has improved since Haiti (albeit not too much), so economic hardship in the USA cannot be the real barrier.
The deficiency in donations doesn’t just extend to private citizens, but governments as well. According to the U.N., on August 15th (over 2 weeks after the floods began), only about $90 million in aid had been promised, despite a $460 million request.
Americans’ reluctance to engage the disaster in Pakistan is particularly unfortunate given our strategic alliance with the South Asian country. With many reports of Al Queda fighters in remote borderlands between Pakistan and Afghanistan, along with a lingering negative sentiment towards the United States because of the U.S. military and CIA drones, amongst other things, winning the hearts and minds of Pakistanis may be much better accomplished by the American public rather than the armed forces.
If you’d like to donate to help Pakistani flood victims, there are a variety of options: more traditional aid organizations such as Oxfam and the Red Cross, or organizations that assist on-the-ground NGO’s such as the American Jewish World Service.
Want To Highlight Your Issue? Change Your Name!
A man from Zion, Illinois recently changed his name to “One Nation Under God” to call attention to the old Christian “unity” the nation had in the 1950s — a unity now eroded by the “loss of religious freedoms,” including school prayer.
Whatever you say Mr.Under God.
Yet ironically, though his name is borrowed from the Pledge of Allegiance (arguably one of the last bastions of prayer left in schools), he refuses to recite it because “Christ said pledge no oaths.” It’s unclear if anyone has suggested he just skip the “I pledge allegiance” part.
Originally christened Steven Kreuscher, One Nation Under God has been actively name-protesting since 2008, when he completed his first name-change operation to “In God We Trust.” Most people just called him Steve, though his boss did address him as In God (which I’m sure helped his self-esteem). One Nation is an artist — you can check out his work here and the picture for this post; they’re pretty trippy and awesome! He is quite open with his views, and includes the following statement on his website about Rob Sherman, an Atheist he admires for his similar ideals despite their religious differences:
I realized that he is a man just like me in composition and character and that we both very strongly believe in fairness, equal rights for all, freedom for all, justice for all and lastly, that we both are very strongly against unconstitutional government political shopping sprees with our hard earned tax money.
This won’t be the last we’ll hear of Mr. Under God; his next name-change is said to be to 777 (which has some religious significance, despite the reference to organized gambling), followed by What Would Jesus Do, No Cross No Crown, Thermado Zattersof and, finally, Angelico Zioneero. Whether or not you agree with him, he offers some interesting ideas for taking advantage of our (apparently lax) name-changing laws. And, overall, it’s inspiring to live in a country where this kind of free-speech artistic tomfoolery is not only openly allowed, but subsequently embraced or mocked as seen fit by the individual. I think I would fall in the embraced category for sure. I look forward to the day when I meet Ms. Free-Healthcare Worldpeace.
[Artist's Bio] via [Chicago Breaking News]
YOXI: Social Justice Through Creative Competitions
The Internet has been revolutionary in bringing ideas together, and a site called Yoxi takes the idea of crowd-sourcing, democracy, and creativity to a new level with a series of competitions designed to solve today’s pressing problems. It’s an interesting concept to start; made even more compelling by great partnerships with GOOD magazine and Idealist.org.
Yoxi competitions approach large problems with a specific multi-faceted solution. Their pilot project was to “create an initiative to increase the number of cyclists on the streets of urban areas.” It addressed urban congestion, air quality, public health and safety, and other issues (seriously, the list of advantages to increasing the biking population is endless). Yoxi participants are given background information, the ideal target of solutions, and the forms and formats in which their idea should be pitched. In this case, they were asked to send in videos that explore their impressions of the problem and its impacts, two specific products, services or ideas that would address it, and finally a short elevator pitch that could promote their ideas and persuade the public to get involved. The resulting entries were judged by various “mentors” from the field, but also by the public at large. In the spirit of democracy, the public’s vote was worth 70% of the final score, while the mentors’ was worth 30%.
The first competition has finished, with a group called Urban Futurists taking the grand prize of a $5,000 donation to a charity of their choice. Their idea was a mobile phone application called “Bike Tab” — a social game platform that allowed people to gain points and special offers should they persuade friends to join them on bike rides. Besides points, riding with friends would incentivize individuals to get on their bike and go. This solution seems highly geared towards city-folk in their 20s who have smartphones; arguably these people have relatively higher rates of bike-riding already, but I suppose their heightened awareness would make them more likely to actually take it up. Urban Futurists donated the money to Recycle-A-Bicycle, which fixes up old bikes destined for New York City dumps and donates them to children. Cool!
This model of social innovation through creative competition and online accessibility looks great, and I’m looking forward to seeing more projects and ideas. I also hope to learn the meaning of their name, pronounced Yo-see (random two-syllable web companies are so 1999). Right now, you can go to their website and vote on the subject of the next competition, ranging from increasing healthy food in markets to advancing sustainable and affordable home design.
[Yoxi]
Sunlight Foundation Illuminates Government Coverage
Knowing what your government is up to is important, and the Sunlight Foundation understands that. Its Sunlight Live Project attempts to improve on C-SPAN coverage by supplying you with even more information, whether you’re an activist that works for change within the system or one that works to dismantle it.
Despite all the calls for open meetings and transparency, there remains a problem: government is huge. It would be impossible to process so much information on the Internet, and even the media does not report the entire picture (due to their 3rd party status and their focus on what’s “newsworthy”). The Sunlight Live Project tries to improve upon the C-SPAN model (a vast resource but one that requires readers to know background facts) by supplying additional information on live hearings, round-table discussions, and other events deemed important to the American public. They use a widget alongside a video-player that displays contextual information, related articles, and twitter feeds.
Most recently, the Foundation covered a meeting between GOP leaders and various lobbyists, adding in the identities and biographies of speakers, or how much a lobbyist had donated to a certain candidate or party. Such allows people to listen to government leaders directly and make their own judgments and conclusions based on the primary source and relevant facts, rather than the analysis of some “expert.” In this case, the Sunlight Foundation also fought for the meeting to be viewable online — another way in which they are creating a more transparent government. Luckily, Sunlight spokeswoman Gabriela Schneider realizes one of the greatest challenges: “to make these speeches interesting.” Maybe there’s hope that the short-attention-spanned 140-character generation will be able to understand government after all.
Unfortunately, this type of coverage is very labor intensive, so it is limited to only “significant” events (so were still partly stuck with that pesky 3rd party problem!). Hopefully other groups will pick up on the model and expand this form of news reporting. The Sunlight Foundation just won the Knight-Batten Awards for Innovations in Journalism, along with a $10,000 prize, so we may even see more of this from the Sunlight Foundation itself.
[Sunlight Foundation] via [NewTeeVee]
Hundreds Protest Big Oil in Los Angeles
Today I was on the scene as hundreds crowded the streets of the Westwood neighborhood in Los Angeles Thursday evening. Lining the UCLA-adjacent Wilshire Boulevard, protesters took over both sides of the street with signs, banners, and honking cars. They appeared to be mostly local union employees of SEIU, and were protesting the subsidy of “Big Oil,” along with calling for higher taxes on the energy source.
Many had a similar reaction to the protesters’ calls for an end to oil company subsidies: “We subsidize OIL COMPANIES?!” Unbelievably, the federal government subsidizes oil, coal, and gas industries at an astonishing $2.7 billion per year. Many people, including President Obama, have called on Congress to remove the subsidies from the 2011 federal budget. Given the economic climate, and the fact that despite the recession Oil companies still have record profits (Exxon Mobil, for example, is expected to announce a $6.9 billion profit…for the second quarter), calls to end multi-billion dollar subsidies seem pretty reasonable, if not startlingly obvious.
Demonstrators also held up signs against California Gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman. Ms.Whitman arguing that they are a roadblock on California’s road to economic recovery, has vowed to fight unions. To be honest, it is a tough issue because union pay and pension is quite high, and slow to be renegotiated during times of crisis. On the other hand, workers deserve fair wages and compensation for years of service, and have been willing negotiators during the recession. Her stance on oil subsidies is unknown.
Protests are common in the area due to a large federal building located on Wilshire right next to the 405. Of course, these protests happen in the evening after people get off work, which is subsequently the same time thousands are trying to get on the busy 405 freeway, which is less than half a mile from the main protest point. Everyone complains that they cause traffic, but to be honest, the traffic is so bad already they probably don’t do much ! The 405 is, after all, “the busiest and most congested freeway in the nation.” Learning that makes me even happier I ride my bike to work!
Man Invites Mugger to Dinner
The National Public Radio recently aired a great story about Julio Diaz, a 31-year-old social worker from the Bronx who, after getting of the Subway near his home, was held up at knife-point by a teenage boy. Diaz promptly handed him his wallet, and told him “”Hey, wait a minute. You forgot something. If you’re going to be robbing people for the rest of the night, you might as well take my coat to keep you warm.”
…Say what?
The mugger, being a young and confused teenager, asked for an explanation (I imagine a more seasoned criminal would have ignored the offer). Diaz replied “If you’re willing to risk your freedom for a few dollars, then I guess you must really need the money. I mean, all I wanted to do was get dinner and if you really want to join me … hey, you’re more than welcome.”
The two proceeded to walk to a local eatery, where Julio was familiar with all the employees, and the two discussed what the young man wanted out of life (he didn’t know). The boy is never named and the article doesn’t offer much follow-up, but hopefully he’s on a better path now.
Now while I can’t necessarily advocate this reaction to theft for safety reasons, this just goes to show you that things are not always what they seem, especially in the realm of crimes. What if he were caught by the police? Sentenced to jail? Arraigned as an adult? What would the point have been? Questioning our justice system and the punishments given is important, because the ultimate purpose is to ensure a healthy, safe, and productive society. Incarceration may not be the answer, whether it be petty underage theft or nonviolent drug offenders. These are all very difficult questions, especially in a world where politicians that speak out against unjust punishments are labeled as “soft on crime.”
This situation is particularly difficult, because on the one hand we have an individual who threatened bodily harm with a weapon on an individual to extort money…but on the other hand, we have a young teen who is struggling to survive, and does so by any means necessary. What do you think?
[NPR]
Discouraging Coverage of Protests in Oakland
The streets of downtown Oakland erupted in protest on July 13th after the judge handed down an involuntary manslaughter verdict in the murder case of Oscar Grant, who was shot in the back by Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) Police officer Johannes Mehserle. His sentence, while not yet decided, will be between 2 and 4 years, with the possibility of extra time because he used a firearm. In response, G20-like “anarchists” looted stores, burned cars, and damaged police property. At least, that’s what most news organizations talked about.
The real story of Oakland is that most protesters were non-violent, and had put a great deal of prior planning before the verdict was read to try to guide the community towards more constructive means of voicing their opinion. Rather, when I turned on the news that Thursday, all I saw was footage of thugs stealing shoes from a Foot Locker, or breaking windows of a bank. Sensationalist journalism loves a story like this, though they may not mentioned that the police let the violence happen.
The Oakland community really came together to try to encourage non-violent protests The New York Times had a great story about how people of different ages, races, religions, and political persuasions came together to encourage peaceful activism. However, the title of the story was “With Verdict in Officer’s Trial Near, Oakland Braces for Violence.” Why not “Oakland Pursues Peace?”
Subtle and unsubtle cues like this extend the pervasive myth in American society that protest is just for crazy leftists (or, given the recent Tea Party movement, crazy extremists on either side of the political spectrum). The political middle class gets smaller and smaller because people come to the conclusion that either a) I have to join a group whose views are in line with mine, even if they’re more extreme, or b) politics is too heated on both sides, and I don’t have the time/energy/willingness to deal with it. In the end, news coverage of one of the most meaningful examples of democracy — protesting the government — actually discourages political participation.
Arguably, this is a very American phenomena. For example, when I lived in Argentina, my host-mom got a call one evening from a friend about a bad decision the president made. So, she did what everyone else was doing: got out her stock pot and wooden spoon, went to the Pink House (Argentina’s White House) and joined hundreds of other people young and old in loudly banging that cookware in protest of the decision. And this is in a country where not too long ago, political dissidents were disappeared! Yet in the United States, where we (very arguably) enjoy so many freedoms and generally do not have to fear the government, protesting is not all that common. And let’s be honest: there’s a lot to protest about.
So, when we look back at Oakland on July 13th, let us not think about the “anarchists” and looting by non-residents, but rather the way a community tried to come together in the face of difficult times, united in peace against violence and police brutality.
PlayPumps Fall Out of Favor
PlayPump — the innovative merry-go-round that pumped well water and received a slew of awards and donations — is an entertainment device that’s seen better days. After bringing it into the spotlight in 2005, PBS Frontline recently discovered that the PlayPump is now overpriced, underfunded and full of problems.
PlayPumps International was praised for its solution to the world’s many water-related problems; providing underprivileged families with free water, eliminating the need for water transport, and positively affecting health and hygiene by providing communities with a safe and local source. But the device has quadrupled in price (the original estimated cost was $7,000, while new documents list the cost at $14,000) and, due to lack of revenue, the currently-installed pumps are plagued with problems. In Mozambique, officials say only 16 of the 42 are operational.
Even when the pumps do work, kids simply aren’t using them as a form of entertainment. Most of the time the playground wheel is turned by women — including seniors — and locals say that the only time kids play on the wheel is in front of visitors. A recent UNICEF report concluded that the pumps are not sustainable for use in rural Africa.
Amy Costello, the Frontline reporter who filed both the original and updated report, argues that the PlayPump is not a bad device, but one that needs to be applied with better care.
“[I]t’s an appropriate technology in a very specific situation, which is at large schools where the children are big enough to play on the pump and that they’re using it enough during the day to pump sufficient water for the needs of the school. It is not appropriate technology for very small children, nor is it an appropriate technology for very small schools. Most people agree now too, it should not be the primary source of water for anyone. It’s a great secondary source of water for people.”
Long and honest field-testing is incredibly important, especially when we’re talking about millions of dollars worth of aid in a very needy world. Hopefully the failings and successes of the PlayPump teach some important lessons to those who have power in the world of sustainable development, which includes anyone from World Bank administrators to clever university students. Technology has an important role to play in the developing world, but sometimes that importance gets played out.
[Source]
Russian Spies in U.S. Infiltrate Social Media, Find Nothing
Your Mission: Infiltrate PBS.
In surprising world news, the FBI recently arrested 10 alleged Russian Spies this week (+1 in Cypress, though he got away — maybe you shouldn’t have given an international spy bail?). Yes that’s right, Russian spies.
Reportedly, these individuals had been living in the United States for years, some since the Clinton Administration. These long-term “sleeper agents” were well-trained, and had great cover stories including multi-million dollar real-estate firms and financial planning jobs. The only thing they apparently lacked were actual connections to American secrets. Government officials believe that the agents’ access to confidential information was extremely limited to happenstance conversations, if that. Experts speculate that the long-term agents may have simply been in the United States just in case there was some conflict between the two nuclear superpowers.
What the agents lacked in valuable information, they made up for in awesome cloak and dagger techniques! The story doesn’t disappoint spy fanatics, with apparent brush-by exchanges in a busy train station, forged passports, bag drops, and even a money cache buried in an upstate New York field!
Analysts are puzzled by the small spy network. The Russian agents mainly kept abreast political news, through publicly accessible newspapers, magazines, and possibly even social networks. In fact, several of the spies have Facebook profiles, including Anna Chapman and Mikhail Semenko (note to Russia: work on spy names). Hilariously, Mr.Semenko’s girlfriend recently posted a picture of him on Facebook carrying her in his arms. The caption: “with a Russian spy.” It’s unknown if she was actually aware. Ms.Chapman, on the other hand, has posted “hot” pictures of herself. I guess if you want to blend in with American society in 2010, u got2 post ur pics. You can even see her LinkedIn profile! What a world we live in! Notice that she lists the fact she speaks Russian on a native level — these are the dumbest spies ever!
Luckily, Russian-American relations shouldn’t be negatively affected by the episode. The Obama administration has had an increasingly positive relationship with the Russian government, pursuing mutual interests including reducing nuclear proliferation, and lowering the number of active nuclear bombs.
Overall, this is a strange episode. But it’s incredibly heartening that the country is reacting to this with concern, but also amusement. We’ve come a long way from the days of the Cold War and, without a doubt, the world is a better place because of it.
