Human Decadence: The Paradox of Aid and the Exploitation of Pain
Is there a limit to human decadence? Is there a limit to the speculation of the soul? I wonder if the soul can become saturated, or perhaps it is better to say the conscience. We quote great authors like Tiziano Terzani, we quote his book pages, his best phrases, but do we really understand what he meant back then? Are we capable of capturing an emotional detail in a photograph, the pain of a reporter, the sense of frustration, the sense of persecution when we see the evil in the eyes of war, in a landfill, in an overcrowded cell? It's hard for the soul to remain intact, yet there are so many psychological mechanisms that help us forget.
We have exploited the faces of thousands of children for endless wars, 9 euros a month to save those who had the misfortune of being born in the worst hole in the world, because of that splash of sperm that made them victims of something inevitable. And us? We do nothing but exploit places, sites, with fake reportage services and fake investigations, without ever really changing things. I hope that one day someone kills me because it will mean that I have truly done my job, that I have made a report that has served, or rather that serves to improve things. Objectives are not solved with fake donations, but with massive intervention and immediate resolution of the problem. Or is it too costly? Or, in truth, do we just like to see the pain of others because it doesn't touch us closely enough to scream at the world, but it touches us closely enough to make a practically fake effort.
According to OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development) statistics, from 2006 to 2015, 515.8 billion dollars arrived in Africa in official, public, and private contributions. An immense sum of money, which has grown year by year, despite the famous financial crisis we hear so much about on the news. The paradox of this data is that half of these 515.8 billion dollars was absorbed by ten countries, with the exception of South Africa, which are those from which the most considerable exodus in history towards the Mediterranean is being recorded. Egypt, leading, followed by Nigeria, Morocco, Congo, and Uganda.
Do you know how aid in Africa started? Do you know how the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund were born? Do you know how much money arrived in Africa from 2005 to 2015? 512.8 billion dollars. And the countries that received the most grants are those where the largest exodus towards the Mediterranean occurred. Do you know how many people are victims of trafficking every year? We are survivors of a world that persecuted Jews and homosexuals; we cry in front of Holocaust photos, yet we cannot accept a gay couple or a transgender person. Are we running so fast that we don't understand? Are we running so fast that we cannot assimilate change and therefore feel scared? Or is it because the human being always needs an enemy, an enemy to identify with, to feel united, stronger, and not alone.
I reflect, I reflect on what I live and read constantly. I try to make it a mantra of life, I try to give a result to my work. Who knows.
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