The Trap of Selective Compassion

Television shows and other specials that focus on having compassion for people solely because they're involved in a major cataclysmic event such as Hurricane Katrina reinforces the idea that homeless people, and other's below the poverty line are in those positions because it is their fault. Cataclysmic events are the exceptions, and we're willing to see these people's humanity because we can relate to the idea that if a hurricane hit us that we're helpless to deal with that. It is harder to relate to the uneducated, the disenfranchised, the mentally ill, the unskilled, the hopeless, and so many others that don't have such clear stories that are easy to relate to. There are two categories for plighted people... those who have fucked up on their own, and those who have had their life fucked up and it wasn't their fault. This reinforces the capitalistic meritocracy believe-system of our society, and shows that show affluent people helping hurricane victims create that feelgood warm touching moment. These people deserve our help. We're good people for helping them.

It is true, those people need our help. So do the others that we don't notice that are on the margins. The only way to fix these problems is with a systemic change. The charge that can lead toward this change is humanizing all marginalized people regardless of how they became marginalized, not just the extreme sensationalized cases. These shows about New Orleans, and potentially even the Extreme Make-Over Home Edition series may actually make the cultural problem worse. We need a more systemic approach to these problems instead of the selective case approach that isolates "worthy" candidates.