This is the name of a 255 page, full colour, quarto sized book I recently bought. It's an extraordinary 'portrait of humanity' which vividly portrays how various families live all over the world. The differences are astounding.
The question is asked: Can all 6 billion of us have all the things we want?
To make this book, during 1994, 16 photographers travelled to 30 nations around the world and lived with a 'statistically average' family for a week:
QUOTE: ... in an attempt to capture, through photos and statistics, the common humanity of the peoples of the earth, and the great differences in material goods and circumstances that make rich and poor societies."
The book contains full colour photographs of each family surrounded by all their possessions in the front of their home. For some families, this amounted to a few jars and jugs, while for other families, there was an "explosion of electrical gadgetry".
I was actually stuck in the introduction for quite a time, pondering the questions asked, and not able to turn the page. In some ways it is a rather heavy book to digest. The inequality between nations is unjust. For some people to starve from malnutrition whilst others throw away food with barely a thought, is heartbreaking. The rich western world can afford to spoil even their animals (think doggy cafe's, doggy beauty parlours, toys and heated beds for our animals etc etc) yet in poorer places, any animal is not simply a material possession, but absolutely vital for the family's food survival. The goat or cow is for milk, the chickens are for eggs...and if the animal cannot continue in its role, it must be eaten so food is not wasted on keeping it alive.
One double paged spread in the book is called 'Toilets of the World' and has photographs of various, um, toilets! At a glance you are shown the vast difference between say, the marble and gold model in Kuwait - to the concreted hole in the ground in Mali - to the snow covered outhouse in Uzbekistan. Very telling.
Micah 6:8
And what does the Lord require of you?
To act justly,
to love mercy,
and to walk humbly with your God.
28 September, 2009
Material World
Posted by Debbie at 3:11 PM
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2 comments:
That sounds like a very thought provoking book. I imagine you're sharing this with the children too .. ?
I think it's important that we see a bigger picture of our world and have the right compassion for all men/women. I usually feel quite repulsed at how our mentality in so called 'developed' countries make us so selfish and 'far removed' from other nations. How dare we think we're so much more superior and waste our resources on unrequired self indulgence!
.. okay, I better get off my soap box.
Thanks for sharing Debbie. I'll see if our library has a copy (and tell them that maybe they NEED one!) :)
Hello Alecat, thanks for your comment. Yes, the children and I have had some sombre moments looking through this book - and some fun ones also. And of course, they looked especially to see which families owned dogs!
On the serious side (and they do outweigh) I totally agree with what you've said, I could easily join you on that soapbox.
Thought provoking indeed. Another question asked was, with dwindling earth resources and the now recognised environmental dangers associated with a lot of our industrial/agricultural/mining practices..should some developing nations such as India, Africa and the south Americas 'be allowed' to follow the path the western world has taken so that they too can 'have everything'? Is it even moral for us to deny them what we take for granted? Heavy, like I said.
Another issue is the size and structure of families around the world. In more industrialised countries with higher standards of living,the family has shrunk. Fertility rates have decreased largely because of all the choices for women to work and the families now working to maintain or upgrade there material possessions. Contrast that with the poorer countries where family sizes are much larger. They struggle with poverty, population growth and environmental degradation carried out by the richer countries. IT's a dismal, sad and shocking situation..though of course there are some positives. Solutions are available, but will we adopt them? Tragically, I don't think enough will ever be done. Not until the Lord returns. But I think we MUST do what we can.
xo
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