Amidst the ongoing chaos and calamities caused by the current disrespectful Pandemic and the clutter and clamor of endless varieties it necessitates an ample amount of careless risk taking, silliness, naïveté and defiance to allow oneself to pen these lines. This Pandemic is providing an adequate rationality to exercise my right of freedom of expression (of course with responsibility) but not with diplomacy. About 25 years ago or when I first used the word empathy in a conversation with some educated people meaning those who write flawless English, speak with perfect accent and have strong surnames) they gave me a blank look. As a teacher of Public Health and Gender Studies my well behaved students listened to me respectfully in the classrooms, without hearing me. When I talked about the concept empathy in Europe in different classrooms, I was advised to do more journalism (then I was a TV anchor too) rather than pursuing an academic career. My writings and speeches used to contain words like dreams, empathy and ending inequality.
Rules of the world changed quite quickly and all such “unrealistic ideas that many nonentities used to think, say and tried to spread were ingeniously branded by powerful platforms. A “MUTANT” empathy is an enterprise now. Developed countries have started teaching in the classrooms and Ivy League Universities are doing research and questions are being asked; Is empathy teachable? The state and society, both, globally are characterized, effectively by a strange combination of apathy, charity and selectiveness in almost every sphere of human life and aspects of national development.
As a kid I read a short story: A poor family who often remain hungry received food for 3 days from their wealthy neighbours when the head, the father died. One of the younger kids observed the change and prayed for the death of more in his family
I recall some moments from the past. As a youth delegate to Japan in the last decade of the 20th century, I saw homeless University teachers and noted high suicide rate among youth. I was in London over a weekend from Amsterdam in 1999 when I saw a white man hurriedly picking the left over chicken drumstick that I threw in a garbage den in the Oxford street. Visiting food banks in US and the predicament of slums in DC rather their very existent used to be a traumatizing experience.
Even while transitioning from a young development practitioner to a more mature and experienced one I kept on getting disturbed more by the evidence of inequalities, disparities, gender based violence, sexism, racism in the developed world( without disregarding their advancement in technology and rule of laws) than the case studies and empirical evidence generated by a wealth of research in Africa, Latin America and South Asia.
The inability to come on terms with the violation of equality norms in organizations that are seen as the champions of higher moral values and rights-based approaches and the resultant visible defiance kept many technically competent people either from even entering into such organizations or becoming a member of their leadership pools. Hence, we get a world where a vast majority of influencers in politics, parliaments and development sectors are those who are either with a corporate mind ( profit Profit infinite Inc.) or can work with these standards with complete ease if not insensitivity. Have a cursory look: where the money ( most of it) goes? It goes to the arms (manufacturing and selling), embedded media, propaganda and to make more noise on Social Media for saving women and all vulnerable from harassment in cyber space than the real space. Very cautiously, a callous business was trademarked as entrepreneurship and then suddenly it became The Social Entrepreneurship – originally the virtuous face of capitalism. This metamorphosis created new criteria for pro-people achievements like an invitation to Davos, grant winning or any other award that revolves around certain defined thematic areas.
Pakistan, my country, the fifth most populous country (average household size is 6.6 persons) with a youth bulge and stunting among children (an indicator of poor status of health of pregnant mothers), as a key health issue, is also shackled by the Pandemic. Each day I see tons of information in different arrangements. Very little of this all is actually practical for the poor of this unfortunate country that is also bearing the crises of empathetic leadership at all levels in nearly all sectors. Even in this unfathomable crisis and tragedy I read notes from the wealthy and elites (many honourable legislators included) that how undisciplined our people are who do not follow social distancing rules while trying to get “free ration”. It is civilized to be careful in the choice of words. Larger millions of our people have been kept hungry, unemployed, unskilled and excluded in many ways. A majority of those few millions who are privileged suffer, from the arrogance of piety and patriotism. There are no ethics and etiquettes in poverty and disasters. Treat others with compassion, forgiveness and equality or just replace these words and many other SOPs with one word- Empathy. I am halting here my emotionally unintelligent thoughts with some appeals:
The Governments of the day : Include Health in the constitution as a right and provide tax breaks to single and or disabled women and mothers who are the breadwinners of their families.
The UN System, MNC ,IFIs and all those who can be of any influence: Include health insurance as a mandatory standard in your own policies for any category of employees/consultants and for other organizations.
The WHO: Replace Social Distancing term by Healthy Distancing and widely circulate the original and complete definition of health that it is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity. The enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of health is one of the fundamental rights of every human being without distinction of race, religion, political belief, economic or social condition.
The US & other dominant countries: Health was distanced conspicuously and now you can see the consequences. Kindly distance from war/ conflicts ( yes there is money and news in this business, but it is useless). You know it!
May those who survive would unlearn more by this humbling experience and enable themselves to create an economic world order woven with empathy ( yes these can be mutually nonexclusive).
The writer tweets at rakhshinda_dr