So I have to ask: are we incapable as a human race, a global population, of altruism un-sponsored by celebrity endorsements?
I ask this in light of the recent celebrity mass-appeals to help the citizens of Haiti in the wake of the horrific destruction the country has experienced over the last several weeks. The concept thattransnational civil society can bring peace to the world, ending oppressive dictatorships and preventing genocides, depends on the notion that a community of technology-enabled people across the world can galvanize support for countries to respond to international norm-breaking behavior. In plain English, that people with Internet technology can pressure their respective governments to act against leaders who violate international legal standards.
The problem with this concept is that it forgets that people have to care. When we cared about the Holocaust, we acted against Hitler. When we didn’t care about the Cambodian genocide, we didn’t act against Pol Pot. (There is of course the element of the news media’s role in making the public care through presentation of information, but that isn’t the focus here.)
Now, obviously Haiti’s problems were not created by a tyrant. But the question remains: do we need celebrities to make us care enough to act, and to make our governments act?
For more, see the related Huffington Post article by Philip Seib.
