Touring the Times

Man, THIS is creepy.  "Poverty tourism", they call it.  People go to the slums, watch the poor people, then retire to a ten-course meal, and they charge $30,000 apiece!  Then the guests pat themselves on the back for learning about the plight of the poor...but really, while they pose as caring, they're really all about themselves and their acquisitiveness.  Hypocrites!

I'm glad I'm more enlightened than that!  I read the New York Times!  I'm no uncaring capitalist. I'm a caring, informed global citizen.  I'm aware of the challenges facing not only the poor, but those facing our environment.  Did I mention I care?  I do!

Let's look at this Sunday's edition!

Here's a big article in section one about the poor people in Kenya, who are being displaced.  I care about them!  Those stupid people in the White House ought to do something!  And on the other side of the page, here are some cool watches!  Five different ads on the same page!  Gucci and Tag Heuer, too!

And that's a cool new Alfa Romeo I can buy!  Wow!

Here's another way I can be caring.  I can buy my fine wines from Napa Valley, under the label, "Markham Wine".  Says here in this full-page ad that they'll use a bit of the money to make changes in communities somewhere!  I feel good about that.

Here's an article about poor, single mothers in China.  Pretty rough deal, there.  Turn the page, and Nordstrom is having a big lingerie sale!  $42 for a bra! 

And check out this new perfume I can buy that actually smells like GOLD!  It's only $105! 

Global citizens who care, like me, love the New York Times.  Here's an article about religious persecution in Iraq.  How sad!   And here's an ad below it for a luxury tour of Ireland!   And Tiffany is having a sale on bracelets!  Ooh!

Oh -- an article on the poor in Amazonia, the oppressed "forest peoples".  Aw.  The White House should really do something!  There's a lot of bio-diversity there, you know!   And Bloomingdale's has a sale on their "Pretty in Python" watches -- now only $3,000!

Says here Al Gore has a new "logo":  It's the word "Me", but it's flipped over, because it's not really all about "me"!  Good stuff.  So true!  And here's an article by it, about a "green" house I can buy, for only $3 million!  With all the luxuries, but with a special air conditioner!

Oh -- awesome!  This ad says CIRCA will re-set all my fine jewelry, and give me "instant gratification"!  I like instant gratification!

Dang it.  Says here CEO's are still making too much money.  I hate that!  It's not fair.  Plus, they -- wait:  COOL:  "The Brompton" is now offering "stylishly proper" condos I can have for $4.6 million!  Neat!

I love the Times because they give their readers real life ideas.  Like this piece about the best ways I can spend 36 hours in luxury while in Dubai!  I'm usually bored in Dubai!  And here's an ad inviting me to see the new de la Renta collection if I just call for an appointment!  And here's an article on the plight of people without health insurance!  You know, that White House should -- wait:  Sotheby's is having a big art auction for discriminating collectors!  Pretty full-page ad!  Ooh --so sad:  People are facing foreclosures, and it's not fair, and, here's some very fancy homes advertised for Jupiter, Florida, of all places, and man, this is interesting stuff, and anyway, back to the point, those "poverty tourists" would have to be pretty full of themselves to pat themselves on the back for talking one way, but really living the other. 

Bunch of posers!

Comments

[Bob Sacamento]

Stick it to 'em, Brant!

By the way, does anyone even know what gold smells like?

[From Brant: I was *wondering* about that. But, shoot, they wouldn't advertise it if they thought that product wasn't important to consumers of the Times.]

[RevJeff]

Hey wait... there's more. ORDER NOW!!! and We'll throw in at no additional charge...

Thanks for the focus.

[Nathan Bubna]

Sheesh. Crazy New York Times! The White House should do something about that!

Ok, but seriously, i've always ripped on TV news for this same sort of "Earthquake in Turkey kills thousands, but first let me tell you about McDonald's latest specials" hypocrisy and general trivialization of humanity. Instead, i've always recommended/preferred newspapers, without really bothering to notice the same problem is still there. They're just more subtle since the ads are next to the news, rather than interrupting it.

But really, the irreverence and hypocrisy of both is in me, who just consumes the news and barely acts on it. A prayer here, a tiny lifestyle change there, maybe even a vote or minor political activism, but i'm too chickenshit to lay down my family's lifestyle for others. Sometimes i honestly think it would be easier to lay down my life than my lifestyle, but no one around here wants to kill me so i've had the chance to find out.

So, until i get some real courage or conviction, i keep hoping God will kick my butt into gear there or by His grace these tiny changes will accumulate into something greater over the years. In the meantime, i'll probably keep reading the news(papers) online. I guess i'd rather be informed and hypocritical and give good opportunity for my conscience to be pricked than to ignore the wider world.

Lord, have mercy, that needle's eye looks awful small sometimes.

[From Brant: Nathan, I love your attitude. And I'm all for staying informed to whatever extent suits you.

The Times is a particularly glaring example of preaching one thing, and practicing another. The paper is aimed at BoBos -- bourgeouis bohemians, in David Brooks' phrase. They decry capitalism, vote liberal, think of themselves as enlightened global citizens, and practice acquisitiveness as a lifestyle.

Really, the incongruity on display in every edition is laugh-worthy, but I don't see them laughing. It's a humor-bomb launched onto the sidewalks and porches of university profs and elites everywhere, who protest consumerism while living it in style.

As I say, we can stay informed, but we can also apply a textual critique to say, "What is this paper *really* all about?" It's about feeling like we're compassionate, while living for ourselves. Hypocrisy comes in all worldviews, and while I struggle with my own, it's worth pointing out a version that's on display on newstands every day.]

[Mike Taylor]

I thought this poverty-tourism thing was a pretty neat idea ... until I read to the end and found that, of the $1.5M dollars they will take for this (fifty guests at $30k each), about $9000 will be donated to (presumably relevant) charities. That's 0.6% folks. Now THAT is unbelivable.

[T]

"Like this piece about the best ways I can spend 36 hours in luxury while in Dubai! I'm usually bored in Dubai!"

Me too.

Dubai.

[Fay]

Read the Times Magazine via Google Reader. When you click through to the Web site, there aren't as many ads. Uh, well, they're not as big. Much less guilt. :)

Seriously, just stop reading the magazine. Only the Arts and Living sections are worth it.

[Terri]

Oooo, you really nailed this point! And I guess I'm not an enlightened, caring global citizen, 'cause I don't read the New York Times. Maybe I need a subscription so I'll know better how to walk the talk of a "caring concerned citizen." :)

[Becky]

Brant, this stuff makes me sick. Thanks for bringing it out into the open.

Loved this post. I will link to it.

[MrPages]

Being green is so important to me that I'm going to have the New York Times put on an airplane and couriered 1600 miles just so I can read those articles on being green.

[Dr Mike]

When I flip "We" over, I wind up with "eW," which is short for "eeewwww," I guess.

Unless I'm missing something.

[Cory Dean West]

Fantastic-and the BoBos clarification was insightful. We do all struggle with our own hypocrisy. For me, the question is at what point must we speak out about the inequities of the world when we are each consumers on some level? Just struggling in the margins...

[Dr Chuck Pearson]

I got the rare privilege of going to Israel last month, and it was all awesome and amazing until we went into Jericho and Bethlehem and saw that everything in Israel isn't shiny and happy, and then I found myself spending large swaths of the rest of the trip getting pissed at the tour buses carrying old people to sanitized "holy sites".

I think my general feeling coming out of that trip is this: We're screwed.

This post doesn't help.

[Sarah]

You nailed it. Bobos - I like that. I know a few of them. They rail against Bush and the war and how that money could be spent helping the poor. But they don't sponsor any kids, they spend their money buying the newest cell phone, flat screen TV and fashion wear. C'mon!

Of course, they're not Christians, so I don't expect as much from them. I do, however, expect more from myself and other followers of Christ. (And along with Nathan, I know how hard it is to opt out of the consumerist orgy our culture promotes. He posted some great thoughts about that and I could really relate!)

As my husband is preparing for a trip to Uganda, he pondered out loud how there can be so much wealth in the Western church, and meanwhile, there are 2 million orphans in Uganda who need care. Some are caring, and pressing their resources in kingdom service this way. But why so few? What makes people care?

[Thadd]

Let's not make it sound like the New York Times is the only publication to do this. Pick up any newspaper and you will see the same stuff.

BTW, much like a comedian, you do a good job of pointing things out and commenting on them, but do you have any answers?

I'm not trying to defend the Times, the american church, John Calvin/Brian MacLaren, or anybody else you have called out. I'm just curious as to if you have any answers for the questions you raise.

[From Brant: Yep. I've got the answers.

Seriously, though: Ask me something specific. What's the question? Calvin/McLaren isn't a question, nor is "the American church", etc.

Obviously, the NYT isn't the only publication to do this, but even our local paper -- The Palm Beach Post, for crying out loud -- doesn't offer this level of luxury. Close, but, no. And the NYT remains *the* newspaper of "record", as you know.

What's more, I'm not really writing about the Times, per se, but people with liberal political sensibilities who practice lives of ultra-consumerism, and the NYTimes ads makes it clear: That's a lot of people. I don't see them in any different light than self-congratulating poverty tourists.

I don't intend to offer nothing in the way of answers, but I'm quite comfy with making people wrestle with things. And, of course, like when people say, "How DO we do 'church', then? What's the formula?" -- I say that question itself is flawed.

Don't mean to be evasive. Regarding Calvin and McLaren, for example, what's the question? I'll try to offer something more, if you like.]

[Brady]

For those about to engage in decadent consumerism, we salute you!

And when I'm done with the Times, I can wrap up my liberal guilt and chuck it into the trash!

[Brady]

Oh, and it's true that hypocrisy is sickening. I am going to try to stop pretending I care about all those horrible things that are happening, and just admit that I don't, except in those cases where I've actually acted to correct them.

[Carolyn]

I remember when I was a kid, my hands smelling like pennies after holding a bunch of change. Who wants to smell like money? Ew.

[Sam]

You're not ripping people with AADD are you? That's sort of what it looks like. And as a former newspaper journalist I can assure you there are some that really do care. Just not at the NY Times. Now at the Washington Post - they must really care because they won a bunch of Pulitzers this year. The way to win those much-sought awards is to write a series posing as "community service" that exploits, uh, highlights a problem in the community. Don't have to offer any solutions, though.
Check out the lyrics to "I'm the 6 O'Clock News" by the late Larry Norman.
-Sam

[Dominique]

BTW, I enjoyed all your photos!

[Dominique]

I loved your article. Great point. Materialism isn't really my thing but it was when I served in the military. Always had to have the best of the best.

I disagree with the comment that you should have solutions. Sometimes, just starting a dialogue is good enough. And...I don't think anyone has started a dialogue about how addicted to "things" many Americans are.

Great post! Great job"

Remaining Steadfast

I added you to my website, Brant.

[Monica Battaile]

I was at a restaurant once sitting next to a man hosting another man who was from somewhere in Africa (I started eavesdropping when I heard his accent). The American said, "Yeah, I grew up in a pretty poor neighborhood myself."

Yeah, I'm sure his $80K house would have seemed like a mansion to someone from the African's home. Americans don't know how well they have it.

[Shawn Bashor]

I'm not sure I can handle this line-

"...back to the point, those "poverty tourists" would have to be pretty full of themselves to pat themselves on the back for talking one way, but really living the other.
Bunch of posers!"

Something tells me I cannot judge these people because I am sure I am guilty of this myself. To what extent? I don't know, but I am sure I am no better than them either.

[From Brant: Well, definitely. You can probably tell I'm writing this whole thing tongue-in-cheek. As I wrote in the comments, I've my own hypocrisies to deal with. But while we're pointing out cultural absurdities, it's worth noting they're not all owned by evangelicals.]

[mr bob]

I think you're just hiding your frustration that there weren't any ads for accordians in The Times.

[Andy]

Great post, but the reality is that so-called "poverty tourism" is more nuanced that the article you cited portrays. Here's a link to another article as an example:

http://tiny.cc/nZymR (click this link and then follow the real link to the article from there).

IMO, most short term missions and volunteer programs to the poor are borderline poverty tourism. The real beneficiaries are the people who go. Just like I imagine you were the major beneficiary when you went to meet the kids you sponsor (that is, the money you spent just getting there would have set those kids up for at least a year).

Not to pick on you or short termers. I bring Japanese people to Cambodia because I think it will change the lives of the "volunteers." One of the lessons on participant took home after our last trip was that the Japanese have a "poverty of the soul" that goes beyond money.

(I only charge a small fee to take people to Cambodia, so I lost money on that trip. I wouldn't call it "poverty tourism," but as I said we could slap that label on a great many things -- and maybe it sticks.)

Sorry to be serious; of course, behind the humor you are a pretty serious guy, so...

[Mike Taylor]

On offering solutions:

Like most people, I agree that it's not incumbent on Brant to provide solutions for all the problems he highlights (although it's best when he does -- even if the offered solution is flawed, at least it's a starting point).

But, yes, even in the absence of even a candidate solution, it can still be good to raise a problem. Just so long as we remember that the point of asking questions is to find answers -- if not yet, then some time.