swinging through ecuador

swinging through ecuador

Sunday, February 22, 2015

island temptations & structural violence

$1 giant fresh empanadas that they constantly make across the street from my school are my downfall. Choosing between a somewhat flat stomach or a handful of dough, cheese, and chicken is my day to day dilemma.


Then, I read articles such Paul Farmer's Structural Violence, and feel guilty. It's really sad that things such as a "human suffering index" exist.


(although I think choosing not to eat a freshly made empanada would rank pretty high on the index)


On a more serious note, suffering, poverty, and violence exist. However, I never looked at these things as being able to be ranked. Who am I to determine who’s suffering is worse than another person’s suffering? How can we discern the nature of structural violence and explore its contribution to society is what Paul Farmer aimed to answer in his writing, and if we would be able to devise an analytic model, one with explanatory and predictive power for understanding suffering in a global context. It is a very daunting task. Although I may be naïve, I think it is feasible and something that we as a society must work together to do if we want to protect human rights.

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