This is not about dismissing or trivializing the suffering of others. The fact is that shit happens, and when it does, it is your job to pick the kernels of corn out and use the rest for fertilizer.
Feeling no pain
An appreciation of health/the state of nonsuffering. Being poor is bad. Being desperately poor is really bad. What’s worse is being desperately poor and sick and stuck in some shitty hospital with sociopathic staff who took the job because they enjoy watching people suffer.
Relief from abuse
If you are being abused, the abuser might have been killed. If not, they will probably be too distracted by the chaos around them to be interested in scalding you, or sneaking into your bedroom at night. It’s best if they get killed, though.
An appreciation of life, generally
Nothing can make you appreciate life more than burying the dead around you. I don’t care what they say about post-traumatic stress, when you smell the stink of death, see the piles of corpses, dig the graves, wash away the blood, you feel more alive than ever. Unless you have watched others die you really have no idea what it is to be alive. Or at least, not dead.
Attention
It is the mission of all rich people everywhere to put poverty out of their minds. Nobody wants to care about you if you are poor. When they do donate to charities it is just as a means of not having to be pestered. The goal is always to be able to ignore the suffering of others. Disasters that are big enough to draw the attention of the media force them to look at you. Granted the help they provide will be provided to get you to go away, but it’s help nonetheless.
Relationships
In disasters people ask for help of others even when they have never asked for help before. Neighbors who have never spoken suddenly find themselves sleeping on the same shelter floor.
Posted via web from Team Lowlife | Comment »
