The Inkstained Mind: Fighting poverty by forcibly sterilising the poor

21 May 2012

Fighting poverty by forcibly sterilising the poor

According to the website of UK's Department For International Development (DFID), their Top Priorities focus on the poorest people in India's low income states. "UK assistance is benefiting the poorest people in three poor states - Madhya Pradesh, Bihar and Orissa".

Apparently, it's also for the larger good of Humanity. A DFID report form 2010 reaffirms "(T)he need to fight climate change as one of the key reasons for pressing ahead with such programmes" ...Arguing that "reducing population numbers would cut greenhouse gases".

The DFID's noble work is not ALL British taxpayer-funded...

And according to Bill Gates himself on the the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation website, they have "invested more than $1 billion in programs to fight disease and poverty in India."

"A lot of India's disease and poverty is concentrated in the poor states in the northern part of the country, including Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, where our foundation—and the UK government—focus a lot of our work."

And according to The Guardian website, "India's supreme court heard (in April 2012) how a surgeon operating (sterilising poor women) in a school building in the Araria district of Bihar in January carried out 53 operations in two hours, assisted by unqualified staff, with no access to running water or equipment to clean the operating equipment. A video shot by activists shows filthy conditions and women lying on the straw-covered ground."

"We will spend £280 million per year in India until 2015," says the DFID. No doubt, to incentivise Surgical Sterilisation Samaritans like the one above!

I'm sure something of this gravity will be covered by incisive investigative reportage - and it'll be all over Primetime TV News in India... But I'm not holding my breath.

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WHAT IS ADVERTISING?

It's often called the world's second oldest profession.

But while the scope of the oldest one has changed little over time, the evolution in the way we communicate has had profound impact on Advertising.

In the ancient and medieval world, Advertising meant word-of-mouth. In the 1500s with the development of printing it became a 'paid public notice', disseminating the message to many. And it had Copy & Art.

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So what is Advertising today?

Honestly, I don't know.

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That has not changed. And probably won't.

UPDATE: Nothing's changed. But in a way, everything has.

As you see, my focus has shifted - evolved in a way - to a larger canvas. The shift or evolution was gradual, and may be have been discernable to the more observant reader.

While I was delving into the influence of media in society to better understand how perceptions are created, evolved and disseminated, I chanced upon a thread of knowledge that I frankly never knew existed.

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My aim is to send my readers down any path that can lead to this quenching pool.