the plague
September 17, 2016 11:22 PM   Subscribe

 
Some of this reminds me of the West African Ebola crisis. Not just the inequality and lack of resources--but the way respect for cultural practices is an afterthought, rather than being built in to the response from the beginning.

There is always this idea that the people whose cultural practices have become dangerous under these new circumstances should just stop, but that's not realistic or particularly kind. And it can very well backfire.

I am hopeful that we will learn how to make responses to epidemics less antagonistic toward the effected people, but it seems like it's a very difficult thing to do. Because we're not doing it so well.
posted by Kutsuwamushi at 2:36 AM on September 18, 2016 [4 favorites]


Disney's cartoon penguins haven't done much to help the fact that Madagascar is truly one of the more fucked up places on Earth. My wife, who travels to a lot of weird places for birding, broke it down like this.

My first trip out of the country was to the Mexican state of Veracruz, and particularly the village of Cardel which is the epicenter of the "river of raptors." Cardel and the surrounding areas are very strikingly different from any First World place I'd ever visited; building codes were WTF, the police carried AK47's, most cars were Volkswagen Beetles, and Cardel itself was laid out with every conceivable service and business available within walking distance of the town square. That said the roads were well maintained, electric service was reliable, and at the time nobody seemed to be starving or desperate. People had less money but things were also cheaper, and sometimes better in quality than the manufactured stuff I was used to.

When Y came back from Kenya, she said that other than the residents of their one first-world city, most Kenyans would think they had moved to the first world if you dropped them in Cardel. A government maintained toll road became so muddy after it rained that the locals would hang out and charge a dollar to have twelve guys lift stuck vehicles out of the ruts. Large areas had no electric service or sanitation, although cell phone and internet service was surprisingly pervasive. Building practices were a notch below Mexico, where everything was made of concrete; in Kenya those who couldn't afford to import first-world materials made do with clapboard and other improvised materials. The food was not as varied as in Mexico but it was adequate and again nobody seemed to be starving.

When Y came back from Madagascar she said that anybody from Madagascar would think they had moved up to the first world if you dropped them in Kenya. They had to take four internal flights because there are no roads passable by non-4WD vehicles that link the island together. The only reliably good roads are private roads maintained by ranchers for their own use. The capital city does not have power 24/7 and you have to observe the schedule so you can keep your phone charged. Most of the country does not have electric service or proper sanitation at all, and mud huts are common. The only somewhat plentiful food is rice. Outside of the wealthy ranchers' estates even if you can afford it, the only meat you are likely to be offered anywhere is a scrawny chicken that is very tough because it has had to catch most of its own food.

Shortly after Y visited there was a military coup, a racist shock jock radio DJ was installed as the new President, and the progressive education and road-building programs that were just getting started under the old president were rolled back. The clear-cutting, which had been toned down, surged anew and the nascent ecotourism industry mostly went into hiding. She hasn't been back.
posted by Bringer Tom at 6:24 AM on September 18, 2016 [9 favorites]


The circumstances are a bit different, but plague is alive and well in the United States too. Particularly in New Mexico which sees a handful of cases every year.
posted by Nelson at 7:36 AM on September 18, 2016


Bringer Tom, not that I don't doubt your wife's experience, but that's a pretty reductive characterization of three very different places, and I don't know that I really buy the fact that, for example, people using local housing material instead of importing "first-world" materials, or the fact that the food isn't as varied, means that people are inherently worse-off. There are certainly problems and challenges and significant inequality and such in Madagascar, and Kenya, and Mexico. I don't think that Madagascar particularly deserves the title of "most fucked up place on earth," and saying that it is certainly don't solve any of the geopolitical and environmental problems there. People live fulfilling and good lives, even in places where they don't have access to sanitation, or meat on a regular basis, or roads, or electricity 24-7.
posted by ChuraChura at 8:44 AM on September 18, 2016 [7 favorites]


Bringer Tom's comments here strike me as profoundly western-centric. Having power 24/7 is a relatively modern luxury--and one we might not have for long if our rapid consumerism keeps up.

Let's remember that that we westerners did no favors to anyone on the African continent with slavery and colonialism.

a racist shock jock radio DJ was installed as the new President
I'm not sure if you're American, but certainly this current election cycle has completely obliterated any moral high ground we Americans may have been foolishly inclined to take in regards to our leaders. What is Donald Trump if not a racist shock jock from reality TV?
posted by bluedaisy at 9:05 AM on September 18, 2016 [6 favorites]


Called a “disease of poverty,” by the World Health Organization, the plague flourishes in areas where hygiene practices are poor and health infrastructure is weak.

Paul Farmer has also written extensively about these diseases of inequality and marginalization. It's not just about being poor -- it's all the structural issues like defunded health care systems, bad transportation, and people needing to live in crowded conditions. The same diseases, minus those structural issues, become background noise rather than a huge threat.
posted by Dip Flash at 12:06 PM on September 18, 2016 [2 favorites]


Mod note: One comment deleted. The credibility of any one person's observations about Madagascar from a visit aren't really the issue here; plenty to talk about in the actual articles.
posted by LobsterMitten (staff) at 1:54 PM on September 18, 2016 [1 favorite]


Madagascar is low on the equality-adjusted human development index (IHDI)--but it's higher than many countries. It's sitting at 118, higher than Afghanistan. The country at the bottom is CAR, at 151. Kenya is actually only one place higher.

This is only one metric, but I think it's illustrative. Madagascar is not actually one of the most fucked-up places on Earth. It has real problems--but these are common problems. We shouldn't forget that. The world is devastatingly unequal.

The kinds of problems that Madagascar has in treating and controlling the spread of plague will be shared by many developing nations.
posted by Kutsuwamushi at 1:38 AM on September 19, 2016 [3 favorites]


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