“A Poor Man’s Car”
By: Virio Andreyana
Tags: Poverty Porn, Poverty, Reddit

“A Poor Man’s Car”

This is an excerpt from Reddit. Since the Indonesian government ban Reddit, I might as well share it here and write down the discussion here. If you want the English translation just ask me in the comment section. Thank you for everyone who have participated, however if you want your contribution to be removed, or if you find it misleading, then please pm me on Reddit as /u/Na-ja. Anyway here it goes,

There is always a saying from my dad when I was a kid, forgetting the context but still remembering the stories. So, a rich kid was given an assignment to describe how a poor person lives. Never actually visiting his subject, he goes off giving his homework with sentences like this:

“A poor person lives in a house with dirty windows, his car is broken in the garage, and their business suit has holes in it.”

After a few years thinking about it, maybe he is actually describing me! Which begs the question, what should I do? Is watching documentaries of underprivileged people tells a better story, or is it just a form of Poverty Porn? Does reading a tragic Novel do any help to know more of the human condition?

Can we really know something without experiencing it?

According to /u/hadp123, underprivilege people don’t consider themselves as victim. It really depends on the reference point of that person.

/u/hadp123: Saya mau ceritain pengalaman waktu masa kecil, saya ngontrak didaerah kumuh tangerang, gambaranya adalah: kalau mau mandi kita ngantri, kalu mau BAB wc nya mampet, anak anak kecil BAB di comberan/selokan, kontrakan kami sekitar 3X4 meter dengan dinding triplex dipenuhi tikus Kehidupan bertetangga: Berbaur, ngerumpi, profesi rata2 tukang becak dan penjual makanan keliling dan buruh. Perasaan: Semua seneng2 aja, gak ada yang merasa jadi “korban” atau “merana” dan “menderita” Kalau kita miskin dari lahir, itu gak terlalu menyakitkan karena memang “refrensi keinginan” selalu sesuai dengan keadaan sekitar.

/u/wolfragon tell us the contrast between what we see on the internet and are pretty spot on on answering my main question.

/u/wolfragon: Watching some documenters only help you to see the slice of things happen, yes, they are poverty porn. I remember when I watch some documenters about Africa roads and its people, then someone from r/pan showing how similar our condition to theirs and not like from the documenters I watch. Tragic reading only helps you imagining and feel things from the description provide by the author. No, but can be imagine a bit with your sense not their real sense, like experience of pain you can imagine it's hurt a bit but from the people who actually experience that pain it's an unbearable pain.

/u/pm-me-your-nenen have given us real life examples and scientific studies on the detrimental consequence of the experience of being poor.

/u/pm-me-your-nenen: You can't, even after you date/live with someone who went through such past. Mieke Erkens mentioned how her father, a survivor of Japanese internment camp carry on habits he learned decades ago such as You can't, even after you date/live with someone who went through such past. Mieke Erkens mentioned how her father, a survivor of Japanese internment camp carry on habits he learned decades ago such as keeping foods her grandma has thrown into the trash , which her mother still found baffling. Consider they have been married longer than we have lived, and he's an accomplished nuclear scientist. Depending on how you were raised, these articles can be "huh.. that's me" or "wait, people do that?". Even though the John Cheese is now at least a middle class, his early life never truly left him. That's why "check your privilege" is a thing. Even if you consciously always looking for it, it's easy to forget someone went through life fearing or wanting things we always take for granted. Maybe it's not worrying too much when there's a crime nearby because the police won't be dragging you for forced confession , unable to understand why people don't just become successful "self-made" person , enjoying when your friend/date keeps the name of the restaurant secret because you never need to fight the impulse to drink and throwing up the food in the toilet, or the freedom of being giddly near your crush without worrying because you are a minority in religion/sexuality or lower in economic/social class that any relationship you pursue will be doomed. If a shelf of books or a DVD set can easily allow you to understand them, support groups can just take anyone instead of mostly composed by fellow survivors.

/u/redalert_ replied to /u/hadp123 and /u/wolfragon and given us a starting point on what to do next.

/u/redalert_: Yg /u/hadp123 sm /u/wolfaragon blg itu bener. Kl kt org berada, kl lht dokumentasi atau berita kynya org2 di Afrika semua perlu dibantu, Indonesia isinya org Islam anti barat, org menengah ke bawah hidupnya sedih terus, kl ada kesempatan utk berbuat jahat diambil, pdhl mereka jg manusia, ada seneng jg, ada yg baik, ada yg jahat, dsb. Memanusiakan manusia (ketemu, ngobrol) itu cara yg paling baik kl bisa dilakukan. Solusi gmn? Kl aktif keagamaan bs tanya di tempat ibadah, biasanya bs bantu2. Tergantung km jg, kl mau ikut nyumbang2 atau dtg ke lokasi lgsg, usahakan berkala, jgn cm sekali aja. Kl bs ikut/ lewat organisasi yg udah tau apa masalah di sana, yg perlu dibantu siapa. Turun lgsg lebih bgs, jd g asal tau beres. Bs jg volunteer di panti. Kl kt buku, liat dr yg deket2 dulu baru tolong yg jauh, mulai dr menyejahterakan pembantu, satpam, tetangga, pegawai, dll. Selain istilah poverty porn ada jg istilah voluntourism . Biasanya anak muda negara maju dtg ke negara berkembang, bantu2 seadanya, foto2, buat "feel good". Kl bs jgn gini, misal mau bangun toilet umum, bantu2 sehari boleh, tp byr orang2 situ buat bikin lebih bagus. All in all, this realisation is a start, can only get better from here.

The condition of Reddit in Indonesia has always been a paradox for me. because you have to use a VPN to use it, not much Indonesians use it. But then again, it is less likely to be censored by the government in comparison to Facebook and Instagram once you are already in it. I’m just grateful that it gives rooms for this sort of topic.

Thanks for Reading