Empathy — where are you?
I have been seen as naive in understanding how things work. Personally, I have been making professional choices on certain principles and walking away from conventional parameters of success. Recently, I watched on TV a former militant being received at the UN as the head of a state. I did not know who was right or when it was right. All I can see is that might is right.
Some time back, I saw a post trending on a reputed professional forum. I noticed respected figures from our region and beyond, leading prestigious global platforms on human capital, climate, health, education, poverty and related issues, sharing photographs with high-profile but "controversial" political leaders. One such instance involved a former Western head of government whose legacy, particularly regarding the Iraq War, remains one of the most criticised foreign policy decisions in modern history, widely condemned by human rights advocates.
What struck me was not the photograph itself, but the enthusiastic applause it received from across our sector from leaders in health, human rights, childcare and women's empowerment. Many of them are people I sincerely respect, yet few seemed troubled by the moral contradictions such associations raise. To me, this publicised something propagandised: how unpretentiously our industry celebrates proximity to power, even when that power has left deep scars on humanity.
What does this suggest? Humanity, morals, ethical practices... are just for the official documentation, documentaries, declarations and not for demonstration? This is not a stand-alone story. Every now and........
© The Express Tribune
