Structural Violence and Societal Factors
Modern researchers, philosophers, and writers frequently discuss the theme of structural violence. In Farmer’s reading, this concept is explained as a line of human decisions that lead to suffering and death. Painful illnesses and social forces like hunger, torture, or rape as forms of structural violence constitute suffering (Farmer, 2003). Taking into consideration the connection between human actions that cause pleasure or suffering and the inability to get rid of fears and prejudices, people continue contributing to the promotion of violence in society. They establish social norms, rules, and standards that they have to follow or try to break under some conditions. In other words, the idea of the chosen reading is that structural violence is an outcome of human actions and decisions, and despite the intention to do something good, something bad could happen.
In the TED talk shared by Bill Gates, the same argument is developed in a more descriptive way. Gates (2015) speaks about human fears of the epidemic outbreak and underlines that modern society is not ready for it due to a number of factors. Although people could get themselves prepared for new health challenges (to strengthen the health system, run germ games, pair medical and military abilities, and create a medical reserve corps), they neglect their chances (Gates, 2015). As a result, they expose themselves to new threats, problems, and concerns. Suffering turns out to be an outcome of human inaction, showing how structural violence is shaped. According to Gates (2015), time is never on the people’s side, and it is necessary to react fast and predict the worst development of the events. Being equipped with enough human and technological resources, society has to understand how to use them and gain benefits. Such factors as education, wealth, and past experiences should help society to eradicate violence and suffering and promote global health equity in the face of potential epidemic outbreaks.
Inequality in Structural Violence
Despite the desire to become equal, people cannot forget about the differences that exist in society. In the chosen reading, Farmer (2003) focuses on racial or ethical, and gender biases that contribute to human suffering and structural violence. For centuries, “women are confronted with sexism, an ideology that situates them as inferior to men” (Farmer, 2003, p. 43). Racial differences exist “to deprive many groups of basic rights” (Farmer, 2003, p. 44). To find new ways to improve their lives, poor people use all the existing opportunities, neglecting the fact that some of them cause suffering and others lead to violence at various levels. Poverty is a problem in many countries, either developed or developing. Instead of solving it at a global level and supporting each other, it is easy for populations to gather in groups and find answers locally.
In the TED talk, this argument is also properly represented in the example of the African countries’ inability to deal with Ebola. In the majority of cases, serious diseases and viruses are originated from developing countries with weak healthcare systems and research abilities. Gates (2015) explains that today’s global catastrophe is not a war or a missile that could take a human life within several seconds but a virus, the nature of which is not thoroughly investigated. Compared to rich countries where financial resources are enough to promote advanced research and development, developing countries (West Africa) cannot treat their populations and vaccinate them before a threat occurs. Rich people do not want to help the poor because they do not believe the problems of the latter could challenge them. However, viruses do not choose between wealth, dignity, or achievements. As soon as they reach a person or an animal, they start destroying cells and worsening health conditions. In addition to the individual characteristics of patients, treatments depend on access to resources and knowledge. Not to allow dramatic disease prevalence, the exchange of experiences globally has to be promoted.
References
Farmer, P. (2003). Pathologies of Power: Health, human rights, and the new war on the poor. University of California Press.
Gates, B. (2015). The next outbreak? We’re not ready. TED. Web.