Maybe It is time to consider a few things: What do we see

By Jeremy Opperman

Newlands Rotary Club, South Africa

When disaster strikes, why do we only pay attention to the death toll? asks Jeremy Opperman, a member of the Rotary Club of Newlands (D9350) What do we see? Maybe it is time to consider a few things

Notwithstanding the enormity and generosity of Rotary activity, as Rotarians, are we prone to overlooking a significant segment of the most vulnerable in our communities?

Before we get started, it is time for a short general knowledge quiz.

 1. How many people were killed in the recent attack on the Capitol in Washington DC?

 2. How many people were killed in the Christchurch shooting in 2019?

 3. Who was Breonna Taylor?

 4. Who was George Floyd? 

Well done! I am sure most people reading this were correct in their answers. But, give this one a try. How many people were seriously injured in those attacks? And for the bonus prize. Who is Jacob Blake? I am willing to bet that less people got this one without looking it up. The difference between the first four questions and the last two, of course, is that the first four involved death while the last two were about serious injury and very possibly permanent disability. 

The point I am getting to is that for some reason we tend to direct our attention, horror and outrage toward death, while almost never showing lasting interest in those that get seriously or permanently injured or disabled in these kinds of horrific incidents.

The point I am getting to is that for some reason we tend to direct our attention, horror and outrage toward death, while almost never showing lasting interest in those that get seriously or permanently injured or disabled in these kinds of horrific incidents. Interestingly, media, not just our own, but globally, perpetuate the ghoulish fascination by repeating over and over again the death toll of a tragic event. Soon, after about a day, the numbers of those who have died are still high on the agenda, while for some reason, details of injured fall away from view and are almost immediately forgotten. 

To me, the greatest illustration of this, is the comparison between George Floyd and Jacob Blake. They were both involved in high profile incidents, one was killed, Floyd, while Blake was terribly injured (no surprise as there were seven bullets in his back) and left paralysed. Yet who is the more famous

s? 

So what? you may ask. Is there an Economist in the house? Ask yourself, what is costlier to a family, community or economy, death or disability? With the greatest respect to those who have lost someone and those who have died, death is pretty finite. Tragic, certainly for those left behind, but they have no choice but to move on and deal with the aftermath, emotionally and perhaps financially, should the person have been a breadwinner. 

However, if you have just been “lucky” enough to have “survived” a gang shooting, taxi or bus accident or some other trauma and have been left with a serious and lasting

injury, like Jacob Blake was, what does your future look like? Who will pay for hospital care? Rehabilitation? Assistive devices such as wheelchairs, prosthetics or other tech? Who will convince your boss that you actually can work again, but will need a little time or some reasonable accommodation, to be able to do so? Who will care or even know that you exist, if we and media d
o not shift the attention towards the more significant issue? As a new Rotarian, I am constantly humbled and in awe of the sheer enormity of Rotary energy and project munificence. Far be it from me to criticise, but I wonder in the light of our universal tendency to overlook and therefore underestimate the sheer scale of later onset disabilities, whether we are not missing whole swathes of communities left vulnerable by our ignorance and inattention. 

Due to our atavistic and almost pathological avoidance of disability, in our everyday society, is it a surprise that we understand so little and see even less? In a country like ours, with so much crime, so many accidents and other phenomena that disable so many, can we afford not to open our eyes and pay a little more attention?