Infra - Photographs by Richard Mosse Essay by Adam Hochschild - Response

Quote:

“A nation with a lavish array of valuable raw materials but without a functioning government is like a child heiress without parents or guardian: everyone schemes for a piece of what she’s got” (Hochschild 121).

Response:

Although this quote is found very early on in the writing, it exemplifies the issue that has persisted, for what seems like an eternity, in the Congo.  I think that it is incredibly disgusting that countries, including the U.S., could ignore the issues that are going on with the people of the Congo and focus solely on the natural resources that can be gained from the country.  A country should not be a bargaining chip, or a means of bragging rights for another country.  Countries should be there for one another and help others that are in need.  It is disappointing to think that there are things like this that happen everyday that we are almost completely blind to.  If America and other countries are fighting so hard to get a piece of the Congo, why can't they start by going there and doing something to help the country instead of standing on the sidelines, waiting for them to figure something out?  We should not surround the country in scandal or more issues, rather make good connections and relations; maybe help the country get on their feet.  I hate to say it, but after making better relations, we can build a trade system with the country.  Again, I do not want to make it sound like Americans (or any other country for that matter) should just use the Congo as a means for their own resources, rather helping a country that is in dire need of help.

Questions:

1. How is it that something can being going on to this scale and magnitude that very few people actually know about it?  Are we all simply unaware or are we trying to be made unaware?
2. How could any nation, knowing the complexity of what is going on in the Congo, simply ignore the issue and “let things be”?
3. The notion of a country being “won” seems unethical to me; is there a complete disregard for the people that are living there?  Are countries that power-hungry and materialistic?

Infra essay by Adam Hochschild (Photographs by Richard Mosse)